Feedback & Reports

25lbs spinning from Alders pool. Levels still too high for bottom beats. Colour due more to Ithon mud than algae.

1 Salmon

Only fished the morning as we had a long drive back. Caught & released a shad on spinner and also a lovely 1lb wild brown trout on a wet fly & a SH outfit. Saw one salmon heading downriver but they wouldn't co-operate in the bright sunshine. Lovely beat though and will certainly be back next season.

2 Other

Three hours fishing. 3 trout - 9" to Royal Wolf dry, 1 superb 13½" trout who smashed into a Mayfly nymph as soon as it touch the water. Perfect conditions on deeper pools.

4 Trout

A dissapointing day. Despite a good hatch of Mayflies (and Olives) 11am until 6pm, we only saw 4 fish rise the whole beat! One of these took an artificial and was netted (10"). We also fished the 'clink and dink' and a good fish was lost in the weir pool at the top end of the beat. Being our first visit we thought the river was fantastic with lots of 'fishy' lies and runs but reality on the day didn't match this.

1 Trout

First day Salmon fishing, many thanks to Don Macer-Wright for the excellent casting instruction and information on Wyebank and Courtfield beats, early pm at bottom of Courtfield had a take on a small orange shrimpy type of fly that put a substantial bend in my rod, unfortunatley after taking off down stream came straight back at me like an express train and I couldn't keep up so it dropped the barbless hook.

Only an hours fishing after work 7:30pm...Mayfly doing the trick of course. Many large spinners around....

6 Trout

No fish seen or caught by 2 rods, although a pike of about 4 lbs caught from the Vanstone pool. Lamprey seen close to the surface in the afternoon.
For left bank access the road from Ross was closed close to the entrance to the farm track, but fortunately we approached from the Kerne Bridge direction.

1 Pike

It was a treat to be back on this beguiling stretch of water after a long absence. The early start from camp near Crickhowell seemed a bit optimistic under an entirely cloudless sky and fierce sun and after two lean days on the middle Usk in slightly gentler conditions I thought I would largely be going through the motions today.
An early silvery ten-ouncer not far below the first access point was then followed by a long, painful reminder that trying to control a long, three-fly cast finishing in a small beadhead with a cast over the wrong shoulder (to avoid the tree line) is likely to end in tears - sooner, and frequently, rather than later. By lunch, and an overdue change to a two-fly set-up and down-and-across tactics over the right shoulder,with dries failing to bring fish up, I had reached the Poplar Pool where a good stream jinks down past the island. Deciding to fish the inviting pool above the Highwell bedrock, this time I was taken downstream on the shrimp point fly by an explosive fish which later made a pound and a half and looked suspiciously like one of the sparse run of sewin that are sometimes mentioned in Brecon area catches. Who knows?
Sticking with the nymph rod brought a further fish of 1.25 pounds - a stock fish I soon realised, though quite a tidy one - and another perhaps decent fish on and off. Both of these came from the bottom reaches where fish were visible in gullies in the bedrock as I passed. Later the anticipated evening on the head of the beat was a disappointment with only two tiddlers to PTNs and two rises to dry - neither even touched on the strike - in the dreamy final pool, Long Gutter. All the same, a lovely day in the Fenni Fach wilderness, albeit a relatively underwarding one. I survived those boulders and bedrock in lowish flow but isn't it time WUF commissioned a medal for everyone who takes on Fenni Fach and finishes the day without a wetting?!

5 Trout

A beautiful stretch of river and with genuinely easy access for more mature trout fishers. Very few rises despite plenty of food coming down. Lovely fishing but tough catching.

2 Trout

Beautiful sunny weather with a cool breeze, but very little fish activity. Tried all methods - a couple of grayling caught on a nymph - and half a dozen tiny browns on dries (two larger ones lost). Wonderful place to be but frustrating fishing!
Spent the night at the Griffin, Llyswen which was excellent - very friendly, good attention to detail and great food. Thanks for the recommendation.

6 Trout, 2 Grayling