Feedback & Reports

On day two of a 3 day trip I headed up into Hereford and borders to fish Arrow Titley and Lugg Litton beats. Arrow Titley fished in the morning is very remote. The beat is split into two by the foot bridge where you park. The bottom has some fast running pools above the railway bridge which gave up a couple of feisty 10" fish. Above the beat I stalked a methodically rising fish very carefully in a slow running pool - he was the third fish of the morning and a cracker at 14" and gave a good account of himself.
I decided to transfer to Lugg Litton for the afternoon as Titley became very slow running in open fields. Lugg Litton was very difficult to fish. Very low and gin clear water and very overgrown in patches. It was stuffed with trout and I spooked fish with every step. I only caught one small fish but the beat will be fantastic challenge with a little more water in it.
RE: Parking - it does feel like you are intruding into the house garden/drive of Lower Litton. I knocked on the door to check and a very pleasant occupant confirmed I was in the right place. Park on the grass just on the right hand side as you enter the drive.

3 Trout

A good day with most fish coming to various dry patterns. Somewhat frustrating as many of the fish were rising to a large fall of aphids & proved difficult to tempt & even more difficult to hook!

3 Trout, 20 Grayling

Warm, overcast, river level very low.
Managed a trout of around 13" from a deeper pool but water a little too thin along most of the beat. Rose a couple of small trout in a narrow fast run but did not connect.

1 Trout

Lovely stretch of river. We started on the lower section dabbling in the gutter and although we scared a couple of good sized fish lingering in the shallows we were unable to tempt anything from the gutter itself. 2 grayling of 10" taken on copper john and hares ear nymph over a gravelly section before moving up to the upper section where we had 2 nice brown trout of 14" and 16" on Black Magic and red tungsten head hares ear. Light was running out as we got to the top and after taking one too many tumbles mid-water we decided to call it a day. Great fun and what a way for my pal to get his first fly fishing experience...a 16" Wye Brown!

2 Trout, 2 Grayling

A cracking day on this lovely beat. Weather conditions were near perfect - 20 degrees with a slight breeze. Water was gin clear again and cool.
There was rather little fly activity, except for lots of very small aphid like insects, their bodies were 2-3mm with clear wings. It would be great if the W&UF could let one know what they are called? They fish were rising to them in a frenzy all morning, sipping them from the top, which I think were mostly Grayling.
This was a real lesson in matching the hatch, as I must have tried every dry fly in my box without success! I persuaded a lovely Grayling of 10" to fall for a size 18 olive F-fly. The lesson learnt was the more about the size & silhouette than the colour of the fly. In the afternoon, I managed to tempt several more Grayling between 10-13" on a grey Duster & Klinkhamer, all size 18's.
Gofynne is a fantastic beat, with a great variety of dry fly flats, deep pools and runs. I would definitely fish this stretch of water again.
WUF Note: An angler fishing the beat above (Cefnllysgwynne) on the same day reported aphids on the water too.

5 Grayling

We loved this beat and will return, but only in mid week. The river was very low and the number of boats very high, we didn't expect to get anything because of the noise and disruption but were very happy to land a stunning 9lb Barbel on Richworth Xtracta Barbel baits before we had to leave for home. Many Thanks.

1 Barbel

Had not fished this beat before. Parked just past the bridge half way up the beat. Fished the top half for about 1.5 hours. Should have started at the bottom but was aware this part of the beat is shared with local angling club. In future I would check here first (about 800 yards down from the bridge) as this part of the beat offers the better fishing.
Very low flow, water clear. 3 wbt to 10" on an emerger pattern. Lovely beat, easy wading, would occupy the small stream angler for about 4 - 5 hours of gentle fishing.

3 Trout

The water was very low. A limited rise happened in the morning and a few small fish rising throughout the day. 20 small trout and grayling caught between us on size 22 cdc f-flies and cdc emergers. Best fish 1/2 lb brown trout. Beautiful day and a few salmon leaping in anticipation of the rain that came in October.

10 Trout, 10 Grayling

Had already fished the Kington beat earlier in the day. Not having fished this part of the Passport before this was a bit of recconnaisance for future trips.
Simple wading, gentle fishing, meandering through flat pasture land. Reminded me a bit of the Piddle in Dorset. Walked the beat for half an hour, winkled out 2 wbt, 6"-7". Looks like a decent half day's fishing when water levels return.

2 Trout

We only fished for 30 minutes as the bank was inaccessible, the water was full of weed, and even with a hatch, we did not see a fish or a sign of a fish in the two hours it took to walk round. Waste of time and money.