Feedback & Reports

Fished from about 11.30 until 16.30. Maybe this was the wrong time of day to fish this stretch with the water being crystal clear and low and the weather being mainly bright sunshine. I say this because I didn't even see a fish. Nothing spooked, not a single rise spotted, and inevitably no fish caught.
A nice day out though.

Holidaying in Wales for the week, took advantage of the passport scheme to have two days river fishing . Day one the Ty Mawr beat probably the closest to where I was staying on a very bright and breezy day. The water is extremely clear and was quite low, or is this it's natural level? I started French nymphing but struggled in the wind so changed the long leader to a fly line and tried standard up stream nymphing. The beat is very open so I still struggled in the wind. I spoke to the farmer as I first approached the river, he said he sees fish bow waving through the fords in the early mornings. I saw no fish throughout the day, I rather suspect they saw me first. I'm a beginner at river fishing, the open nature of the beat means on the whole casting would have been easy but for the wind, but the extreme clarity of the water makes the fishing hard. More experienced fisherman might fair better.

My second day fishing the Passport scheme this week, picked this beat to be hopefully different than the last (Llanddewi), and indeed it was, much wider more open but with more features than the beat photos suggest. From reading the reviews and beat description I had decided it would be an ideal beat to make my first attempt at French nymphing. I fished the whole beat from 11 until about 5 on a really hot September day, the river was crystal clear but very low. Throughout the day I saw no sign of any fish. I'm a complete beginner on rivers so my river craft is in its infancy but I fished all the most likely fish holding spots to no avail. I really enjoyed the day, the solitude, the scenery, the challenge of a new technique, everything I wanted.

Have been holidaying in Wales for the last few years fishing in lakes, came across the passport scheme on a fishing forum, what a wonderful resource. Having read as many reviews as I could, booked two beats for what would be my first time river fishing in forty years. Access was overgrown but I followed the trail of a previous fisherman, the beat provides plenty of variety, overgrown in places, but as a complete novice I always felt confident in my wading. The weather was overcast and windy but the beat is sheltered. I fished from 11 till about 4.30. I started with a weighted pheasant tailed nymph and I lost the first one to a tree on about cast three, after that I was a bit more careful. I saw a few fish rising in the first half an hour. I fished nymphs without success until lunch when I noticed some fly on the water and changed to dry fly for the afternoon. Three very small wbt fell to a parachute Adams and one to a olive quill CDC, all safely returned, suddenly I'm a river fisherman! Secluded, peaceful and challenging everything I wanted, a great day.

4 Trout

First visit to this beat, seemed like a good flow but the water is incredibly clear. One nice Trout of around a pound caught on a Gold bead nymph in one of the deeper runs.
A couple of fish rising in the slow pools but getting close enough for a cast was very difficult.

1 Trout

CP and BS from London fished the full beat in the morning, 11am-2.00pm. Water crystal clear and level good. Bright morning sunshine with occasional scattered clouds; little breeze. No fish seen, raised or realeased. With little sign of fish, we moved fairly quickly from the bottom up to the top of the beat, fishing only riffles, pools and holding water; small dry flies. One good trout seen lower end of beat; 2 salmon near the top end of beat.

3.30 to 8.00 river high and coloured, 1 wbt 10" on ghhe and one pull both from faster riffles.

1 Trout

Very windy, water crystal clear and bright sunshine so no chance, but, to my surprise I took a most perfect brownie about a pound, (returned) and lost a couple more on a gold head fished down and across in fast water.

1 Trout

Total beginner. Third day fly fishing and first day on a river. Didn't catch any fish (see above), but that was not the main purpose of the day. Practised the basics and had an idyllic day on the river. No canoeists seen, no pollution to report.

Arrived mid morning in warm sunshine and had a long chat with the farmer who is delightful. Fished mainly small nymphs. Connected with a good sized out of season trout which promptly broke the line. Spotted a couple of other trout of perhaps 1 1/2lbs each, otherwise blank. This is a beautiful beat with easy wading and crossing. Sadly ran out of time to explore the bottom of the beat in detail but will do so on my next visit. Booking on line was very easy and efficient.