Feedback & Reports

Not a chance; river was in flood, a raging brown torrent. Lovely place though, I'll be back.

Unfortunately rained off but look fwd to re booking

River on the rise and starting to colour up. Saw a couple of fish move but no takers!

Beautiful day in stunning scenery saw one salmon roll but caught none. Have to fish this beat before the canoes take over. Took advantage of the free tickets before March 14th and a big thank you to the Wye & Usk Foundation, it was a wonderful adventure.

Water level pretty low so wading relatively easy. Access points to the river clearly market by yellow marks on stumps etc. Shame no fish, next time!

Blank, except for accidental trout. I didn't have too much time on what was another very cold day, but I managed to fish down the section below the suspension bridge on the right bank, which is a nice bit of fly water. Otherwise, there is a lot to learn about salmon on this beat. I wonder where the expertise is; does anybody have any notes? As others have mentioned, it looks like there is some more fly fishing, in low water at least, at the bottom by the island. Roaming around with a spinning rod, getting a cast away where you can from the cribs, should be a useful tactic to try and cover the deeper water.
Many years ago, my son and I took coarse fishing tickets here on occasion. We used to catch mostly chub, and lots of eels, ledgering from various cribs. At that time, salmon fishing being truly in the doldrums, salmon boats and oars were lying rotting on the banks.
If you don't know this part of the valley, you should certainly come to see it. The river and its spectacular gorge have been a tourist spot since the likes of Wordsworth and Nelson visited and the river itself can still be quite busy on summer high days and holidays. The forest hanging from the gorge on either side, however, is very wild. The "seven sisters" from which the beat gets its name are sheer outcrops of rock. These tangled woods are also home to the small group of red deer which live in the Forest (most of the Forest of Dean deer are fallow of course) and a roaring stag during autumn rutting makes quite a sound in the gorge around Arthur's Cave. Apart from the remains of the railway line, the whole area used to be worked for iron, and in parts of the river you find yourself wading, not on gravel but on ancient furnace clinker. You can see the same in the bed of the river around Wyebank and Courtfield.

Blank in a cold day but I will definitely be back here.

No fish. Very cold.

No fish. Very cold day.

New to this beat so just finding our way round with the fly rod / where and where not to wade! Lower limit of beat has Martins Island which you can wade to from above Island on left bank pointed out with white spray paint and some steps cut out of bank. More spinning water than fly but some nice spots to get to know.

1 Trout, 1 Barbel