Feedback & Reports

Fresh fish 18lb, tube fly on sink tip . Rectory pool. 4.30 pm

1 Salmon

Decided after a hectic weeks work , to tackle the Arrow for a change from Pinsley and Stretford brooks. Was about one when i turned up , about 12 degrees and intermittent sun , water looked fabulous , running clear , and at a lovely depth !!!

Tackled up with my trustee six foot two weight , my own size eighteen black nymph , and my beaded GRHE. Meandered under the bridge , and first cast , a feisty little Arrow brownie took my black magic nymph . . . . . Excellent , things looked promising .

Slowly moving upstream prospecting my nymphs , had another two in quick succession , mainly from the heads of the small pools . The fish varied in size , from five inches up to twelve . Two of the brownies gave me a right run around on the two weight rod , but great fun !!!!!!

Didn't fish the whole beat , and only managed to fish perhaps seven hundred yards , but managed nine superbly marked Arrow brownies, those red spots are staggering !!!!!!

Insect life under and around the stones on the river bed was vast , ranging from stone clinkers to a huge number of caddis . No rises were seen at all during my three hour session , and although there were a smattering of olives seen here and there , it didn't tempt the resident fish to look up !!!!

Called it a day at just gone four , had a real fun three hours , life's good in the Arrow Valley , shall head over to Whittern beat in a few days , give that a bash .

With nine really striking brownies caught and released , I was a happy man , chilled out for a bit near the bridge , a quick drink from the flask , and headed off to the Ponderosa . . . . . . . . Back very soon !

9 Trout

A cold day for standing in the water all day for very little action.. but still a better place to be than at work I'd say. Very brief hatch of Olives around lunchtime when the sun came out, lasting just long enough to grab a trout rod, put a dry on & catch one good fish. The rest of the time spent with the salmon rod to no avail.Even the wildlife were tucked up somewhere out of the cold wind. Great to have the opportunity to fish this beat.

2 Trout

8 x trout 6-10 inches, Rusty Klinkhammer. AT LAST, a few of the little fellows seemed prepared to look up. Maybe I can leave my box of nymphs at home for a bit.

8 Trout

Visiting from South Africa so just HAD to try for salmon with the double-hander I so rarely get to use. Fished beats 4 and 5 in the afternoon. Trout rising with intent when I got to the river. Thought about getting the 4wt from the car but they turned off again after about 30 minutes. Fished till 20:00, weather was a bit challenging but being alone on such a beatiful river more than made up for the cold and lack of silver.

16 lb very fresh Cock. Small yellow & black Bottle Tube.

1 Salmon

Fishing with my daughter who is a new to fly fishing. Similar conditions to previous day - sunny with some cloud but clouding over in late afternoon with drizzle. Air temp approx 14 C, water temp 9 C. Very little insect life and very very few rising fish. Those within casting range came readily to my dry olive imitation. Had tried nymph with no results.

2 Trout

River in fabulous condition. Wind was a menace, no Salmon seen or touched. Plenty of feisty Trout and a big Chub!

5 Trout, 1 Chub

River level good - 0.4m at Brecon station. First time on this beat, good access. Parking at top of beat. Fished a half day from 1:45 to 5:30 Breezy, some sun, but scudding clouds and a spot of rain later on. 13 degrees.
Fish keeping their heads down , but a hatch of some sort of upright at about 3pm brought a couple of fish up to feed off the surface in the slower water. Fish caught nymphing in the faster riffles with a Small PTN and a larger HEN.
Nothing taken on the surface.

5 Trout

Really well maintained fishery by Glynn the full time Ghillie who was also very helpful with advice before arriving and all day while fishing. It was a significant privilege to share the beat with the owner that day who was also fishing but most generously he let the ghillie show me around and stay with me most of the day! Good hut, toilet and tea making facilities and even a glass of wine was offered at lunch!
Seems a short beat at the advertised double bank 800m or so but at 0.75m (Bredwardine) it was mostly all fly fishable, much off cribbs and walk ways etc (perhaps not for everyone) but Oxford run (from the bank) is class and poachers pool which needs wading after the croys is just a gorgeous spring fly pool. There's also a lovely little 50m run down to the swirly Lugg junction pool etc and several other little bits to keep it interesting with a spinner.
At this height and fishing only 2 rods, its probably as generous fly fishing beat as any I have fished on the river (12 different beats) and with 7 big springers to date over the few fishable days this year - is it the top beat? But probably by far if you consider the number of rods fishing it.
I like to express my sincere gratitude to an amazingly generous beat owner for opening up a productive and very interesting bit of river through the WUF . It says a lot if I explain he was delighted to watch his ghillie net a 17lb springer for me from poachers pool as he was following me down the pool. Thank you all!

1 Salmon, 2 Chub