Feedback & Reports

Started well, catching a lovely 6:10 Barbel after 40 minutes or so, then the sun came out and the river seemed to switch off for the rest of the day, although I did catch the largest minnow I've ever seen. Therefore not a particularly productive day but good to be on the riverbank nonetheless.

One question: I'm an antisocial so-and-so and I don't really like fishing directly opposite other anglers. On the blurb sent when I booked the beat it says that a club has access to the opposite bank on the downstream end of this beat only. Yesterday there were three other anglers on the opposite bank at the upstream end of the beat (near power cables), which meant I couldn't really fish the best Barbel swims. Were they there illegally or does the literature need updating?
WUF Note: As far as we understand it, the club has access to the opposite bank on the lower part of the fishery. We will check with the owner to ensure that this is still the case. These could have been non club members with permission from the owner of the opposite bank of course, or they could have been fishing illegally. If you wish to guarentee nobody on the opposite bank, however, our advice is to book a double bank fishery.

One small roach and broken by a barbel was the total of the fishing action for the day. In glorious weather catching fish would have just been a bonus on such a beautiful location. Highlight of the day was the otter that swam past me less than ten feet away! A wonderful service from the Foundation. Will be back in the new season.

16 Barbel, 13 Chub on Meat and Pellet.

Great location and a lovely day. First time on this water and although we both blanked, it was well worth the trip. Will go again.

Started off with local landowner complaining aggressively about parking, as there is only room for one car and that was occupied. Targetted barbel but nothing caught. Continuous waves of dogwalkers and children on the opposite bank and in the river didn't help. Strongly advise not fishing on Sunday, especially if sunny.

The conditions were more like summer than late winter/early spring. It was a truly fantastic day to be in the Usk valley. There was a variety of fly life around with at least 5 species of upwinged fly on the water (I even saw a couple of mayfly?), but no significant number of any species. The trout also failed to respond to them and I only saw 6 rises all day and these were all oncers. All covered but nothing raised.

Fishing the duo did pay off though and I took 2 fish on a goldhead HE of 1lb & 1 1/2lb from the pool above the A40 bridge.

Fishing towards the end of the day with a nymph in a fast glide in the middle of the rapids near the bottom of the beat I hooked what felt like a monster. It surged off powerfully and repeatedly, fighting deep and not showing itself. After 5 - 10 mins of making little impression on the fish and several hairy moments I was starting to get very excited, I'd still not seen the fish and I was even questioning whether it might be a salmon. However eventually I managed to steer it into slacker water near the shore and rather than the 5lb monster Usk brown I'd been anticipating there was a fish of about 1 1/2 foul hooked in it's back. A beautiful fish but something of an anticlimax.

Will definitely be back on the Usk soon.

First time fishing this beat. Warm and bright summer like day. Wasted too much time walking banks and enjoying the weather. Blanked but two solid pulls. One fish showing reported by coarse angler.

2 barbel caught on what proved to be a difficult day.

Three brown trout caught in deep slow flowing water using a gold headed nymph, all fish were released. No fish rose or fly hatched all day. The weather was more akin to June than March which made for a great day to be out fishing.

Our first visit to this beat. Many of the swims downstream from the weir look ideal for barbel, but we failed to catch any in what seemed ideal conditions. After fishing a number of swims, three good chub between us late on of around 4lb apiece saved a blank.