Feedback & Reports

Unfortunately a blank day. Not sure why as I bugged my way through the whole beat picking out likely spots for the "ladies". As for reasons for my lack of success, maybe it was too bright, maybe the river was too clear, it was gin clear, maybe the Grayling were concentrating on other things or just not there. Probably my lack of experience! Did see two rises and some fly life as the day warmed up
Nevertheless a wonderful spring day on the Lugg with the snow drops at their peak and the birds in full song.

Weather great for fishing on a beautful river. No grayling caught, had a lovely picnic on the river bank.

One small WBT and a couple of very violent pulls was the sum total for the day. The river was still running very coloured and too fast to present a fly properly. I had a great time on a beat which looks full of potential given better conditions. Will try it again before deciding whether it lives up to the cost of fishing it. Action for the day was on a pink shrimp as I think it was probably the only fly that was visible in the murk!

A blank day. Far too much coloured water for satisfactory fishing. A pleasant day none the less.

Impossible to fish. Howling gale, driving rain and flooded river! The river was too high to access any of the upstream section above the top weir and very fast and murky below the top weir with no wading access due to flood water. Note that the gauge was showing 1ft 10in.

Water was well up and coloured, that added to strong winds made for a difficult day with no fish caught. A couple of large Grayling made splashy rises but were impossible to cover due to the fast flow. Other than that it is a lovely stretch of water and I look forward to returning under more hospitable conditions.

River in flood. Lovely day but fishing very difficult. No fish caught.

river flooded fished 5 min and left

Blustery day with a rising river - half a dozen grayling from graylet to a 2lb + fish lost on the surface after a good struggle. Although there were a couple of rises, all fish came to an 'orange tag' gold head nymph. Stunning sunset topped off a stunning day - not a soul seen.

6 x grayling 8-18 inches, fishing nymphs under the rod top. Not an easy day, with a cold wind developing as time went on, but a couple of very nice fish at 16 and 18 inches were included in the bag. I packed up early due to the sudden development of the dreaded wader leak and ingress of icy water....very demoralising.

Reflections at the end of the first part of this grayling season on our rivers - and by first part I mean the time when we can expect the fish to be taking at the surface - September, October and normally a bit of November with luck:

The Irfon is always a good grayling river, but this year it was an absolute star. The fish were in wonderful condition, free-rising and plentiful. Maybe we will look back on 2011 as a vintage year, or maybe it will go on getting better and better? I only request, should you find the pools where the big grayling live and have a spectacular day...don't try and repeat it too many times in the same spot! They are a finite resource.

The upper Wye fished well too, when it was in condition. Apart from the WUF beats, a friend and I had an excellent day on the Builth Town water before the present floods - with larger fish than in previous years.

The Arrow and Lugg suffered terribly from drought this summer, and only just now seem to have come into condition with the latest flush of water bringing fish onto the take.

The Monnow also suffered from drought and, to my knowledge at least, doesn't seem to have produced many good grayling catches.

It has been, so far, a remarkably warm autumn. Anglers have been taking grayling on the dry fly right until last week, practically into December, although I doubt this can go on very much longer. Still, if you see those large dark olives and a sipping rise at the surface one afternoon, it's always worth a try with a dry fly, even in mid-winter.

Whether it is due to the warmth or lack of frost I am not sure, but trout in good condition and obviously feeding steadily have featured in catches more than usual. Do we conclude this will be a bad spawning year for brown trout or will it all happen later in the winter?