Feedback & Reports

Two of us spent most of the day fly fishing though no fish seen or caught by either of us. Weather was glorious and great to be on the water. The bottom of the beat below the bridge is a lovely stretch of fly water, though good access for fishing from the bank on the upper and middle pools as well. Someone else fishing on the beat had caught and safely returned a cock fish est. at 30lbs from Horseshoe crib. Caught on a black and gold devon minnow.

We fished the Seven Sisters beat on April 19th. We took advantage of the 3 for 2 and think this was great value.
We landed and released a 23lb fresh springer (39 inches)on a red flying c and lost another of similiar size right at the bank.
We only covered a small section of the beat and where as some of the bank was unfishable, it all looked like really attractive water. Some of the bottom pools where we fished had nice access points.
We saw numerous other fish on the day and can't believe that we didn't actually catch more.
We stayed at the Royal Lodge Hotel which is just yards away from the start of the beat. The hotel and staff were great and the general manager of the hotel Graham who is also attached to the beat showed us the beat the evening before. This was a great help and we knew exactly where we were going from we woke in the morning.
All in all a great day out and looking forward to getting back soon.

1 Salmon

Blustery cold wind, Water was high but clear, no hatch of fly. Tried a number of patterns, without success

Cold downstream wind. Brief olive hatch about 1.30. minimal rise. Pricked one. No grannom.

5 x trout 10-14 inches, size 14 Gold Bead Hare's Ear and one on a Klinkhammer. As one who, with colleagues, spent some cold winter days pruning our way up 5 miles of the Escley Brook, I felt I owed this to myself. Use of the dry fly would have been nice - who would not rather fish that way - but nothing was rising at first although a few dark olives about. A prospecting dry fly didn't work, so I went back to trundling a nymph along the bottom of deep holes and glides and picked up some nice fish there, all but one over 12 inches. Escley trout are as good looking as any Monnow system trout, which is saying a great deal. However, the fish don't seem to be forward on the shallows and feeding lies yet - I'm sure they will be very shortly.

There was one exception. Around about the time I was tired out and ready to go home having done not much more than half the beat, there was one fish rising steadily in a glide. I put on a little Rusty Klinkhammer, greased the leader and got him! More of that please!

5 Trout

Arrived at ten and no sign of life on the Escley. After an hour and a half had only managed one of twelve inches to bead head, between 1-1.30 pm there was a solid hatch of olives which resulted in another five all between ten and twelve inches to olive emerger pattern, also lost three or four more. Then the rises stopped and the river became empty again. Great beat!! In good nick at moment, still only managed to cover first mile and a bit. will get to the end one beautiful may day.

6 Trout

Lovely day water not too cold walking to bottom of beat had a treat watching a kingfisher then came across a small deer. Started fishing with no sign of a hatch but took one 7"brownie in the second pool with a grhe nothong else,to report except a lot of trees fallen into brook making a cast impossible in some likely spots.

1 Trout

Nil return.

Still quite a cold day with a real edge to the wind which was blowing straight downstream.
Just after 1.00 p.m.there was a hatch of LDO's and I caught 3 during the next twenty minutes - biggest just over a pound. Apart from that brief twenty minutes there was no fly or fish activity.

3 Trout

1'11" in the morning after dropping a few inches overnight. Water clear. Fished hard but nothing seen or touched. Only had the fly rod so didn't do justice to Llangoed Pool which would have been the best chance.