Feedback & Reports

Good conditions. No fish hooked.

River in great order, but sadly anticipation not matched by results. Weather cool, cloudy bright, and expected activity did not materialise. Much of the day spent river watching, waiting for tell tale dimples, but even this avid watcher failed to see a single fish all day, even in the tastiest of bubble lines and other likely spots.

Arrived around midday, river looked very good, just a hint of colour, weather was mostly sunny with the odd shower. Started by walking to the far end of the beat and noticed the odd fish topping on the way so started with a Daddy as there where lots in the fields. I was covering fish but had no takes on it at all, there was also no hatch going on and very little insect life so quite what the trout were taking was a mystery. I soon switched to my faithful Greenwells Glory dry fly which I find will produce almost anywhere and so it proved to be the case today. Targeting the steadier glides I managed plenty of takes, missing most unfortunately but I did manage two respectable sized brown trout in excellent, hard fighting condition, both returned none the worse.
Lovely afternoon on this great beat, thank you Wye and Usk Foundation, I'll be back for more.

2 Trout

A blank i'm afraid but an enjoyable day on the river. I'm new to fly fishing rivers which may well of attributed to the nil return.

Cloudy but not cold,the water was low and clear. There was not an great deal of fly life but I did see a pale watery come off quite early on. Fishing was hard but very enjoyable, I had quite a few nibbles at my black ptn in the rougher water but I wasn't quick enough to take advantage of them.
All three fish were caught in slower moving water, two cast to rising fish (there weren't many of those) and one speculatively. All fish caught on the same dry fly - a parachute Tups Indispensable. They were all a good size , the best best about 13 inches, deep and broad> All were wild brown trout in great condition and all returned safely.
A thoroughly enjoyable day - the second day I have fished the Monnow at Skenfrith this season - its a great beat, thanks.

3 Trout

This was the first time I had fished the Monnow, and I started out with the intention of targeting Grayling, and was not disappointed. The river was low and quite silted in places but crystal clear in others. I walked downstream to the end of the beat and saw no fish rising or moving. It was 1000hrs very bright and sunny about 16 degrees, it had been very cold the night before.
I fished upstream spiders (partridge and orange....snipe and purple size 14) and caught nine small Grayling to the half pound mark all these came from the faster water.
Later in the day I changed to nymphs and fished the slightly deeper pockets and caught seven Grayling from around the pound mark to 2lb, most took a GRHE size 14, the best two fish took a home tied PTN with a red thorax which was very pleasing.
All 16 fish were in excellent condition and returned to the river, this is a lovely stretch of river, with good water where wading is needed to reach the best spots.
Although not fishing for trout I did not see or move any during my seven hour visit, the day was finished of with a well deserved drink and meal in the highly recommended Bell at Skenfrith.

16 Grayling

Bright sunlight and a brisk wind made the day a challenge. Water was colored but low enough to enable wading through long stretches of the beat. Managed to catch 2 trout on a dry (size 16 Adams) both 9", and both safely returned. Very sparse hatches throughout the day, and very few rising fish. A very enjoyable day on a great beat.

2 Trout

Lovely day fly fishing. No fish caught.

River pretty low, plenty of fish rising but easily spooked, only managed to hook one grayling of about 9"on Klink and Dink. All the same we enjoyed our day on a lovely beat.

1 Grayling

Three cheers for the Wye and Usk Foundation for opening up this wonderful stretch of trout fishing to us all. I can't believe that no one has fished this beat since the first week of July? With low water you can begin to wade into some of the deeper pools and this is where the larger fish are to be found at this time of year. Profuse hatch of sedge alongside Mayfly and Daddys, all of which produced significant results fished upstream. 15 trout, with the largest to 1.5lbs (actually should have been double this number but for slow reactions. I cast to one fish who took the same fly three times on consecutive casts and I missed every time. 2 grayling (my first ever) on sedge, both fish around the pound mark, and one chub. An awesome day's fishing on a cloudless day even if there is algae growing off the rocks.

15 Trout