Feedback & Reports

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!

1 or 2 mays about a few upwings and midges about. Returned 19 trout and 6 out of season grayling up to 12" on pheasant tail nymph & black klinkhammer. First class fishing on a beautiful stretch of river in glorious countryside. I was very lucky to have an otter feeding/playing in a pool i was fishing, he never knew i was there. Booked online what a great idea.

I recently had the pleasure of hiring the services of Andrew Cartwright as a guide, whilst on a fishing holiday in mid-Wales. Andrew was not the first guide I contacted, but was the first that gave me a sense that his priority was what I needed.
I had planned to get the most out of my 2 days with him, and he helped me achieve all of my objectives, including reservoir, small river and larger river fishing, and learning a variety of techniques. The only problem for me is trying to remember it all. To that end, Andrew was kind enough to permit me to video him tying some of the flies he uses (a good sample of which he provided on the first day). With his local knowledge, the flies he ties, or his variations on established patterns, will get you into fish way ahead of shop-bought generics.
I can honestly say that the only times Andrew picked up the rod was to demonstrate a technique, or to patiently unpick one of my many tangles! He was on my shoulder at all times to give advice, which he did without ego-tripping in the slightest.
Andrew will take you where he is confident of the best chance of catching, rather than personal convenience - I would strongly recommend a chat with him before booking any fishing beats (he is also a mine of information regarding suitable accommodation!).
I can unhesitatingly recommend Andrew to anyone; he carries a quiet confidence which puts you, the pupil, at ease, and enables a relaxed but effective learning session.
Tight lines!

A very good days fishing, caught five Brown trout (four returned in good condition). All caught on dry fly fished up stream. The flies started hatching around 10am and continued untill I left early evening.
Mostly midge and grannom flies but I also saw two yellow upwing flies that I think were mayflies, and there were small daddies on the grassland next to the river.
Many thanks to everyone involved with WUF, my day fishing made all the easier due to the ease of booking using the online sevice and the excellent description of the beat and directions to it.

Here's a picture for you:

On Sunday I had struggled to get a take for a few hours in the likely spots on the lower reservoir, so headed up to Craig-Goch about 4pm to see if I could find a fish or two. Couldn't pull over or turn round so ended up at the pull-in where the Elan River enters the system and was pleasantly surprised to read on the noticeboard that the previously restricted top-end is open to fishing for the 2008 season.

Thought I'd give it a go and found fish quickly where the river enters the reservoir proper. After about 30 mins fishing and with a couple of fish in the bag I noticed that a sizeable bat was patrolling up and down picking up insects close to the water (in bright sunlight!). After another quarter of an hour or so I hooked into what I thought was the mother of all Elan Valley trout but which turned out to be 2 reasonable fish, one on the point and one on the middle dropper with both fighting hard in opposite directions. Having struggled to net the slightly larger fish on the dropper I was on my knees trying to do something about the fish on the point when it became obvious that the fly on the top dropper was gyrating about in a manner which was proving irresistable to the errant bat. There I was with one angry fish in the net, another going mental on the point and me flapping about like a mad thing trying to stop the bat hooking itself on the top dropper! Incredibly and somewhat fortuitously I managed to not fall in, scare the bat off and land the point fish although the video would not have made pretty viewing. I will always remember this session for almost having a full house of two brown trout and one bat! To even things up a bit it has to be said that I did go arse-over-tit once later on and shipped some water over the top of both waders. I also caught a total of 9 fish, lost 3 others and pricked a few more before 7pm - an eventful 3 hours and much better than watching boring Chelsea against Newcastle on Sky Sports!

Weather warm, overcast, with occasional shower. Client, Rob Ormond, fished from 09:30 to 12:30. 8 fish caught and released, biggest, 1.5, 1.75 and 2lbs. Water clear and height 10.5? (webcam gauge) temperature 52F, old currency. Plenty of fly life, sparse hatches of Large dark Olives, Grannoms, a few larger sedges, and ?Olive Uprights?

Client delighted with the river and the fishing.

Lovely day, the first I have been able to book using the on-line booking system. I only thought of going late on Friday and was out of vouchers, so only the on-line booking system made the trip possible. A really lovely beat with plenty of interesting pools and runs to explore. All 12 trout I caught were of a decent size (around the half pound mark). Few signs of moving fish during the day, but they were obviously feeding below the surface. I shall have to go and take another look at mayfly time...