Feedback & Reports

Lovely stretch of river in perfect condition on the day. 8 very nice grayling all around 1.5 lb, 4 trout between 8 oz and a 1LB. Swarms of Granum although no surface feeding. All fish caught on green beeded shrimp of caddis larvae.

Fished the Usk below Abergavenny on Thursday - 9 trout to 1.25 lbs all on klinkhammers and lost many more. Clouds of grannom from 11am to 4pm.

Thanks for all the updates on the river conditions first thing this morning. Things were not looking good on the drive over. It was raining heavily and the Usk below Usk was bank high and brown.

However, the river above Crickhowell was coloured but fishable. There was a huge hatch of Grannom from about 11.30am and some LDOs in the afternoon. In between the frequent heavy rain showers, there was a decent rise of fish. It was one of those days I was glad to have a good waterproof. I found it hard work with dry fries when the Grannom were about.

Two of us managed about a dozen trout between 10" and 16". There was one overwintered stock fish, but the rest looked wild. The beat has not been stocked yet this year. Half and half between dries and nymphs. Saw one March Brown floating past.

Things went quiet about 3pm, and we packed up just before 4pm.

Overall a fantastic springs days fishing. One minute belting rain and high winds, the next the air was filled with flies and fish are rising.

[i]WUF Notes: try a semi sunk emerger such as a klinkhammer when grannom are hatching[/i]

First time here, Very special place feels very fishy. Weather cloudy ,windy, light rain on & off all day 10 degrees c. River clearing. Very little moving, caught & kept one trout 1lb ish. Mrs W very happy, fish full of caddis cases. Cant wait to come again on a fine day.

River was just over 1ft when I arrived and was able to take 4 fish very quickly. Then it rose sharply and was around 18 inches by midday and the water quickly became quite mucky. Plenty of grannom hatching, but I guess it was hard for the fish to take them in amongst all the debris. The river fell back to around 15 inches by 4.00pm allowing me to take 4 more fish in the evening.

Water too low and clear for any realistic hope of a salmon. It was however a wonderful day in a beautiful setting.

A real testament to the value of seeking advice from the Foundation. Seth advised me to avoid the tributaries and fish the main river instead and he was absolutely right. Good hatch of grannom in the middle of the day that brought fish to the surface.

About 15 fish before the rain came at about 4.00, mostly around the 1lb mark. 2 taken. A really lovely day

2 Brown trout, one of 1lb 8oz, the other of around 14oz. Both caught on a bead head PTN (size 14), fished New Zealand style under a klinkhammer. Failed to land another hooked on the klinkhammer when the hook snapped at the bend!! Cold wind tended to keep flies and fish down for the most part and they only rose in sheltered pockets. A steady trickle of grannom and LDO either side of mid day, but nothing spectacular by Usk standards. I really liked the fishery and shall return, hopefully in more clement conditions. The fish were in excellent condition and fought well. All the fish I saw rise appeared to be of a good average size.

My only criticism would be to say that the maps and more particularly signage could be improved, particularly for left bank access.

Escley brook lower beat. This was a surprise. I expected a lot of small trout, but it seems to hold a few large ones in the pools. One magnificent 16 inch cock fish, which seemed in perfect condition - wonderful colouring. (And why did I leave the net in the car, I had some anxious moments there?). I saw and spooked a much larger one in the pool where the tree has fallen in. Also one of the lower pools contained grayling (10 inches), much higher up the Monnow system than I expected.

10 grayling all released. 6 wild brown trout 1 kept. A fantastic morning fish rising to dry flies, mainly grey klinkhammer - needed to be very quick as missed quite a few. PTN successful in quicker water. Beautiful stretch of water.