Feedback & Reports

Spent the penultimate day of the upriver season (my last) at the Dolgau beat as a guest. The river looked perfect when I arrived but rose a little during the day. Tried my damnedest for 10 hours but the salmon simply beat me. They were lots about and showing just once at the smooth tails, and the rapid heads of the pools, then vanished, going through like torpedoes. So I caught nothing, but did that matter to me? No, not in the slightest. I was doing what I like best; angling in the upper Wye. Well to me, the best bit of true angling is yet to come, and I can’t wait till November to once again spy, stalk, and then watch the magnificent Wye salmon jump at the falls, and finally dig that nest and lay the eggs.
My grateful thanks for the exciting angling go to Richard the owner of the wonderful Dolgau beat.

No Salmon showing at all inspite near perfect height and colour of river. Enjoyable day none the less.

4 Trout, 1 Sea Trout

River was still high but pretty clear. Worked hard to little avail. Very strong wind and falling barometer. Beautiful water, we'll definitely be back.

2 Trout

River very low. Caught on Daddy Longlegs.

1 Trout

Started early on this chilly September morning but my efforts to get on the river didn't materialise into fish. A heavy fog stuck to the river until mid-morning, this made spotting anything very tricky. However by 11am things had cleared and I managed a few trout to 15". All swimming off safely.
Another trip planned soon.

4 Trout

Conditions good. Trout 1/2 to 1 pound. Grayling 3/4 and one of 1 and 1/4 pounds

4 Trout, 3 Grayling

This was my first visit to Dolgau and I found myself constantly wondering why I hadn't decided to fish it sooner. The water looked inviting and the well maintained riverbank and facilities a great credit to the beats owner.
I started fishing the downstream section at 9am but due to the amount of quality water to fish only had time to briefly fish the upstream section in the afternoon. I fished P/T nymph patterns on a french leader all session which produced 5 x trout between 3/4 & 1 3/4lbs and 4 x grayling between 1 & 2lb. All fish were in good condition and safely released.

5 Trout, 4 Grayling

Washed off Abernant with a big brown flood coming from the Irfon, so WUF kindly fixed me up on Dolgau. Never been there before but I will be back. It is a beautiful and well maintained beat with some very promising looking salmon pools. I started off above the bridge with a couple of nymphs and caught a 12" brownie with my third cast. I caught a few more, smaller brownies and had several pulls in the Bridge Pool before moving up but the trout were less obliging in the bigger pools. The owner came down for a chat and he suggested that the water was just right for a salmon, so I put on a cascade and fished through the top salmon pool. Although I did see a grilse jump, he did not want my fly. I did catch a few more trout on the nymph as I fished back down to the bridge and then changed to the double hander to fish the 2 pools below the bridge with a cascade. There was a moment of excitement as I hooked a fine wild brown trout of about 2.5 pounds in the Oak Tree Pool. He would have been a lot of fun on my 5 weight trout rod but despite being a very feisty and active fighter was no match for the salmon rod, so was netted and released quickly. I shall look forward to another visit!

10 Trout

5 Trout, 1 Grayling

Tough day, sunny and water was a bit high but clear. Fished 10am - 8pm. No hatch to speak of and no action in the white water either. Left a bit disappointed. Well worth another visit though as the beat is very inviting, with varied and interesting features. No doubt holds many (elusive) trout.