Feedback & Reports

3 small trout on bead head nymphs. Nothing rising.

Two hours evening fishing on a beat new to me. Classic small stream stuff requiring stealth and casting through,round, and under trees. Determined today to fish dry only and yet there seems to be good nymphing water. Three fish fell to olive emergers of various sorts. IOBO fly (look it up on line) seemed very effective. three chunky trout netted of a good 12 inches and fat. I have only scratched the surface with this beat and will return.

3 Trout

Lower Stanton Farm was hosting a charity duck race which put the middle stretch of the beat out of action! Good weather and saw lots of fly on top and bottom ends but no rising fish. Caught one near top end on dry fly cast into fast run by roots.

1 Trout

Tricky morning on the power Stanton. Water was the colour of stewed tea, and hadn't dropped as far as expected. The were mayflies rising, and what looked like pale wateries, but didn't see any rising fished before leaving at late morning.
Got absolutely zero interest in a duo, picked up two fish fingers sized on a scaled down french leader.

2 Trout

After a period of bright sunshine and warm days I was woken by a torrential rainstorm at about 4.30am. By the time I’d reached the beat the rain had stopped, there was a bit of light drizzle, and it was noticeably cooler. The water level was pretty low, but after the previous night’s rain there was a good flow to it. It felt like it had been flushed through.
Most fish caught on Klinkhammer/nymph set up, but a couple on the dry later in the day. All fish healthy, but smallish, 8-10”, including one OOS Grayling, and a Rainbow (presumably from the old fish farm), the rest were WBT. I missed plenty too. There were a couple of big trees down across the beat, which made fishing those sections impossible.
Another great day on a WUF beat.

10 Trout, 1 Grayling

8 Trout

1 Trout

lovely few hours , huge amount of fly on water but nothing rising. all fell for 2.5mm baetis nymph fished along the bottom. size all in the 10-12 inch mark.

11 Trout

Disappointing day, river running well with slight colour, but almost nothing hatching and I did not see or touch a trout all day. Tried all methods but river just seemed dead. Stretch above the first footbridge through the woods is well overgrown and v. difficult to fish, although it opens out again above the woods.

Sunny but windy. Tigermoth suggested that - " Duo/NZ tactics will winkle fish out from the riffles and rootsy little dubs and hollows."
A stubborn Halfordian, I started 'dry', using a parachute olive, tied by Dan Popp, and found a 3/4lb beauty early which motivated...but as the winds increased, my optimism decreased, and just ninety minutes later, and with no interest show at all, I left the beat...and headed, happy, to the oldest inn in Wales, for a pint.
A cracking beat, though, which Ceri Thomas recomended, and I know why....!

1 Trout