Feedback & Reports

My son had one trout and caught him with a nymph. We had some showers and saw some fish in the afternoon.

Had a good early season day on Glanusk on Sunday last before the rain came - 6 browns to 16" to 3 rods all on dry fly during sporadic large dark olive and brook dun hatches. At the time 9" on the gauge and falling!

I thought I would give this little brook a go as the Wye is still high and coloured. A super little brook and one of my favourites so it was a pleasure to be back for the first time this year. Water was a nice height but slightly coloured after the recent rain. Some fly life coming off but nothing sustained. Tried nymphs but seeing one or two rises swopped to dry fly and had 6 trout biggest about 10" in the various pools. Rain and wind later made fishing difficult with 2 weight rod and line and I packed up after about 4 hours.

In spite of the forecasts, the afternoon was sunny and bright, but pretty cold. The river was coloured but at a fishable height. Some flies were coming off, but a rising fish was a rare sight. The one I did find was keen to take my fly, but less keen to be hooked. A blank day, but a delightful chance to explore more of this lovely beat which I visited for the first time last week.

Water pretty high and coloured but not as cold as expected 7C. Dropping and clearing slowly. One good take mid afternoon on the fly and contact for just long enough for me to be going "definitely salmo.." before it wasn't. Typical Welsh April day, blustery, hail, cold, sunny and beautiful. As ever thanks to WUF for great opportunity to fish and such a flexible service.

I came with the sole intention of reaching the end of this beat, I've tried twice before and failed.
On arrival the water was carrying a little colour with visibility at around 2'. It looked perfect for a roach or two but they're out of season so I decided to stick to the trout. I was equipped with a new rod, new waders and a new net, which is a lot of pressure on my luck, but first cast saw me bring 9" of feral anger to the net - a tiny goldhead nymph (also new) hitting the spot.
Nymphing my way upstream saw me hook a further dozen or so fish, netting half of them.
A few flies appeared in the afternoon, prompting the odd fish to rise here and there and it would have been rude not to stick a hook in them, so I did.
The weather turned out better than expected and, apart from the wind, it was a pleasant afternoon.
It was early evening by the time I saw the first yellow pepper. Then another. Finally a third capsicum sat crowning a waterfall. This was a first for me. Carrying on upstream, the scent of deep fat frying hung on the breeze and potato peelings littered the streambed - victory was close.
Sure enough, within minutes a Wye Valley brewery umbrella was sighted, across the stream a red sign nailed to a tree proclaimed "Beat End", and I'd done it.
It had taken 11 hours, but on the 21st of April 2012, at 7pm, I summited on the Escley middle beat.

Fished this beat for a good chunk of the day. No joy for me on the day but it looked about as good as it gets for the Usk. Tom also stopped down and gave me some great pointers on the ole' left hand spey. A true gentleman, as we talked rods, fish, and had a laugh. Probably worth showing up just for that. Will fish it again after the next spate.

River high and dirty. No fish caught on fly.

2 trout (both 3/4lb) and 1 grayling of the same weight(returned) all on the same fly - a Greenwells Glory fished dry. There was a brief hatch of medium olives, and a few fish rising, in a mixture of strong sun and blustery showers. Really enjoyed the day and this stretch of the river.

River at 3 feet and very dirty. No fishing according to ghillie.