Feedback & Reports

Blank. The first hot day of the spring. I was lucky enough to share the beat with season rod Stuart Jarvis, formerly gillie at Glanusk Park before he retired last year. We both fished a team of spiders with a beaded nymph on the point; Stuart fished the top half, I fished the lower, and neither of us had a touch all morning. No rises either. By the cars after lunch, Stuart was sitting in his folding chair puffing at his pipe, when he suddenly said: "I just saw a fish rise in the edge there. Look, there it is again." He was down on the shingle in a minute, drifting his beaded nymph onto the spot already fished and waded by me that morning, and after a quick preliminary tweak it came on solidly. I was able to net a beautifully conditoned hen fish of about 1.75 pounds for him (it didn't spawn according to Stuart) and after a photo and release we were back at the picnic area where I think his pipe was still burning. Which is not the first time I have seen Stuart produce a trout seemingly out of nowhere. After that we both carried on all afternoon, like the morning, without either of us taking a fish.

Otherwise, as the days of warm weather have continued during the week, the Usk seems to be gradually coming to life, at least in the middle of the day. There were rising fish early afternoon at Abergavenny on the 9th and I got a brace and lost a couple more; at Mardy on the 10th I got 5, including a lovely 18 inch fish which gave me a view of the backing for an anxious moment. Fly life has been mainly confined to large dark olives, with some very large stone flies on the upper river. No sign of the famous march browns, although I have my collecting vials all ready. Stuart reckons the ones I thought I saw in late April last year were actually turkey browns; he hasn't seen the true march brown at Glanusk for years. We'll see.

1 fish 3/4 lb returned goldhead ptn. Cold day but enjoyable.

Nothing caught or seen. Very cold, bright and windy.

A very gold and blustery opening day. I waited for the hoped LDO hatch but I only saw 4 LDOs all day. A trout rose for one of them and I covered him and hooked him, but ended up losing him. This was was my only action of the day. Lovely to be out on the river again.