Feedback & Reports

Caught on a link shrimp. Lovely stretch but very cold conditions

1 Grayling

4 x grayling 10-13 inches, 2 x out of season trout 10 and 15 inches, Pink Shrimp. Just slight colour and 0.401 on the EA gauge at Peterchurch, so it's viable now although I'm getting a bit old for clambering around in the jungle on this beat. The grayling all had that blue sheen special to Monnow fish, once seen not forgotten.

4 Grayling

Fly fishing Nymph. River conditions were good. Access was limited and a little overgrown but other than that an enjoyable morning

I fished the Abbey Dore beat after a couple of days heavy rain and although the stream was not in full flood, it was not gin clear because of run off. It was colder than normal as well.
As others have mentioned this is a challenging stream to fish and needs some attention to make it fishable. I managed to fish the stream by wading the complete length of the beat up stream and there are some deep pools along the way.
I spent 5 hours during the afternoon and there was a good Hatch of Yellow May Fly. I only fished dry fly using Parachute Adams, Klinkhamer Emerger and the nearest representation of the Yellow May Fly all size 14.
I caught 6 WBT in various pools and mid stream down the riffles, also had a few more takes. I did see a few rises, but on this stream it's very difficult to cast and distance because of the vegetation. There are many good pools and deep edges to target.
Although, it's a challenging stream, it is also very rewarding and doable, but you will need to be adventurous. Along the way I saw Kingfishers and many other birds and the beat is set close to the Abbey which is worth a walk around.

6 Trout

A lovely early evening on Abbey Dore yesterday, landed three beautiful WBT up to 10" and missed many more. Having fished the beat previously I went armed with a short rod, even then any kind of casting is pretty much impossible, so bow and arrow casting allowed me to cover the likely looking spots. Not many rises so stuck with a gold head nymph. I waded the whole beat except for a 10 feet section that was too deep. A very enjoyable few hours.

3 Trout

To hot and to far to drive to venue for evening rise :-(

No fish evident on the beat. very overgrown and access difficult

Dry fly.

Challenging fishing for sure. Especially on first day back! Couple of good pools not accessible from water or bank which is frustration. The stream looks low. A few trout about but wow so easily spooked. I'd say 9/10 for difficulty.
Still great though.

Had a fun few hours fishing this lovely little beat. The river was in good condition but there was a stiff breeze blowing upstream that was definitely stronger than was forecast. Fortunately it didn't hinder the fishing too much and the sun occasionally showed itself which helped to make the afternoon that little bit more pleasant.

I can't believe my last visit to this beat was back in 2015! How depressing. Life has changed so much since then with two little boys now keeping my wife and i very busy. Not much time for fishing nowadays sadly. Fortunately i was pleased to find the river looking very much how i remembered it. I was, however, a little disappointed to find that one of the most productive pools from my last visit was almost unfishable due to trailing brambles and spreading riparian growth.

I struggled to find the grayling this time. A fish of about 10" saved the day when it pounced on my nymph as i started to lift it from the tail of a small pool that i almost didn't bother to flick my nymph into. A second cast into the same pool saw a similar sized fish hooked very briefly. The trout were happier to show themselves with four out of season brownies hooked and quickly returned. They were all in fantastic condition. The last fish of the day was the biggest, at about 11" and spent more time somersaulting about in the air than it did in the water. Oh, i also lip hooked a plump minnow of about 2".

Overall a real treat to get out and spend a few hours on the river. It was nice to see a few celandine flowers out and was treated to the wonderful sight of a pair of kingfishers flying right past me. They appeared to glow in such a drab and wintry setting.

4 Trout, 1 Grayling, 1 Other

Well a cold foggy morning when I was out with the pooch this morning at half six !!! Minus two and like pea soup with fog . . . Debating in my head where to wet a line .

Plumbed for the little River Dore , and set off , the usual Hereford traffic driving through aaarrrgh that's why I favour the A44 ti be honest and fishing out towards Rhayader and Aberystwyth , still never mind !!!

Got there at ten , parked up at the Tan House Farm pull in , still reading one degrees in my truck, tackled up my six foot two weight , as I know it is always tight in the stream here , single silver and pink tungsten nymph tied on and bimbled down to the beat start . . . . .

Worked slowly up, one small six inch brownie on , slipped back in , mid way on the beat , a decent deep deep pool , worked the nymph, bang!!@ something decent on , and played out a cracking twelve inch grayling, admired then slipped back in , two minutes later and into another one, ditto in size , into a good thing I thought !! But I really worked that pool and no more ladies playing at the party today!! Still was nice to get the two this morning , and that was my lot , a lovely amble upstream, I must say it's in desperate need of a hair cut and lots of new trees fallen across the stream , shame really!!! But three chaps with loppers will tidy this up a treat , needs it big time !!!

A fun couple of hours , two lovely ladies to the net , oh and a rather nice Mailes Pie from Locks Garage . . . . . . . Weeeeeeeell gotta be done hey !!!!

2 Grayling