Feedback & Reports

Fished the top of the beat for a few hours this morning. Fishing very tough even though fish were rising. I spent most of the time spooking fish.

A lovely warm day with not too much sunshine, little wind and the water clear at 1ft 1" on the Llanstephan guage. Arrived later than expected at about 10am to find fish rising and accepting emergers, particularly the UB Duck's Dun. Then fished some faster water further up the beat with success, particularly on tung-head, stripped quill nymphs. Returned to this section later in the day fishing duo, traditional and Tenkara, to find rising and non-rising fish taking a grizzle Elk Hair Caddis in preference to nymphs. Then had a rather frustrating hour at the end of the day with fish seemingly rising to an ant fall - many fish being moved but most proving difficult to hook but we still finished the day with yet more grayling and some trout. Took other fish during the day on spiders, nymphs and other dries and emergers. Lost count of the grayling but had at least 60 fish - mainly 8-10" with only 6-8 of 12-13". Of the trout, most were 10" or less but one larger fish of 12" took the nymph during the morning session. Quite a bit of fly around during the day - mainly YMs, stonefly, some small olives and latterly the ants! A fun day during which, remarkably, we both managed to stay dry (quite an achievement given recent experiences on both parts, and the slab hazards on the beat!).

15 Trout, 60 Grayling

River in fine fettle with falling water levels. Steady trickle of Pale Wateries and BWO hatching off. Through most of afternoon, only salmon parr taking the hatching duns. Early evening the grayling also started coming to the dry fly. Most successful method was fishing a team of spiders across and down. Most productive flies were size 16 snipe & purple and size 14 water hen bloa. Most of the grayling in the 6-8 ounce size range.

4 Trout, 15 Grayling

Whatever the reason, I found no fish wanting to take my bait today. I figured the barbel would be in the faster water near the car parking area. I figured wrong. A nice day, but on reflection I should have arrived earlier and moved around more.

All Barbel caught on pellet/feeder tactics, chub caught on trotted fish meal pellets. Hissing Sid, aka the friendly swan, kept me company for most of the day. Thanks again WUF.

15 Barbel, 9 Chub

5 Barbel, 7 Chub

Day 2.
Caught 8 Barbel throughout the day, 5 from one swim (100 yards down stream of the hut) and 3 from the area upstream of the bend. Most fish in the 6lb range with a couple of 5lb fish. Had 3 Chub all in the 3lb range. All fish caught on standard ledger tactics using pellet.
Wonderful 2 day fishing trip, well worth the 350 mile round trip. Already looking at booking another 2 day trip.

8 Barbel, 3 Chub

Short of time - only managed 3 hours due to work. Nothing much happening for 2 and half hours - then things started to pick up. Lost two nice fish in the last 20 minutes before I had to go! Such a shame to have to leave just as the fish came on.
I say I'd come back, and maybe I would but I think the price tag is quite hefty compared to others for the size of the beat. It's always nice to try new beats though.

Another days guiding on this fantastic beat. The two anglers I was guiding caught 8 barbel between them, the largest being a 10lb 2oz fish. Two other 9lbers were caught during the day.
Not as good as yesterday, however brilliant fishing for these guys. Think they might return again!

8 Barbel, 2 Chub

What a difference. Yesterday G drew a blank because he wanted to use a rolling meat method. Today he listened to the my advice and used the pellet and feeder method. Right from the start he caught barbel after barbel. He had 18 in total to 8lbs 12oz.
He has just had the best fishing day of his life. However, he didn't catch too many chub which is what he wanted. I don't know you just can't please some people!

18 Barbel, 2 Chub