Feedback & Reports

River was still coloured from recent rainfall. And although I've had many a successful day on this beat, I blanked. Nothing seen all day, apart from a kingfisher. I do wonder if Im getting too old for this beat and another years growth of overhanging trees made it very difficult to fish.

Any river is fishable with sufficient guile and effort, I thought; I was wrong.
Starting at the middle bridge, Escley brook is encouraging, a rock bed with water tumbling over it. The canopy is thick & low and once into the stream it is very difficult to get out. Watergates are fairly frequent though these have been softened up by the winter floods and surprisingly deep pools lurk in hidden corners. It is all but impossible to cast, probably fortunate as there is no room to play a fish, though this is an entirely theoretical cavil as there appear to be none; any trout would need a white stick to find its way in the murk. I finally emerged onto a bank which was impassable and recrossed in a pool sufficiently deep to find a significant tear in my waders. .
Bloody, wet, mildly cross & fishless, with a snapped top section and sunglasses a sacrifice to the local river deity, I sqwelched back to the parking place.
There are compensations, it is lovely out-of-the way side valley and views from the top on a warm summer's evening are balm, not just to the bramble scratches and wire cuts but to one's whole being. It provides a necessary contrast to those days when the fish have read all the right books and appear in the right places and in just sufficient numbers to keep an excitement through the whole day, even condescending, no doubt from politeness, to take the proffered fly.
The Escley conceals its charms so well that I for one am unlikely to rush back to enjoy them, though the pub further up has a local reputation for the quality of its beer, so when the current nonsense is over I may just have to go back and check.

4 x trout 6-15 inches, Monnow Gosling and Hackle Mayfly. I just did the bit from the footbridge to the mill. The water was very low, but mayfly about and the odd good fish was rising in deep pools. I missed a couple of others. These beat is as much in need of a trim as most of the anglers.

4 Trout

A hot day and as expected very little water, barely ankle deep in places..but in the deeper pools there were quality fish. Nothing was showing so I opted for a goldhead walker mayfly nymph which accounted for 5 fish and then 1 to a spent mayfly. All over 12", the best a 16" beauty that crashed into the dry mayfly. You certainly know you've done a days fishing on this beat - its physically quite tough. The size of the trout from such a little stream never cease to amaze me.

6 Trout

A couple of hours around lunchtime. Bumped into team from the EA who had been electro fishing in front of the mill - more eels than brownies apparently! I parked at the main spot identified in the beat map and there wasn't much water to go at downstream, but moving upstream there were some pools with good fish - 6-11". Very much fending for yourself, with lots of cattle gates. Wild stuff!

6 Trout

River very very low. Wouldnt advice anyone to book this beat until a good rainfall. I walked up and down the full beat looking for good hole but non existed. Very sad to see such beautiful river with such low water level.

Slow start. Mayfly hatch around 3pm when trout were caught using a smallish mayfly imitation.
Weather overcast with sunny intervals. A beautiful stream and a great day.

3 Trout

8 x trout 6 - 14 inches on Parachute Adams. A nice average size for a small stream of 10-12 inches. Breathless heat this morning, heat-haze obscuring the mountains, valley grass burnt white, cattle in the shade and no birds singing. Best place to be, without a doubt, was waist-deep in the water under overhanging trees.

8 Trout

8 Trout to 11". River was low and clear and not much flow. Fished upstream of the road bridge. A few mayfly about but not many rises, caught 4 on a klinkhammer and 4 on a small black bead head nymph.

8 Trout

Fished the stretch above the main car park. Water really low - saw numerous trout of varying sizes but they were spooked really easily. I had one on for all of about two seconds but lost it. Highlight of the day though was the two kingfishers we saw flitting up and down the river - they must be nesting in the eroded bank just above the second set of watergates.