Feedback & Reports

One of the best days I've had in a long while. A really lovely beat, interesting to fish and easy wading. Started around 10am working upstream. The only trout I saw were those that skittered away from my clumsy approach and a couple lying under overhanging branches and knots of vegetation. Spent two hours trying to sneak up and flick little casts at them with nothing to show except a collection of twigs. Around midday the trout very suddenly started feeding on the surface. A gentle hatch carried on all afternoon and evening - it was still just about going when I left at 6pm. Unsure of the entomology, I initially assumed LDO but when I got hold of a couple they were paler, more brown in colour with yellow legs.
Trout were rising consistently which made for exciting fishing but I was unable to effectively match what was hatching. I went through most of my box, taking a total of 5 and losing 4 more on a mixture of CDC Dark Olives, Cillabaetis Comparaduns, Royal Coachmen and Red Quill Duns. Largest was around 10 inches with the rest between 6 and 8. All returned.
A very exciting day I shall remember for a long time. The only thing that stopped me going on until dusk was the steady rain and cold that eventually left me unable to tie knots without dropping the contents of my fly box all over the floor. I'm sure somebody more competent than I with exactly the right colours in his box would have landed dozens more over the course of the day.

5 Trout

There were plenty of fish showing but rain and wind stopped play, so a nil return!

The cold wind made fishing very difficult but I found two trout below the weir (8 amd 12 inches). They both fell to a gold head hare's ear. Just the odd rise seen above the weir but casting was almost impossible most of the time.

2 Trout

Cold water, cold wind, hail and rain - still it's only May after all! Nothing seen, never mind caught!

One salmon caught in Biblin's run at 3.15 pm. It took a 2 inch copper tube fished on fast sink tip and measured 28 inches. Nothing else seen all day.

1 Salmon

One fish about 10lb,taken spinning at Redbrook, another lost. Levels still too high for bottom beats. A few fish seen but no great runs of 2SW summer fish as yet. Intermittent shoals of smolts still passing through. Numbers seem better than recent years.

1 Salmon

no salmon caught or seen

I put in a report of my days fishing on Seven Sisters but it was not very informative so I thought I'd better give a few more details. The salmon took a 2 inch copper Willie Gunn fished on 10 ft fast sink tip. It was caught on the Biblins Run on the right bank about 10 yds down from the shingle beach water. Conditions were good, the water height at Monmouth was 1.38 but the river did rise a few inches through the day.

1 Salmon

Another fish from Redbrook yesterday, 16lbs to robin Stewart on fly

1 Salmon

Not the easiest of days due to the blustery conditions and downpours. Upstream presentation of any fly mostly thwarted by downstream wind but when the wind did drop there were rising fish to be had and water clarity was good.
Started the day off well with two small Wild Brownies just below the bridge taken on a CJ's Ducks Dun (size 14) and then later in the day (in between downpours) managed 3 more fish between us on Blue Winged Olive, March Brown and a Greenwells Glory a few hundred yards further upstream.
Sporadic hatches brought the fish to the top and had there been less rain and wind the day would have been a lot different.
Finding the right timing for the strike was difficult as we missed a LOT of takes, there being quite a lot of smaller fish. A further 7 fish shed the hook (fishing barbless of course). Even with the elements against us it was still lovely to be on the Usk again and the Glanusk Estate beats never fail to please.
Had we fished wets I'm sure we would have had more fish but why on earth would anyone want to fish wets when their are rising fish!
All fish returned.

5 Trout