Feedback & Reports

After finally finding the fish, had my best ever day on this beat. Fished 6 different swims from one end of the beat to another, but only found 2 with any decent water level and flow. Chub from 4.5lbs to just under 6lbs and barbel from 6lbs to just under 11lbs. All fish caught on 12ml ellipse pellets glued to the hair, with a size 10 hook and 16lbs micro-braid hook links. 12lbs TF Gear red mist mainline on either my 2.25lbs test curve Daiwa Infinity Specialist Barbel rod or my 1.75lbs Hardy Marksman Specialist Avon rod. Weed was probably the worst I have ever experienced on the Wye and water levels the lowest I have experienced on this beat - in spite of which water was being abstracted throughout the day. Still one of the best Wye & Usk beats in my opinion and one I look forward to fishing again in late September.

26 Barbel, 7 Chub

It is a fantastic place to fish for grayling, with dry fly one, parachute adams.
I don't like graylings so then I tried with a elk hair fly and I caught three trout, and one some more grayling. It is a great spot to fish this time of year. Tricky to wade in some places.

3 Trout, 6 Grayling

Extremely difficult day we tried most of the pegs with no success. It didn't make any difference what method or bait we used, the fish weren't there. Finished the day on the peg down from the cottage & landed 1 barbel of 7.5lbs & 2 chub up to 4.12lbs. Lost a few fish. The woman in the cottage told us we couldn't fish on the rocks, however after speaking to the fishery owner he told us this was not the case & encouraged us to fish from there. However, due to the volume of canoes we decided against it. Very good access & lots of fishable swims. Well done to the Wye & Usk Foundation.

1 Barbel, 2 Chub

Water low again, now on 10 inches, no salmon caught or seen.

9lbs to Chris Major,spinning. Conditions difficult with black Irfon water,grey Ithon mud and high temperatures still affecting the fishing in the lower river. Some fresh Grilse in evidence but difficult to tempt.

1 Salmon

Me and my dad fished stretch for first time. Went down to island, dad started about half way down beat. I had bites instantly and they kept coming all through the day. Ended up with 22 chub to 4.5lb and 22 barbel to 8lb. Dad only had 1 chub in first swim so he came down to island and had 15 more chub and couple of barbel. Usual method groundbait and pellet. Dad had most of his on same but did pick a few up on bread. Fantastic days fishing will definitely be back.

24 Barbel, 38 Chub

A lovely day's weather for fishing - overcast, muggy, hardly any wind - but very little fly apart from a few small olives and the odd sedge. Few rising fish. We fished Tenkara, conventional, single, duo, nymphs, bugs and emergers. Had about forty grayling between us, mainly of 9-12" and a couple of 13", and just one nice trout. The majority of fish were taken on emergers, although most were not rising, so fish were certainly in upwards - looking mode. The rain that was forecast arrived in earnest at about 5.45pm and, after about half an hour's soaking, what interest fish had shown before then, promptly ceased.
A hard, rewarding and enjoyable day on a beat we both love fishing. However,from the standpoint of access along the eastern bank, and indeed the safety of visiting anglers once wetter conditions prevail, the upper part of the beat needs some serious and urgent attention. There is a large tree down blocking footpath access (towards the tail of the Abernant Stream) soon after crossing the fence line. This now poses a major obstacle. Of more concern, upstream of this, the bank has become seriously eroded and access has become hazardous with little room now for safely making one's way up the beat. You either choose to risk going over the edge or you try to breach the tangle of briars that are in now your way and risk shredding your waders. A few hours with a chainsaw and strimmer and the blockage could be removed and a safer footpath created. With the safety of WUF's clients in mind, we recommend strongly that this is cleared urgently given the popularity of this beat as we get into autumn.

1 Trout

This is a lovely little river, unfortunately on the day I visited the river was low, slimy on the bottom and pools were a bluey grey colour. No signs of fly life or fish and no takes to my drys or gold head nymphs. As with all of the wild trout beats I have fished, access can be a problem, though there are some much worse than this one. Excessive use of barbed wire, and cattle gates across the river do not help, but a machete would be useful. I thought it was the trout that were wild, not the stream side vegetation! I'd like to give it a go in late May/June with a little more water in it, but it's a long way to come from Washington!

Finally a beautiful 12 inch wild brownie caught in fast water on a gold-head nymph. A great morning on the river.

1 Trout

River in good condition and fished well. All brown trout were fairly small but grayling were a good size - best around 2lb. Caught on nymphs and dry flies (goldhead PTN, GRHE and CDC olives). All fish returned in good condition.

10 Trout, 5 Grayling