Feedback & Reports

Funny sort of day. Fished the river for about an hour and a local person said" there's no fish in there" I learnt than a silo leak from a farm had reached the river killing all the fish. Totally ignored it and carried on for another 2 hours to no catches or seen a fish. Went back to the car a man came from a house next to me and told me the same story. I hope it's not true but no sign of fish on a perfect day.

Half day; 5 trout largest c.10ozs.
klinkhammer
cloudy, dry mild

5 Trout

Honddu still low and clear with just a few fish moving in shaded pools. These seemed willing to respond to a stiffly hackled cream coloured fly which was tied a while ago with no standard pattern in mind and which coincided today with what appeared to be a fall of a few small similarly coloured moths . One ten inch fish but several rises missed thanks to wonky vision. This stretch which is conveniently close to home has mainly shallow streamy runs with a few pools. Cautious careful wading essential in these conditions.

1 Trout

One 10" wbt caught on a Klinkhammer (a nymph was suspended below). It was a great take off the surface and the wbt put up a real fight. I only saw one other fish during the 5 hours of fishing. Water levels do appear very low and there are very few places where the fish are likely to be holding. Just lots of fast moving water over very shallow river bed.

The top half of the beat is very difficult to gain access to. There is a ford that the farmer uses to move cattle and this is completely surrounded by electric fencing, including across the water at both upstream and downstream ends. Then both banks are also protected by electric fencing for a considerable distance upstream. I did think twice about trying to access the top half but glad I did as this is where I caught the single wbt.

8 foot rod is sufficient for fishing this beat.

1 Trout

I spent a couple of hours fishing early afternoon from the top of the beat to the bottom. A huge amount of insect life but no sign of any fish rising or taking flies. This was my first time on the beat and it is always good fun to explore a new fishing spot.
The whole beat is lined by trees but it still okay to fish with some creative casting techniques.
I felt that this beat was less fish-able in low water than Lower Stanton above but that could just be my lack of local knowledge.
I'll be back to try again soon.

Couldn’t really have been much better. I had not fished this beat before and I was a little worried that it would be a bit noisy sandwiched between the main road and the train tracks. Apart from about four trains the rest of the day was peaceful and tranquil.

Weather was warm and mainly overcast with a few brighter spells (but most of the stream is shaded). After a very dry period we had just had two days of rain, so I was expecting conditions to be better than recent weeks. The Honddu was still relatively low in sections but it did have a good flow to it, with a bit of colour, and if you searched them out there were some very good looking deeper sections… and plenty of fish.

I have never caught so many WBT in one day before (I fished from approx. 9.30-5). They came spread throughout the day, with a bit of a rush in the last two hours. All sizes, from little 6” beauties, right up to a couple of much bigger fish that put up a good fight. And there were quite a few that I missed. All caught on a Klinkhammer indicator dropper set up with either a Hare’s Ear or Pheasant Tail nymph (the later gave best results).

I’m new to fishing small streams and their challenges, but when the fishing is this good I don’t really need anything else.

Note: In the directions to the beat, the chicken coup has now gone, replaced by a caravan.

14 Trout

Quick hour or so on my way home from work. River high but clear. No signs of life, but just wanted to get back on a river!

River was very coloured, but a decent flow. Wading tricky as couldn't see my feet at all. Fished for four hours this afternoon and managed 6 wbt between 7 and 9 inches. All took a weighted hares ear with an orange bead.

6 Trout

Water low and clear, missed a few takes to a small grey fly.