Feedback & Reports

The day was hot and bright, with little evidence of fish or fly until the evening. But at about 7.30, after dinner at The Bell, we stood on the bridge and offered a libation (in the form of a small quantity of bitter) to Adipe, the Fish Sage, who was revered and consulted by the ancient Mesopotamians (Adipe is believed to have been a giant Tigris carp, said to have come from the waters beneath the waters).
Soon a few mayfly, yellow may duns and smaller flies began to leave the water, and there were occasional splashy rises. By 9pm, the air was thick with yellow may duns, though the rising was still quite sporadic. We caught some beautiful and hard-fighting fish (though up to only 3/4lb) on mayflies, duck's dun, yellow may imagos and emergers. The action slowly tailed off, but there was still the occasional rise at 10.
I now see that I should have tipped the whole pint in. Then there would have been a spinner fall and a feeding frenzy.

8 Trout

A glorious day for sunbathing and a long lunch! Lovely stretch of the Monnow, but the river remained extremely quiet all day. Very few fish rising throughout the day and even the spent Mayfly drifted unhindered. Just too hot for all concerned.

1 Trout

A lovely and long day of fishing on a dry, sunny and calm day, using up WUF vouchers given to me as a birthday present. (A very welcome gift). There were surprisingly few rises throughout the beat and not the number of Mayfly reported by anglers only two day's earlier. Most fish were caught either right at the very edge of the water after hearing a noisy sip or a light splash, or by prospecting in likely runs. I did better in the first half of my fishing day than late afternoon or evening. All fish were caught on CDC dry flies - anything light and fluffy stood a chance, but, although the flies turned over well, I had no luck with full size Mayflies, so changed to smaller flies and a lighter leader and tippet on my 3wt 8ft 6ins rod. I waded up almost all of the beat only finding it too deep in three places, so I certainly had my monies worth when I had finished after 9pm. Two of the fish were absolute crackers. I have fished here before, Summer and Winter, and it is a a pleasure to do so.

8 Trout

Suprisingly few rises all day in what seemed to be near perfect conditions. I did find that rising fish were more than willing to take though. As mentioned in the report below there were some mayfly hatching but these were mainly in the afternoon and not in large numbers. I did manage to take 2 on a mayfly later in the day. I am quite new to river fly fishing and it was great to get some tips from the other rod on the beat. We were both banking on a hearty sandwich in the Bell where we met for lunch but had to settle for a healthy meal of a slice of cake and crisps as they were catering for a wedding! We compared notes and I fished the upper half of the beat in the afternoon which was more productive. A beautiful spot and some great sport. Thanks for the tips David.

7 Trout

A glorious day of Mayfly fishing. A steady trickle of Mayfly were coming off at lunchtime when I started, but huge numbers by late afternoon and early evening. However, most were ignored in the glides, but there was still a few rising fish to target. In contrast, the faster runs were full of feeding fish which were almost falling over themselves to take a CDC mayfly, although they didn't make their presence very obvious. I lost count of fish caught, but it was well over 20 between 10 and 15" with many more missed takes and lost fish. Also had to cut a lamb free which although badly tangled in a bundle of temporary fencing, could still run faster than me. Great to see the Monnow so full of trout.

20 Trout

Lovely day's fishing starting early and finished by 3 due to having to return to London. 10 trout on a combination of nymph and Mayfly. Trout of varying size with two lovely fish around the 1lb mark. Hatch of mayfly increased during the course of the day though relatively few fish rising for most of the time I was there. Typically, things seemed to be hotting up as I had to leave. I wonder how the other rod progressed later on in the day?!

10 Trout

Fabulous fish up to 15" all caught on grey wulff. Not many mayfly.

6 Trout

Range of sizes up to 1.25lb. 4 or 5 were stocked trout.

17 Trout

Range of sizes up to 1.25lb. 4 or 5 were stocked trout.

17 Trout

Cloudy and overcast all day but dry and cold. The river was running clear and there was little evidence of either fish or fly activity in the morning when I arrived (08-00hrs.)
First time wading and only my second time river fly fishing. Found it all a bit wobbly but great fun. Tried nymphs first then a dry without success. After lunch noticed some good fly activity which turned out to be a good may hatch and took my 3 fish on a mayfly. The fish were having a feeding frenzy and had I been more experienced and skilful would have caught more. A great experience and will return.

3 Trout