Edw Hergest

Steeped in history, it is easy to lose yourself in the magical Edw valley. Folklore has it that Prince Llewelyn, the last Welsh Prince of Wales, hid in the caves at Aberedw in 1282 before escaping the forces of Edward I by turning the shoes on his horse the wrong way round, eventually being slain near the river Irfon. Whatever the legend, the valley’s history is evident through the numerous castles and earthwork fortifications, many of which are still visible today.

This upper Wye tributary has been one of the most popular trout streams in the Passport scheme. With 4 beats and around 5 miles of water to fish, the Edw offers a good variety of water and could almost be described as a river in reverse. The lower 2 beats are high gradient and flow quickly over bedrock making them a fairly difficult wade but providing some fantastic pools and glides. The upper 2 beats, however, run through farmland and are more leisurely and meandering.

The Hergest beat is a one mile stretch of double bank fishing that ends at Hergest Falls, which in high water is one of the great places to see ascending salmon and trout in November and early December. The beat flows over rock and gravel, offering some classic upland stream trout fishing.

Ideally fished with a 6½-8ft, 2 to 4wt rod.

There was an outbreak of crayfish plague in the lower Irfon on the Wye catchment in July 2024 resulting in the deaths of the many of the native white-clawed crayfish. This beat contains a healthy population of native crayfish therefore, visiting anglers MUST ensure against cross contamination by approved check/dry/disinfection procedures, and importantly waders, nets and tackle should be sprayed with Virkon disinfectant before and after fishing.

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