Feedback & Reports

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

Small fish. The river was low and quite dirty, with a lot of stuff floating down. It is quite badly polluted I think (farm run-off?). There is a lot of algae on the rocks.

7 Trout

Nothing caught, fish were hanging around in deep water, and were rising for the early morning feed. Good show of fish rising in the deeper pools with water level low, especially near the bridge - spotted one decent sized greyling too. Pub lunch highly recommended!

15 Trout, 6 Grayling

I fished from 10.30am to 6pm, not the best hours I know, and sure enough there was not much rising but later in the afternoon a few mayflies started to come off and the trout were happy to take these where they found them. I had trout of about 10 inches on a dry olive (everyone else - make sure you have the right colour mayflies with you!) and had a couple of good tugs on a downstream pheasant tail, both missed. It would have been nice to wait around and see if there was an evening rise, but maybe next time. A nice part of the world and an easy to fish beat, I'll be back.

1 Trout

5 x BT between 6 and 9 inches, 2 x BT 12 inches, 1 x BT 15 inch, 1 x Dace. All caught on Adams parachute, from midday to 7 pm. All safely returned.

8 Trout, 1 Other