Feedback & Reports

River of course low and v. clear, strong gusty cold downstream wind but some nice sunny spells, produced a steady hatch through the day - but saw no rise whatsoever. Did not see any trout either, perhaps its still a bit cold in this valley! 1x 11" trout on a gold bead GRHE from a deep pool, but no other knocks or interest. Nice break in the afternoon watching a farmer plus wife train a young collie, with help from 2 wiser dogs, herd sheep and lambs, it seemed to learn fast!

1 Trout

I was camping in the valley and thought I would spend a couple of hours fishing. As I expected there was very little water in the river and the trout were hiding. Nothing caught.

I chose the Honddu because it offered some shelter from the promised south-westerly gale, and that worked out well. The NRW river level at Tafalog was suggesting a decent water level - but it was lying, the river was desperately low and I should have paid attention to the more recent catch returns from the Monnow system. I fished through the whole beat in 4 hours but the only fish I saw were the two small brownies I caught on nymph and the one rise which I missed - despite a decent smattering of sedges and upwings of various types.

2 Trout

1 wbt 6" on para adams, one 8" on GRHE. Masses of fly life but few fish rising.

2 Trout

Day 2 of 4 on our trip. Brother in Law fished Escley brook in next valley over in England whilst I gave two Welsh Honddu back-to-back beats a go. Lower Henllan and Maes y Beran were fished and I caught nothing until 2.30pm and then the temperature came up a degree and the fish came up. 17 fish caught on various dry. Three or four were a decent 14". Very sporadic hatch. I parked at Maes y Beran and was directed to much better nearby parking by the lady of the farm who stopped for a chat. Bizarrely I met her again at the end of the day and she was very happy to hear of my haul. NB: There is camping sites riverside on both beats and I would imagine it gets very busy in the summer months.

17 Trout

Last trout trip of the season, ended on a high. Lovely day, good flow but very clear, so trout were wary in the sunshine, and again very choosy. Plenty of various flies and trout rising, but it took a a while to find what they would take. Eventually, a size 18 iron blue para was successful, and I landed 10 on this, and several more shook the small hook. All in good condition, between 9" and 3 at 12". Kingfishers and Buzzards as well, I was reluctant to leave at the end of the day!

10 Trout

I could only mange a morning session and with very little rising and only a few sedge coming off made for tricky fishing. I caught only one small trout on a PTN nymph and lost a couple of others, maybe in the late afternoon/early evening things would have got going. As always I enjoyed the session and casting under the tree canopy, getting the fly to go where you want it to is a challenge.

1 Trout

It was cold and drizzly to start with, but I had some success with the nymph. Various types of fly started to appear about 1pm and I switched to dry. I had a good deal of interest in grey and rusty klinkhammers through the afternoon but missed a lot of fish through striking too soon - a typical fault for me when searching with dries. I ended up with 8, the best about 10".

8 Trout

Honddu in prime condition, full of water and fish. A dry klink took fish from the faster water up to the stone arch bridge. Switched to a PTN and had fish out of the rusty coloured pools all the way to the end. Could have stayed and probably caught more but was pressed for time so only spent about 3 hours fishing. Persistent rain didn't seem to bother the fish although no hatch was happening, stayed reasonably dry in the canopy.

15 Trout