Feedback & Reports

A proper wild beat. found myself rock climbing almost as much as i was fishing, and had a great time!

3 beautiful wild brownies all jumping 4 feet in the air while fighting, all from the waterfall plunge pool.

all released.

not a beat for the faint hearted or people used to the stocked, manicured chalkstreams :)

3 Trout

Walked a good part, of the bottom half of the section but didn't see anything to cast a fly at, therefore, no fish to report. I was a little disappointed by the amount of rubbish & broken bottles.

Fished an evening with LW, new sec. of MTAA. The Fechan is essentially a tailwater - water temps are always cold even in a heatwave. We fished the upper area just under the dam. Plenty of fish about between 6 and 11 inches on nymphs and dry flies.

13 Trout

Sadly very very polluted (litter) from members of the public BBQing, drinking and swimming in the river over hot weather. Didn't fish, too depressing.

No trout taken to net but many were missed on the strike or slipped off quickly. Lots of invertebrate life hatching to chose from and a stunning fiddly beat to work.

Walked from Vaynor Church up the beat since kids were swimming in the Blue Pool Bridge (can't blame them it was a hot day!)

I could only start fishing at 5pm and only managed to get halfway up to the beat's end due to tricky terrain and lots a fishing rising.

There were at least 12 small trout rising. It was very tricky casting with overhanging vegetation but I enjoyed the challenge to get a good angle and how it felt properly wild. I caught a brownie of around 4 inches but he slipped off the hook before I could take a photo.

Really enjoyed it and will go again but the access (in this small section of the beat) would make it uncomfortable for some.

1 Trout

Lovely to be out on the river after lockdown. Chilly day and river quite low. First time fishing this beat with plenty of water to explore. Nothing moving, will return later in the season after a downpoor.

Nice conditions, with a few clouds. Everything caught on nymphs.

6 Trout

An excellent stream that is literally full of fish - approximately 15 from 6'' to 13'' today. Lots of fish missed and spooked. Almost every little pocket, pool or pot can produce a fish. We fished nymphs under a klinkhammer or on a french leader. The Fechan fishes best after some water, so a good option when elsewhere is flooded.

15 Trout

Bought a day ticket from The Bait Shack in Merthyr Tydfil, fished from about 12-4 pm, with lots of fumbling around and being hungover and having lunch.
Cycled up to trefechan and accessed the river from there.
Its a beautiful location to fish, the river is narrow and overgrown with lots of trees for you to lose your favourite flies on. Water was very clear and low, day was warm and sunny.
I fished with a tenkara rod and started off with heavy nymphs, and then switched to a dry foam beetle. Both methods caught fish equally as well in their own way.
My impression is that the river is teeming with small fish, the ones I caught were all less than 20 cm long but very athletic. I lost around half a dozen fish mostly due to having to work around lots of obstacles and trying to be as careful as possible with such small trout.
My impression is that the river is teeming with small trout but its not easy fishing.
The trout are very spooky and I’d often see them darting around pools as soon as I was in eyeshot, even when I wasn’t close or I was on a high bank. I saw a few dog walkers so I can see why, from the trout’s point of view human = incoming dog.
Am likely to return as its really nice fishing. If I can, with a shorter rod (mine is 12ft).

4 Trout