Feedback & Reports

River very low, really could do with some prolonged rain now. Rose 5 grayling to the dry but only one hooked and landed. Good to be on the river again.

1 Grayling

River low and gin clear, only had time to fish between 12.30pm and 2pm, so fished a few of the pools up to the first footbridge bridge only. Tried klink and dink with no luck, then wading through one pool spooked a few fish lying hard on the bottom so tried a single heavy nymph to get down to them. Lost one after a short fight.
n.b when I was leaving someone else was parked up looking distinctly like they were about to go fishing. As I was leaving I didn't say anything, but I thought W.S. beats were booked by one person only per day.

Arrived at dawn and had a good look around. Began fishing the second swim on the far bank using cage feeder groundbait and pellet...nothing, not even a touch. My companion fished on my left and had 3 chub in 3 casts using small pellets and pva bags, his swim went dead around 8am - 8.30am so we swapped sides and I fished the first swim on the road bank bouncing meat around on a light lead . My mate went down to the 3rd swim on the same side and caught 1 more chub and missed lots of bites. After a chat with the fishery owner I moved down to a deep pool on the same side and lost a barbel first cast using meat then caught a chub approx 4lb, then the swim went dead around 3.30pm. We made our last move of the day to the final swim on the road side and I had a barbel of 7lbs 2oz first cast on a 20mm pellet then missed a take on the same bait. My mate then lost a fish in a unseen snag . I changed back to feeder and smaller pellet and lost a very heavy fish in the same snag. Retackled and had a smaller barbel of around 4lb then lost another in the snags, then another chub around 3lb. To summarise, I had 2 chub and 2 barbel but lost 3, my mate had 6 chub and lost a barbel. Overall impression is a great fishery which needs heavier tackle than you might realise due to some unseen snags which cost me a possible double. Oh well, was a good day though!

2 Barbel, 2 Chub

Just one trout caught, about 5 inches, on a tups. Water very low, the one branch of the stream held hardly any at all. Quite a few fish seen, though, but fishing not helped by the bankside vegetation and overhanging branches. This was a shame as this seems an otherwise nice stretch of water.

1 Trout

Fished from lunchtime to about 7pm. Small olives hatching off all day, with a good hatch in the early afternoon. Two of us managed 17 grayling to 17", and 8 trout to 14", almost all on small dry flies cast to rising fish. Should have started earlier. Got very cold after about 6pm when the sun went behind the hill. Nice beat.

8 Trout, 17 Grayling

1 Eel on meat. Lost one barbel and only had two other bites all day.

1 Other

I had been looking forward to fishing this beat for some time and nothing was going to spoil it for me. The fishing was slow to start but the surroundings breathtaking. The canoe traffic was substantially less than the previous day on Wyebank and just as courteous. Most of them will share a joke with you if you engage with them. After a wander and a chat with the other two anglers on the beat, Don arrived. From this point on and after taking on board all of his clearly substantial knowledge, I moved swims to the top of the beat where the deeper water runs. I opted for the swim known as 'the new swim' and it was not long before I was into the first fish of the day, a chub of around 4lb. It would be another hour or so before the first barbel arrived, a beautiful fish of around 6lb. This was followed by my best fish of the day at 8lb 4oz. A further 2 barbel and 1 chub were added before the light gave up on me. All fish fell to double glued halibut eclipse pellet, hair rigged and 3 foot hook lengths. I cast to the far bank aiming at a spot some 10 foot short of the far bank foliage. All of the credit must be given to Don, an extremely obliging and knowledgable river keeper and a real gent! I will most definitely be back on Courtfield in the future.

4 Barbel, 2 Chub

Enjoyed fishing from 10am to 7pm and caught 11 brown trout around 10 inches. Mostly cloudy with heavy rainfall around 4pm that stimulated the fish nicely and there appeared plenty rising in the evening after the rain. Used only dry flies, with parachute Adams working best, followed by daddy long legs, F-flies. All fish returned safely. This is one of the best beats on Usk as there are plenty of fish, easy access from parking to river, easy wading. Thanks WUF for providing this fantastic opportunity.

11 Trout

One fish seen, otherwise very very quiet.

Not the river conditions we expected to meet when we looked at the weather forecast earlier in the week, what happened to the rain! We did have a salmon rod booked but with the river so low and quiet we both coarse fished, plenty of resident salmon about though. A very interesting bit of water, we did fish most of the beat to get a feel for it but no surprise all the fish came from the bottom. First time on a very well kept beat, will be back.

6 Barbel, 27 Chub