Feedback & Reports

Very blustery day, wind and rain kept the fly life firmly sub surface. This is a very interesting beat the parts that are not impounded by the weirs are classic Lugg and some of the most picturesque water you will find any where in the catchment. Although the day was slightly marred by the constant attention of the cows who always seemed to want to wade in the pool I was about to fish next. Still I managed 5 BT up to about 12 inches and 6 out of season grayling the best of which was real conker measuring in at somewhere around 50cm. Why is it that grayling get so ugly when they reach these sort of sizes?

1 x 1lb, 1 x 12oz. Hares ear nymph - very sparse hatch LDO little activity.

Perfect fishing day. Rise started about 11.45 continued till till 5.00. Numerous trout to 14" and a few grayling. A mixed rise of flies - few grannom odd march brown, iron blues and a few dark olives. River showing its bones - you can now wade across to the other bank. Best to fish the runs. Caught most fish on ginger sedge this colour I find I can see best in most lights. It was worth plugging away in the fast runs again and again. Some heavy tugs and one break from fish unseen. Lookimg forward to next visit.

River very low and I managed to spook a large trout in the shallows early on. A hatch started about 11.30am. Finally I found a feeding fish and switched from my nymph to a dry quill paradun and a lovely 2lb+ fish was netted and returned. There was a lovely pool just upstream from the vicarage pool with at least half a dozen fish feeding but they did not like the look of my flies so I had to settle for one for the day. Certainly would like to return some day. One comment - why would anyone want to retain trout from here as the population seems fragile in number but of good average size. Lovely day.

Out on the home turf again this morning. Having fished off and on last week, and having seen plenty of LDOs in the hour either side of midday, I was absolutely amazed to see a substantial number of grannom hatching from about 10.30 am. this morning - nothing before then. As Oliver says in his earlier report from Glanusk, this is really very early (I did see about half a dozen grannom on the Usk near Gilwern at the back end of last week though as well, but too few to interest any fish). Today however, the fish were after the emerging pupae as the grannom appeared once each passing cloud had gone. With each pulse of sun, the grannom lifted off and the fish then rose. As usual when the sun went in, so emergence ceased and the fish went down....and so it went on until about 1pm. Trout and grayling taken on my shuttlecock and parachute grannom pupa emerger patterns and some fish on dark olive patterns as well, once they emerged later on. If you are interested in grannom pupa emerger tying details and missed them in T and S, or in FF and FT in recent years, they are now published in an article on the Gwent Angling Society website. Maybe Wednesday's forecast rain will slow things down a bit and set back these very early hatches? March Grannom - just amazing!

Two things in evidence today; a reasonable number of fish rising to LDOs and moving to stoneflys and a sustained level of incompetent dry fly fishing, not seen since last season resulting in lots of fish moved, risen or hooked and lost but most definitley not to hand.

Anybody with an ounce more sense should do well on this beat.

Nil caught.

Got here late afternoon. Fished only 40 minutes in all. Missed a nice trout at the Rocks. Caught a parr in fast water at Wood Stream on hut side. Small nymphs, down and across. Grannom hatching aplenty.

Three Brown Trout, largest about 10 inches, one Chub, all fish returned. All taken on Silver Corixa. Monnow in lovely condition, plenty of fish rising, although the majority small fish, no Grayling.

Struggled in low clear water conditions. Fished for trout only as far too low for Salmon. Landed and returned four small trout between us fishing sub surface with nymphs and grannom pattern. Good hatch of sizeable grannom 1-3pm but little else. Cloudy 13deg 0.48m.