Feedback & Reports

Lovely warm bright day with plenty of fly life including regular Mayfly so was very deflated to blank. My day was truncated due to work commitments and with only a couple of hours I think I might have rushed things a bit searching likely spots with my usually trusty Grey Wulff and resorting to nymphs occasionally. Looking under a few stones revealed swarms of stone clingers which might have explained where the fish were (only saw one rise) though I expect it was just one of those middle of the day spells when the river had gone to sleep. Otherwise parking was very convenient, access to the water was easy and thankfully there was only the odd bit of farming plastic to spoil the view.

Coming from Hertfordshire I don't get the opportunity to fish rivers very often so when I do it's all a bit hit or miss. I worked my way up the beat from the bridge initially hoping to take a bag full of fish on dries, but despite lots of flies coming off the water, rises were few and far between. I had sought advice from WUF before coming to the Usk so concentrated on small and dark, then small and light. Then very, very small. I had a couple of small fish but I didn't feel that I had the situation sussed so I changed to nymphs and took a couple more tiddlers. I had a late lunch, or maybe it was an early tea, right at the top of the beat on the flats and had a serious think. I had to do something different so resumed with a big bushy dry fly, second cast straight down the bank, a very ostentatious take and a few minutes later I had 19 inch brown trout in the net. Brilliant. Obviously I had found the answer. Alas not. Still lots coming off the water but I couldn't entice any more fish onto my fly. Not complaining though.

5 Trout

Bright sunshine, water clearing and low/dropping (less than a foot at fownhope). Not a sight of a salmon or trout and hardly any sight or sound of anything topping all day despite considerable fly activity (mayflies and others unidentified). But plenty of (what I think must be) shad around - five of them (all released safely) around the 3lb mark took flying Cs of various colours. Overall it was much more a day for sitting by a lily pad-filled pond dozily watching a float than for flogging away after salmon with spinner and fly. Ho hum. Caradoc is a beautiful part of the world with good access to beat itself, and easy access to water at the start and end of beat; access OK (less so for fly) in mid stretch. Probably due to lack of success not sure I'd want to pay same amount again for Salmon (not when it's £10 more than -for example- Goodrich Court. Having said, could well be tempted back later in year for some barbel fishing.

5 Other

Dry and warm all day. Opposite dam fishing. 3 fishermen all using worm injected with air to stay afloat. Fished 25 - 30 ft out with 4 ft leader from weight. Released 3 under-sized fish, fish taken were clean and from 1 - 2 1/2 lbs.
Good day out for my young daughter who bagged her 2 fish limt, I bagged 4 fish and my mate bagged 3 fish.

9 Trout, 12 Other

Fished French leader and new Zealand style. We both kept zero fish as have to protect the future of wild trout!

33 Trout

Fish caught between both anglers :
Rainbow Trout - 3 (approx 2lb each)
Brown Trout - 1 (approx 1.5 lb)
Weather conditions were overcast with occasional showers.

4 Trout

No fish rising, very strange for the beat as I have caught
fish every year on drys. Anyway fished fast pocket water with heavy nyphs had 4 wbt to 11ins.

4 Trout

Water .7m and still some colour. One seatrout seen at rock around 3lb. Fished for salmon for 3 hrs from top of beat throuch to woodstream with no takes.
Switched to trout at 12.30pm with immediate success on yellow May dun 14. Continued through to 9.30pm and had another 5 to 1.25lb at tail of Chine Pool.

6 Trout

3 trout: 2x9" 1x12", wet fly at back end of run, river good level/condition.

3 Trout

Both fish 11 to 12 inches on upstream nymph, lost a few others. A few Mayflies and Olives hatching but no consistent rise. Quite hard work but a beautiful day.

2 Trout