Feedback & Reports

Following on from my fishing the previous night on Dan-y-Warren, I ended my short, but superb, stay, in Crickhowell (the Old Rectory in Llangattock, great place to stay!) with a few hours at Glan-yr-Afon. This must be one of the most picturesque, idyllic places to cast a line. Tricky wading as previous anglers have commented, but worth the effort. I've always found this part of the Usk a real challenge, but this time it was fantastic. 5 trout hooked, 4 banked (all put back in great condition, barely lifted out of the water), all on nymph through deeper, slower runs. Tried the dry fly for a while, but river was running fast and hard to control the fly line. Thanks WUF for providing such a beautiful beat. Heron there as always. There is nothing better than catching a wild brown trout on the Usk, followed by a beer in the Bear!

1 brown trout on lure at Glaslyn pool. Another seen rising at mudpool but wouldn't come to fly. Lovely peaceful scenic stretch of river and as two very inexperienced fly fishers we had a great day. Needed the waders.

I had watched the forecast on Friday with some trepidation "month's rain in a day" and drove up from London in steady rain
However, on the river at 7.30 am to find it up, coloured but definitely fishable, and not the torrent of milky-red tea I'd feared. It steadily dropped and fined-up throughout the day.
Fished for salmon in the morning, trout in the afternoon. No salmon seen or touched (maybe one knock?. Better luck trouting, 6 caught and safely returned including a magnificent 16" fish from just below the A40 bridge.
The others were in the 1/2 - 3/4 lb range.
Very little fly-life all day. Packed up just before 8pm. In retrospect, should have fished on as I suspect there would have been good fishing around 9.
Only downside was ripped waders on barbed wire on the bank. There is a lot of ex-fencing hidden in the grass on the river bank, especially down by the crossing point

A picture postcard scene when I first made the river after an early breakfast (after a bit of faffing trying to work out which lay-by to park in. Sun streaming through trees, steady hatch, water very clear (all colour had gone overnight.
Hadn't fished this far up the Usk before and it is noticeably smaller than below Brecon. A fair amount of overhanging trees make for careful casting (there were a couple of red flying Cs hanging from the tree branch over the quarry pool, looking like someone had forgotten to take down all the Christmas decorations!)
Landed (and released) half a dozen trout, all to a gold-head PTN, best about 1lb. Packed up at 2pm, hadn't been much fly life post 12, and the weather reverted to current Summer form of cloud with intermittent rain.
A beautiful beat, and I imagine great fishing a little earlier in the year with more daytime activity.
PS - a note on the wading / getting around. While not the trickiest beat on the Usk, one needs to be careful and definitely needs studs. Some deep holes close to bank side. Met the farmer, very pleasant chap, and he understandably wants anglers to keep to the river when moving about. Given some of the banks are very steep, this inevitably involves more wading to get up and down the beat.

Guiding on the Usk for C T. It was his first time on the river although he was an experienced reservoir angler. started the day with a 14" beautifully marked trout on a small nymph. During the rest of the afternoon we caught and relesed another 8 BT between 9" and 11" and a couple of much better fish hooked and lost.

Cloudy mild day with a breeze from the north. Started at 11:30. Not much moving. Caught 1 10" WBT, and then surprised myself with a 3lb plus - both on a pheasant tail. Bit of a hatch about 4pm. Caught 3 more, best just over a pound. Left c7pm

Cloudy mild day with breeze from the north. Water level good and clear. Started at 11am. Nothing moving all morning. Small hatch started c4pm. Switched to dry (adams). Picked up 2 x 10" WBT plus a 2lb beauty. Finished c7pm.

Landed a coloured 10lb cock fish in the morning (Llanstephan gauge at 2'5"). Nothing else seen or touched.

1 grilse about 6lbs from Edw Pool in the morning and 16lb slightly tinted fish from Stone Catch in the evening, both spinning. Strong pull did not connect at Lady, followed by lovely head and tail run in front of me. Barely touched Abernant Stream, with river running at 2ft4, this pool suits only very brave ones! Thank you.

My guest didn't fish on the day - so only 1 rod fishing. I caught half a dozen barbel and the same number of chub. No great specimens among them. A couple of fish incompetently lost. All fish caught on the usual pellet/feeder combination. River level dropping through the day. Another enjoyable day on the Wye.