Feedback & Reports

No fish caught. Water was in good condition, enjoyable day but only one bite.

Arrived at 7am. River perfect. A 12lb silver cock fish took my Golden Killer just under the bridge on the 3rd cast! A dogged 15 minute fight ensued (with some aerobatics). It was duly measured and safely returned.
Fished hard for another eight hours but only two 8oz trout took exception to the Killer and were safely returned. A beautiful sunny day with only the call of buzzards interrupting proceedings. One or two yellow May Duns hatching.

1 Salmon, 2 Trout

I was fly fishing and the river was quite full and there appeared to be a lot of silt downstream, maybe due to the fact that some maintenance work was being carried out on the bridge. Also some of the areas outlined in the map were inaccessible. I was staying at Vanilla Cottage near Chain Bridge which is an excellent base.

Water .92m and kept above .9m all day. Too deep and fast to wade safely so stuck to bank or margins and fished nearside bank with roll casts. No success on salmon in both wood stream and below bridge down to wires. Decided to switch to trout using size 14 greenwells nymph on point and partridge/orange spider on dropper. 3 trout landed all taking the greenwells nymph. Best 12oz.

Rain came in with squally showers and wind. Casting became difficult so called it a day.

Little or no hatch during day

3 Trout

Arrived with river showing 0.72m on gauge, slight tint and falling slowly - perfect. Fished very hard with the 15 footer for almost 6 hrs with no sign of salmon. A lovely day for casting exercise though.
Six trout 1/4lb up to 1 1/2lb took exception to my Golden Killer. All were safely returned bar one little bleeder.
On a more concerning note, the fly hatch was very poor and only saw two rises all day. Has the unprecedented winter flooding decimated the insect population? It's beginning to look that way.

6 Trout

Lovely day again but still no rising fish and little fly activity. Decided to try to go through from top run for salmon but water level too high at .86m so had to cast mainly from bank. Used usk grub again and the Willie Gunn tube with no takes.
Hope someone is having better luck as I think I am on the right tactics but haven't seen any salmon at all.
I am writing this Sun 27th April and the river has gone up today to 1.03m and rising with more rain forecast so prospects for tomorrow not looking good.

Stayed at The Fishing Lodge at Swanmeadow on this family (including cousins) holiday; great place and base for going surfing at Rest Bay, cricket tour at The Swalec, good food, all day breakfast at the Steel Horse and BBQ suppers, bike rides and walks in wonderful countryside and thankfully weak internet reception.
The river was perfect for salmon fishing the whole week, however time spent on it was minimal. 3 trout and a mini salmon (salmon smolt 7") to the salmon rod, fishing at both Swanmeadow and Chainbridge. Spent a lot of time on bank and steps repairs (with young help). Lots more to do on what the winter floods" hath given and taken away" at Chainbridge.

3 Trout, 1 Other

A beautiful day. Arrived and was made very welcome by the owner of the beat who provided good advice and guidance on how to fish the beat. Day had sporadic light hatches of March Brown, Caddis and LDO. Day was bright and cloudless, water gin clear. Couldn't help but spook the larger fish rising on the flats but caught two small ones in the riffles. Will be back to this lovely wide and deep flowing beat. Thanks again to the beat owner for his compnay and advice.

2 Trout

Joined by PH for our first trip of the season. Lovely beat, full of promise. The bright, sunny conditions and a cool breeze didn't help, keeping the hatches quite sporadic. 1 x WBT to the net with another decent fish hooked but lost after 2 leaps out of the water. Both succumbed to a nymphs fished deep. Special thanks to Jean at Sweets and Barry (the beat owner) for making today very pleasant.

1 Trout

Arrived to a beautiful morning at 9 a.m. river 0.88m on the gauge and falling very slowly. Fished for almost 6 hrs with the 15 footer, very enjoyable exercise but again no sign of the needle in the haystack. A 1.5lb brownie raised the pulse briefly when it slammed into my Golden Killer and was safely returned.
A moderate hatch of LDOs occurred at intervals all day with just a smattering of March Browns. Inexplicably saw only two trout rise, but none to my offerings.
The heavy winter spates seems to have moved the stones of the river bed and I was able to wade Upper Rocks right down to the Chine. Below the bridge wadeable from the gauge right down to the cables with a small exception by the cleared tree stumps.

1 Trout