Feedback & Reports

1. Cefn Rhosan Fawr

Light rain, periods of heavy rain and sunny intervals.
Few fish rising or nyphing; limited hatch. Three brown trout: 8" , 14" and 13". Very fat and in superb condition. CDC Klinkhammer; CDC olive; and sulphur Klikhammer.

Deep and shallow nymphs tried without success. Lovely beat, really enjoyed walking the full length and both tribs. I would consider the Senni and lower trib (can't remember the name) barely fishable, as they need coppicing.

2. Abercamlais
Cool start followed by lovely sunny morning. Only two rises seen. Quite difficult conditions. Two lovely fat browns; 14" and 15". PTN goldhead.

Only two hours fishing, early morning. A really nice beat. I found the wading quite straightforward. Very easy access.

Summary.
Two lovely days on the upper Usk. Despite quite difficult conditions the fishing was superb. I would certainly book these beats again. Thanks again to the W&UF. Keep up the good work.

Had a good day yesterday in spite of colour and height. I M-L caught a lovely 18 pounder in the Pipe which I followed with a measly 5lb grilse dripping with sea lice ? both on the fly after Ray had told us that the fly was a waste of time!

The reason for this is to say how well all the paddlers behaved during the day, out of over 50 only 1 came marginally in front of me which was due to the inexperience of the 12 old girl. All were polite and we exchanged a fair bit of banter, quite like the Tay. 6 came down while Ian was playing his fish, kept well out of the way against the far bank, stopped to watch the action and seemed genuinely delighted to ?participate? and passed on the news to D H who was spinning below and must have covered the same fish earlier.

WUF note: This took place on the navigable section of the Wye

Catch report from my day on the usk (Pantyscallog) on Sunday. Only 3 fish, but check out the photo, well chuffed, i could have gone home right then. Tipped the scales at just under 3lb (i did subtract the weight of the net!), almost had a heartattack when it decided to jump so high it actually hit the branches of an overhanging tree!!!!!!!!!!!!, Not to mention trying to fit it in the net! Especially with a 2lb leader on!

Fish were very spooky and had to stalk this one on hands and knee's accross the Mossy boulders.

Good hatch of Very Large Brook Duns, best at about 2pm. Other 2 fish, 1 of about a 1lb, and a little tiddler of under half a pound, all 3 fish safely returned.

Thought I'd let you know how I got on on friday at Pantysgallog - sorry for the slightly late feedback. The morning was very wet with persistent rain, but the river stayed quite clear. There wasn't much rising, but I did manage to get an absolute beauty on a deep nymph, fished NZ style. Over 19" and weighed 2lb 14oz, it gave me a real scrap on my 4-weight and took some time to get in. Nearly lost it at the net - so big it wouldn't fold in on the first attempt, flipped in the air and I had to catch it at the second attempt, like a giant, angry pancake!

The rain gradually cleared but then there was a sudden spate in the early afternoon. The water turned to chocolate and I nearly went home, but after 90 mins it was clear again! The insects started to hatch in the afternoon so had far more bites - caught 3 more trout including 1lb 3oz and 1lb 13oz fish. Olive uprights and BWO hatching, but they took a small Parachute Adams. Had a number of other bites too. Great fishing in a really beautiful beat - thanks! Attach a couple of photos of the big one and a nice river shot if you're interested!

May 17th. Beat 27 Cefnllysgwynne R. Irfon
12 trout to cir.1 lb. with one accidental grayling. All returned. River was in fine shape despite rain on the previous day. Olives were coming of along with every thing else including 'Green Drakes'.

May 18th. Beat 8 Gromain R. Wye
18+ trout to cir.1lb. 4ozs. All returned. Again river was looking very good. While on the Boards at Llanstephan at about 10.15am. an Otter came past me just three feet away! I dont know who jumped the most. It made my day which then got better & better. All my fish came to a size 12 Waterhen Bloa just sub-surface. What superb water!

I now look forward to the 14th. of June when I will be 'On The Rocks'. Thank you Wye & Usk you did me proud!

Beat: Bridge Meadow
weather: overcast, mild
fly-hatches: yellow may duns, olives, midge
30+ Trout to biggest 2lb+ on yellow/olive klinhammer
some tiddlers but average about 1lb

One of the best days i've ever had on a river. Fish everywhere sipping down the big yellow duns. Caught plenty, lost plenty and had a great day. Average size was amazing too.

Last evening I went out targeting the larger fish within the upper Usk on the Penpont beat. Finished with 6 over 2lbs with the best one pushing 3.5lb. All the fish were lying in very shallow water, and after a steathly approach took carefully presented dry flies. The 3 wt took on a hell of a bend when they took off!

We had a superb day on the upper wye yesterday. Dave concentrated on the trout whilst I started looking for a salmon. The heavy rise and seeing Dave's rod seemingly constantly bent made me reach for the trout rod. Dave lost count at 30 whilst I landed 14 to around 1.5lb all on dry fly, superb sport in simply stunning surroundings.

Sun, intense heat and easterly wind to start the week, breaking down to cloud and drizzle for thurs and Friday.
conditions: Very low
May 10th, Titley, 9 trout to 8in on Olive klink
May 11th, Rocks 2 Trout to 10in on BWO
May 13th, Cefn Rhosan-Fawr 4 Trout to 8in on PTN
May 15th, Hergest 22 trout to 10in on PTN, Mayfly
May 16th, Lypole 60+ Trout to 12 in on Mayfly

As you can see, the fishing improved with the weather! We also had a couple of good sesseions on the Llynfi Dulas, catching about a dozen or 15 fish from the top and bottom beats. We struggled badly on the main rivers with the low water and very hot, bright conditions but the last two days and at Lypole particularly, we experienced some of the best fishing either of us have known. They are both beautiful beats as well and the trout are some of the prettiest I have ever seen.

Weather cold after last few days but at least the rain stayed away!
Fly life was amazing! Flies I identified were: Brook Dun, Yellow May Dun, iron Blue Dun, Large olive, medium olive and mayfly I think the trout were so confused by all this they forgot to take our flies - although James my son had 8 to 12" on para ginger quill and blue dun - I had 2 ditto. the other two rods were two tyros on their first river trip who struggled initially to cast but eventually mastered it - and one caught 2 salmon parr so was both were very happy and amazed at the profusion of insect life - and the fish's reaction!