Feedback & Reports

Snow cover on the hills and around -4 degrees overnight made for a beautiful cold morning. I did not expect much on the fishing front given the chill in the air and I simply lapped up the birdsong and the peace and quiet on the on the river - that was until around 11am when my size 18 tungsten nymph was seized by a voracious trout! Two casts later and I hooked a 2lb+ brown that after more than five minutes managed to carve my 7X line off on a gutter ledge... I fished on without any action at all until around 2.45pm at which point I decided to stop for a cup of tea and something to eat. I was starting to think the cold downstream wind might have finished off the expected LDO hatch, but just as hope was ebbing away I saw an LDO, then another and another and suddenly a real flurry of activity. Out came the wagtails and soon after up came some trout. I ended up landing four beauties and losing five other fish several of which were large. The problem I find is you need to use light line to entice the fish to take and yet once you hook a 2lb+ trout on 7X it is only 70/30 in your favour. I moved up to 6X because of that which makes it much easier to steer the fish away from hazards. I must say I also really don't like leaving flies in fishes mouths although I am sure they are able to rub them off the same way they run caddis flies off rocks. Anyway, I ended up having landed four lovely trout up to around the 2lb mark and lost five other beauties. A great way to start the season on what must be one of the finest wild trout rivers in the UK. Long live the Wye and Usk Foundation and thank you for safeguarding the Wye and Usk catchments! As Arnie said, "I will be back".

I only managed to fish for just over two hours due to the heaving traffic on my journey up from London after work. I caught five trout and lost a few more from the first pool upstream of where you park your car. All fish caught on a tungsten bead GRHE with an orange butt. I saw one single fish rising from the long glide above which I caught on a sedge pattern. Pity I couldn't spend more time on this nice beat. No doubt I'll be back sometime in the future.

Quite a cool afternoon and evening with no real hatch to speak of. Two graying caught, one only a few onces the other must have been pushing 2lbs caught above the bridge in a deep quick pool with heavy sinking hares ear. Fantastic fight. Will be back when its a bit warmer!

Survived a couple of hours in the cold. Caught 2 wbt, both around the 10" mark on olive bugs. Both returned. Looking forward to warmer weather.

Arrived about 10:00am. Slow start with first success at about 12:00 with two fish on F Fly. Followed by more on Klink and Dink. LDO hatch brought more dry fly takes with a total of about 30 fish from 6" to a 1lb. These on PTN and Sparse Olive patterns. Hatch came to an end. Just about to depart at 5:00pm when we noticed fish starting to sip at the surface. These turned out to small, willing and plentiful on small midge patterns. Ended the day with over 60 fish caught and returned, the predominant size was around 8". A very different fishing experience than we expected.

2 days after the snow so water up a little but clear. Up to 8C on the day so quite cold. 4 wbt hooked and 2 landed. All around 6-7 inches and in great condition. One on a GRHE, rest casting small CDC dusters to rising fish. Small hatch at 2pm allowed me to find out where some of the fish were! No other fish seen. A beautiful beat, very tranquil. Beware, some of the pools are very deep and wading OK to tough in some places. Will return when it's a bit warmer, although the tree growth will make it challenging in places.

No success on upper beat. On arriving at the lower beat, a light hatch of Grannom was underway, although there were only a few very occasional rises to be seen. 1 fine trout (1lb) caught on Grannom at Llangoed pool. Further rises to Grannom 200 yds below the rapids, providing good sport. A rapid change to March Browns needed, as a strong hatch brought vigorous rises everywhere. Exciting fishing! 2 more trout of 1ib caught. Very light hatch of dark olives. 1 further 15 oz trout to a Kite's Imperial. A big trout was caught but lost as I hadn't spotted my hook had lost its tip - schoolboy error! A great afternoon's entertainment.

Fished the last couple of hours. Saw 1 fish only. None caught.

We caught 4 rainbow trout on the fly which were all kept - nice condition fish.

Blustery cold day with wind blowing from the dam down the reservoir. Fish rising but generally just out of casting range (how do they know??) although I must record a nil return, I did miss a take to a dry black gnat and hopper! Have previously caught a 3lb brownie from here so I know they are in there and can be of a good size! Will be back but must say I think it fishes better in the evening towards dusk as the water is extremely clear at present.