Feedback & Reports

4 x grayling 15-18 inches, long trotting. I'm not quite sure what I conclude from this experiment (trotting on the Cammarch Hotel's middle beat is a new try-out). The Irfon was very low, so low that fly fishing might have been a better bet on this occasion. Four large grayling, including two really nice ones, but all these were widely separated and seemed to have been lying singly; no shoals were located. I had to leave one pool which proved to be alive with spawning salmon. Finally, one lovely 18 inch fish took the float down at exactly the spot where my friend DB took an 18 inch grayling on a dry fly back in October. I wouldn't be surprised if it was the very same one.

4 Grayling

A pleasant day out on the river although not an easy one.
One Grayling on a heavy nymph, and a couple of missed takes. There was a brief hatch of Pale Waterys and the Grayling did come up, sadly we didn't get the bonus of a fish on a dry fly in December.

1 Grayling

The Irfon was very low and clear (around 0.24m on the Cilmery gauge) and the weather was unseasonably mild for this time of year (hovering around 10 C). I had decided to fish long trotting with maggots, starting in the pool just upstream of the church and below the ford. I couldn't tempt anything here so I moved up through the copse and fished the glide in the meadow above. It was around 1pm by this time and a few fish were rising to large terrestrials that were blowing in off the field. I decreased the float depth and switched to a single maggot and this immediately sparked short-term interest from the grayling,catching one at 14" and another at 17" (a thick-set fish estimated at 1.5-1.75lb).
Walking back to the car I had a last ditch attempt below the church in the glide above the riffles. There were a few small fish rising and was pleased to see that, when I caught one, they were grayling parr - a good indicator for the health of the river.
I noticed on the joining instructions that the new owner is looking for feedback on improving access. My only comments would be to improve the hard standing for the parking areas, and to see if anything could be done to by-pass the boggy part of the path mid-way through the copse. Other than that, access is excellent here.

3 Grayling

No sign of barbel or chub to any baits. Fished hard all day on all available swims.
Spoke to the bailiff on the opposite bank who said we would struggle, he was bang on.

First time on this beat so targeted the most likely looking locations. 6 grayling in total to trotted maggot. Quite a slow day's fishing but the scenery made up for that. Saw two or three salmon moving upstream also.

6 Grayling

Fished this beat up and down all day no barbel showing
one chub late in the day.

Parked at The Priory and started to unload the car only to find I had forgotten my chair, never done that before and won't do it again! Had to sit on a fallen tree all day and now my back is killing me. As for the fishing I only managed four Chub, I could not get the Barbel to come out and play. Still really enjoyed the day and would like to offer thanks to the WUF for gaining us access to such wonderful stretches of the river Wye.

4 Chub

32 x grayling 10-15 inches, close nymphing and long trotting. The water is in lovely condition, but this was the day of the big storm. Thankfully it didn't rain for too long, but the downstream wind made life very difficult all day long. Salmon spawning on the beat and a couple of new redds visible on the gravel.

32 Grayling

A "challenging" day regarding weather. Extremely high winds limited casting. Water was in excellent condition; clear & pacey. Fish taken toward the bottom of the beat on heavy nymphs.

7 Grayling

11 grayling, all 12"+. 2 wbt 9", great fighting fish. Cold, sunny river at a good level. First time at Abernant, nice stretch of water but not as interesting or challenging as Gromain.

2 Trout, 11 Grayling