Feedback & Reports

A bright day following rain the day before, not that the water levels had risen at all. First time on this beat and the first thing I saw was a Kingfisher scooting off up river. I fished duo style with 8' #4 rod, occasionally trying the dry fly on its own but without success. Only saw a couple of rises all day. There were really very few fish in the river and as I progressed upstream the reason became apparent. On the way up I had a glimpse of a large Mink. On the way back I had a better view of a pair of very large Mink - otter sized, obviously well fed on the fish from the stream. They are living in the base of the willow tree in the stream in the middle field. On the plus side there were plenty of fry and fingerlings in the water and varied fly activity above the water. I am sure the fishing would improve again quickly if the Mink were removed from the equation. I would also mention that there is a stand of Japanese Knotweed flowering happily half way up the beat on the west bank. An enjoyable day out in the fresh air. In the circumstances I feel lucky to have managed 3 fish when up against such opposition. The Grayling all took the nymph, a beaded GRHE with orange tag. I had one or two rises to the dry fly but no takes.

3 Grayling

First time out for a month the recent rain hasn't affected the Lynfi much.
Fished Duo with a Tenkara rod as the wind was strong and gusty making line control very difficult. 4 Trout around 8 inches with 3 to the dry fly. Changed to a small dry at the top of the beat as there were a few Grayling rising,hooked and lost 2.

4 Trout

It's a year since the wipeout pollution incident and, thankfully, the river is now teeming with small fish (trout, grayling and minnow caught). 50% taken on a small nymph and 50% on a size 18 klink.
Unfortunately the access to this beat is overgrown and probably inaccessible to the less able bodied.

12 Trout, 1 Grayling

3 small grayling to dry fly,

3 Grayling

River on its bones now. Not much hatching. Landed 5 grayling 4" to 12", on a small beaded GRHE from deep pools and on small grey duster para. Saw no trout except one that took the para and then came off quickly. More encouraging, there were small fish in nearly every run, splashing around - managed to catch a couple at 4", both grayling so the assumption is that there are a lot of grayling parr in the river. So much so that they were usually first to splash at the para everywhere. Stayed till 7.00pm but no evening rise at that point.

5 Grayling

After a tricky morning on Escley 3, I drove over the top (see piccy) for stunning views of the Herefordshire countryside. I was looking for a wild stream with water/flow and Pontithel did not disappoint. All fish were caught to various dry but a small yellow May was most productive. All WBT were of a decent size and the Grayling put up a good scrap. Nice beat.

5 Trout, 1 Grayling

Low flows, small fish showing

Fished 1700-2000. Some mayfly when I arived, and more as the evening progressed. A good ev at first. evening rise, mainly small fish. After 45 mins of my parachute adams being ignored totally, I switched to a medium sized mayfly. For 45 mins this rose fish every few casts, but I couldn't hook any. I changed to other mayflies, which were ignored. The one I hooked was on the original grey mayfly, but I couldn't match its black-and-white striped body. When I landed it, after quite a fight, I was surprised to find it barely legal. As it was overcast, the light had gone soon after eight. A great evening. River very low.

1 Trout

Lovely beat, as ever. Water was low and 17C. Given the expected heat, I started at 0600 - but that already felt late as the air temperature was 13C and fish were rising regularly as I arrived. I had three wbt up to about 9" before 0700 then it went quiet. I plugged on until 1000 when one came out of nowhere and took my dry but then called it quits as the heat was becoming stifling. Three fish on the dry (cdc pale watery) and one on the nymph (red tag hares ear).

4 Trout

20 Trout