Feedback & Reports

Here are some results - there has been a bit of a hiatus in producing these,because we have been moving house (same town, higher on the hill) and have been off-line. I can report that the new rod/tackle/fly-tying room is now organised although the rest of the house is in chaos. Despite, or maybe because of this, the Domestic Authority has authorised fishing again, so my son and I took off for the river and we got a few days in.

13 April, Buckland South: blank, although I lost a good trout on a nymph in the head of the Preserve. Nothing rising in the Mill Pool. You may say "sour grapes," but it does strike me this is not a lot of trout fishing for the money, although it looks very good salmon fishing value and a beautiful spot of course.

15 April, Dulas beat R42: 2 x 6 inch trout. The Foundation's team were coppicing and fencing in the middle of the beat, which may account for all the nervous-looking fish lurking in the lower section.

22 April, Brecon Town Water: 7 x trout to 14".

24 April, Upper Escley Brook Beat R36: 4 x trout including 13" and 14". This is an awful lot of fishing for the money, with pools all the way up! I like this one but could barely get through it in the day and it would be quite suitable for two anglers leap-frogging. The higher up you go, the more fish there seem to be - I got the impression it hasn't been fished much. Plus, the low flow and the sandstone slabs it runs over makes for very clear pools and everything is very visible. Usually I blew it and was probably spooking 9 out of 10 fish, but saw some large ones. I even managed to surprise an outsize eel (I trod on it while wading). I wonder what the reson is for the high average size - possibly the series of high waterfalls (one of them is over 6 feet) limit upstream spawning travel and reduce small fish recruitment?

26 April, Honddu Maes y Beran Beat R32: 1 x 7" trout. This stream near Llanthony does not seem to be as lively as it is lower down.

Otherwise I had a few trips to regular Usk beats at Usk Town, Kemys, Abergavenny and Mardy and all were reasonably good sessions. Fly-life is now quite mixed, like the weather. A few grannoms continued, but not in massive hatches. A few large dark olives still. I've seen just a few march browns coming off at Usk and in larger numbers at Brecon, where an imitation accounted for a few. It's funny to think this is the fly which the river used to be famous for. Hawthorns began to fall early, or at least before St Mark's day, and I had a couple of hawthorn-feeding fish from Kemys on a small black Klinkhammer. The Yellow Mays had already started on the Usk Town Water today, which seems early. And finally, I'm pretty sure I identified the large brook dun in the Escley Brook.

Having driven up from Cardiff straight after a night shift I arrived at the beat fearing the worst. However, the driving rain and blustery winds experienced on the way up started to ease by about 9am and things were looking up. Decided to stay close to the top end of the beat(and the shelter of my car) for a couple of hours while the weather decided what it was doing and it was here that all the action happened.
Caught 1 grayling of about 12Oz on a brown PTN but missed 4 or 5 other fish, 1 being of a notable size. A cold wind developed around midday and no further action occurred. At 3pm torrential rain stopped play and by 4pm my lack of sleep meant it was time to head home. Compared to my recent fishing experiences a very enjoyable day none the less.

Visited the River Usk for the first ever time yesterday. Not sure why I have never fished it before? Despite the best efforts of the English or should I say Welsh weather to spoil the day I did actually manage to catch a few.
It was hard going with a strong downstream wind for most of the day.(It did relent a bit in the afternoon possibly to make way for the hail storm and torrential rain).
I managed 6 fish for the day all nice trout all fish were returned.

ps I really enjoyed the day and the view of surrounding countryside is stunning!

Fished Cilwych for the first time on Sunday 26th April. Started about 10.30. Caught a few nice trout in the first hour on a gold head Pheasant Tail. It then went a bit flat until a good hatch of LDOs from about 2pm. This kept the trout rising until after 4pm. Finished up with 8 trout between between 11? and 14?, and a few smaller fish.

Gloriously rugged terrain and difficult wading. The beat was quite a challenge, but it was a dramatic setting and worth the effort.

3 nice brown trout caught on the fly and released.
The landlord of the Red Lion very helpfully came out and showed us the extent of the fishing. Very nice area. Salmon seen rolling in the pools but no luck.

A very good day, although a very strong cold wind made for difficult fishing at times.

1 rod had 4 Brown Trout and 2 grayling and the other rod had 4 Brown Trout and 3 grayling.

Most fish caught on small gold headed PTN. Some fish rising during early afternoon, but although a few were pricked on Klinkhammers, none were landed. All fish returned.

River very low and clear. Colder after warm weather during the week and not many fish rising. Caught and returned two c. 14oz grayling both on dry fly. Beautiful stretch of river with lots of variety. Lots of wildlife. Will definately try it again.

Shocking weather - upstream, very cold, strong, blustery wind of the blow-your-hat-off type (do W&U have a 'blow-off' policy?) Also some heavy rain showers Virtually no hatch (a few large and small olives, a couple of grannom), very few rises.

4 trout < 12oz, 2 grayling. Hooked and bumped-out of 8 others. The fish were reluctant to say the least, and presentation of dry fly virtually impossible. Caught on nymphs, hooked 1 on a klink.

Disappointed, but look forward to fishing it when they are 'on' !

3 small brown trout, all returned, caught on brown weighted pheasant tails. Excellent service and signposting from the Foundation.

My catch return for Sat 25th April at Lyepole was 1 brown trout weighing 1/2 pound

A brilliant days fishing for my son and myself. Thanks