Feedback & Reports

Fish were taken on size 14 Grey Dusters and sedge patterns. Dusters were fished static but the sedges proved more effective when moved. All fish were released, best around 1lb 6oz. River was running slightly coloured. We both really enjoyed the experience and will definitely return.

9 Trout

My first time on the Monnow and certainly not the last. An excellent day on a lovely beat in spite of the late afternoon rain. I arrived to find another angler tackling up and was hoping to get a few tips but Sod's law, it was Brian's first time here too!
There is a nice mix of fast water, deeper pools and long slower glides but today the water was pretty coloured. There was not much fly life today and rises were sporadic. I managed 9 fish on a mix of dry and duo, with an elk caddis and ptn, fished on my 9ft 4wt. Another half a dozen hooked but not brought to net so a great day's sport (minor interruption from two black labs and an owner throwing sticks in the river).
Thanks to Brian, who was great company and good conversation over a sandwich lunch and pint at the Bell. Will definitely be booking this beat again - thanks WUF.

9 Trout

12 Trout

Lovely stretch of water with good variation that should keep you busy for the whole of the day.
The weather was warm and overcast with rain starting in late pm/early evening. I used a 10ft 3wt all day.
Shame the river was so very coloured - for example I was wading at just above the knee deep and was not able to see my feet. Not knowing the water; I was pleased I had my wading stick with me for the deeper sections. I met one of the land owners who said that there had not been much rain and couldn't understand why it was so dirty. It was more like Bisto in the slower stretches.
There were sporadic fly life throughout the day but very few fish rising. There were better hatches in the late evening.
Stuck with dries most of the time to see what I could get to rise and unexpectedly managed 12 WBT.
All in good nick and safely returned. The best was about 11 inches.This was more by "prospecting" than casting to a rising fish. Elk Caddis and CDC mays/emergers proved best. Left the water at 9pm when the rain was too much to bear.
Excellent company from fellow angler and lovely lunch at The Bell.

12 Trout

The day was hot and bright, with little evidence of fish or fly until the evening. But at about 7.30, after dinner at The Bell, we stood on the bridge and offered a libation (in the form of a small quantity of bitter) to Adipe, the Fish Sage, who was revered and consulted by the ancient Mesopotamians (Adipe is believed to have been a giant Tigris carp, said to have come from the waters beneath the waters).
Soon a few mayfly, yellow may duns and smaller flies began to leave the water, and there were occasional splashy rises. By 9pm, the air was thick with yellow may duns, though the rising was still quite sporadic. We caught some beautiful and hard-fighting fish (though up to only 3/4lb) on mayflies, duck's dun, yellow may imagos and emergers. The action slowly tailed off, but there was still the occasional rise at 10.
I now see that I should have tipped the whole pint in. Then there would have been a spinner fall and a feeding frenzy.

8 Trout

A glorious day for sunbathing and a long lunch! Lovely stretch of the Monnow, but the river remained extremely quiet all day. Very few fish rising throughout the day and even the spent Mayfly drifted unhindered. Just too hot for all concerned.

1 Trout

A lovely and long day of fishing on a dry, sunny and calm day, using up WUF vouchers given to me as a birthday present. (A very welcome gift). There were surprisingly few rises throughout the beat and not the number of Mayfly reported by anglers only two day's earlier. Most fish were caught either right at the very edge of the water after hearing a noisy sip or a light splash, or by prospecting in likely runs. I did better in the first half of my fishing day than late afternoon or evening. All fish were caught on CDC dry flies - anything light and fluffy stood a chance, but, although the flies turned over well, I had no luck with full size Mayflies, so changed to smaller flies and a lighter leader and tippet on my 3wt 8ft 6ins rod. I waded up almost all of the beat only finding it too deep in three places, so I certainly had my monies worth when I had finished after 9pm. Two of the fish were absolute crackers. I have fished here before, Summer and Winter, and it is a a pleasure to do so.

8 Trout

Suprisingly few rises all day in what seemed to be near perfect conditions. I did find that rising fish were more than willing to take though. As mentioned in the report below there were some mayfly hatching but these were mainly in the afternoon and not in large numbers. I did manage to take 2 on a mayfly later in the day. I am quite new to river fly fishing and it was great to get some tips from the other rod on the beat. We were both banking on a hearty sandwich in the Bell where we met for lunch but had to settle for a healthy meal of a slice of cake and crisps as they were catering for a wedding! We compared notes and I fished the upper half of the beat in the afternoon which was more productive. A beautiful spot and some great sport. Thanks for the tips David.

7 Trout

A glorious day of Mayfly fishing. A steady trickle of Mayfly were coming off at lunchtime when I started, but huge numbers by late afternoon and early evening. However, most were ignored in the glides, but there was still a few rising fish to target. In contrast, the faster runs were full of feeding fish which were almost falling over themselves to take a CDC mayfly, although they didn't make their presence very obvious. I lost count of fish caught, but it was well over 20 between 10 and 15" with many more missed takes and lost fish. Also had to cut a lamb free which although badly tangled in a bundle of temporary fencing, could still run faster than me. Great to see the Monnow so full of trout.

20 Trout

Lovely day's fishing starting early and finished by 3 due to having to return to London. 10 trout on a combination of nymph and Mayfly. Trout of varying size with two lovely fish around the 1lb mark. Hatch of mayfly increased during the course of the day though relatively few fish rising for most of the time I was there. Typically, things seemed to be hotting up as I had to leave. I wonder how the other rod progressed later on in the day?!

10 Trout