Feedback & Reports

Fun day, nice weather, saw some fish rising including one massive one that came up for a fly 40 ft in front of me - tried for it for 30 mins but unfortunately no luck. Still, the fish are there, just gotta pick the right fly (and probably get up a little earlier would help too).

Tough day,river low and clear. 3 chub on feeder plus 2 barbel lost in weed.
Lots of salmon jumping.

3 Chub

Excellent sport throughout the day.

The weather was cool and misty in the morning, definitely more autumnal than late summer. The sun came out later, triggering sporadic hatches of pale wateries, small sedges, medium olives, and what looked like out of season yellow mays. Grayling and trout were rising freely throughout the day in the glides and in the creases on the edge of riffles. I fished dries above Cillau falls, catching on klinkhamers and small (#16 and 18) palmered grayling 'tags' (double badger, red tag etc.). In the late afternoon I fished a team of spiders (partridge and orange and yellow dotterel) down and across through the fast run below the falls and had great fun picking up smaller fish. I tried Czech nymphs in some of the deeper pools, connecting with a couple of reasonable grayling although they bumped off the barbless hooks as I had too much line out and was over-reaching (still haven't got to grips with this technique). Most of the grayling caught were in the 8-10" category although I also had four around 11-12". All of the trout were wild; the two largest were around 11" and the rest were parr.

The access was excellent, with safe off-road parking and no distance to the river (on the right bank, at least). The wading was moderate; the gravel sections were easy enough but some care is needed on the larger cobbles and particularly around the large boulders, where the current has scoured out deceptively deep pots. I avoided wading on the bedrock as my boot felt and studs are worn. I also avoided the planks as they were too high at this water level (0.7m on the EA's Erwood gauge), and it looked like a good way to end up with an early bath.

A very picturesque beat, with plenty of wildlife although I didn't see any otters or salmon. Thanks to the WUF booking office team for suggesting this beat - good advice and a good fit for the type of fishing I was after. Now, which beats have the specimen grayling?

10 Trout, 16 Grayling

9 Trout

This beat has got the better of me yet again. I did see a number of small brownies and one of about 8 inches, But they all eluded me. This challenging stretch of river redefines the art of stealth walking. I have never come across such spooky fish. The water was crystal clear, and perfect conditions. So if nothing else, a grand day out!

River low but good days fishing 5 barbel and one chub all on pellet and feeder from several swims.

7 Barbel, 1 Chub

River very low, initially warm and overcast then too hot for comfort in the afternoon! Not big on insect life yet but there were clouds of pale jobs with twin tails as day progressed and later also very small buzzy stuff. A better man would have caught more but these (10") trout were fat and fit, so happy. Caught on small cdc type dry flies. Clear and low, fish easily spooked, so go light. Have not got to grips with nymphing yet, hence reliance on dries. An otter was bumbling in bushes. My first river like this, lots to learn as on balance, the river won. Will be back tho....

3 Trout

4lbs very thin Grilse. Clean but hardly a Wye specimen.

1 Salmon

6 x trout 10-12 inches, Rusty Klinkhammer. The Arrow is still very reduced in level, so it wasn't easy fishing today. Not much rising, so I mainly fished the likely water. One nice fish under Mallhollam Bridge. Great fun and I saw a sparrow hawk close up as it coursed down the stream.
Back at the car I was eating a late lunch and putting away my tackle, when a man with a few years under his belt came by on a bicycle with a little dog perched in the handlebar basket. He was apparently in a rather exuberant mood. He stopped, put the dog on the verge to make its mess, and told me he was celebrating retirement that very day. I told him I could recommend it. He said that he had been driving a truck for 30 years and dreaming of the day he could retire. “It came this morning. Confirmation of my redundancy, the letter said. I didn’t have any whisky in the house, so I celebrated with red wine for breakfast. Actually I’ve been celebrating all morning”
“Way to go.”
“I don’t think I’ll take up fishing though. Too slow for me.”
“Really? I find it nail-bitingly exciting.”
“No, no. Too slow for me.”
The dog was back in its basket now and he cycled off towards Kington and its pubs, wobbling rather precariously.

6 Trout

Arrived at around 7:30 and settled into the swim at the bottom of the beat. Conditions perfect, not as bright as yesterday but still warm enough. Had to wait until 09:15 for the first fish. At 11:45 I was hit by a Barbus freight train clearly en route to Monmouth, nothing I could do to stop it as it cut me off against the bedrock! Decided to take a nap after this and woke up 2 hours later. Waited for the second fish to arrive at 14:40 a nice little Barbel of around 2lb. From here in it was steady all the way to darkness. Thoroughly enjoyable day returning 10 Barbel to 7lb 7oz and 3 Chub to 5lb 4oz. Decided to try a different bait approach refusing to use Halibut pellets. All fish fell to Goose Pellets, Peperami or Corn all fished over feeders of crushed halibut pellet and hemp.
I did shed 10 full sets of end tackle during the day, so be aware!

10 Barbel, 3 Chub