Feedback & Reports

A dull, overcast day. Fished from 11am until 5pm.
Fished opposite the meadow by the sawmill working upstream to the shallow rapids. Used olive Klinkhammers and took two Grayling about 10" (Returned).
When the rain started I fished back downstream with tiny nymphs without success.
Came out of the river at the point where I had first entered and walked well downstream to dry fly fresh water upstream but could not catch anything, however crafty I thought I was being with different small olive flies and a small Daddy.
A great day to have the beat to myself nonetheless.
The water was low (wading in 12" to 24" under the trees) so casting beneath the trees to the deep run was fairly easy but I guess it could be a challenging beat when the water is up. One day is not enough time to explore the whole beat so I will be back next year!
Can thoroughly recommend accomodation at www.thehaltatdoldowlod.co.uk
We stayed there in our caravan in May and in their Vulcan Lodge cottage this time. Excellent facilities, very agreeable hosts and only a 150 yard walk the the Craig Lynn beat and a couple miles to the Doldowlod beat. Perfect!

2 Grayling

6 x grayling 12-17 inches, Grayling Steel Blue. I made a serious mistake today, neglecting to put my wading staff in the car. It's a known fact in my house that I can be a little vague in the mornings before breakfast. Doldowlod is one of the places where you really do need a staff - at least at my age you do. I therefore opted not to play around with nymphs in the pocket water upstream but hung around the deep pools and gutters lower down. When I saw something rise, I had a pop at it with the dry fly. There are still really nice grayling at Doldowlod: two at 17 inches and two at 16 inches. Unfortunately it went rather quiet when the sun started to shine after lunch, but still a very nice day.

1 Trout, 6 Grayling

First time fishing on the upper Wye, and was advised by the booking office to try Doldowlod as I was after large grayling.
I fished from 10.30 to 4.30, starting on the lower beat limit three fields down from the sawmill. I didn't make as much progress up the beat as I would have liked as I got fixated on fish rising under the trees and in the middle channel. I'd wanted to try out Czech nymphs through the gutter section but the fish were in heads up mode and completely ignored them - a salutary lesson in matching prevailing conditions rather than coming to a river with preconceived methods. All fish were caught on Klinkhammers, with the three trout ranging from 1-1.25lb and the grayling at around a pound. I took the largest trout, all others safely returned. Was surprised by how acrobatic the trout were, with all of them jumping clear of the surface at least three times before coming to the net.
I echo the comments about the difficulty in wading over the bedrock, and I'm glad I took a wading staff as it would have been an early bath otherwise. This is a very scenic beat, with lots of wildlife (kingfishers, red kite, buzzards and wagtails).
Leaves now starting to show on the river surface - won't be long until we're properly into autumn grayling fishing.

3 Trout, 1 Grayling

River was low and clear today making things a bit tough. Not really any amount of fly on the water but any fish rising were very willing to take the fly. Caught mainly on dries cdc and elk and a tan klinkhammer. Had a couple on a quill bodied tungsten olive tenkara rod, got a few in the pocket water. Fantastic water to fish and the quality of grayling was top notch. Averaged a pound up to two pounds and it doesn't get much better than that!

2 Trout, 9 Grayling

In pretty overcast and still conditions, I managed to get a few hours in during the morning and early afternoon before the forecast rain drew a halt to the proceedings at 2pm. Some sedges and stonefly, and small olives around from the off and a few fish eventually began to rise - some of those caught were risers and others not. Grayling were mainly in the 13-14" class but two were 16 and 17" fish to 1.75lb. Dropped a couple of trout on a HE emerger and caught another on a PTN. All grayling caught on a small dark olive Ducks Dun. Must go fishing on Friday the 13th again (but hopefully next time for rather longer)!

1 Trout, 10 Grayling

Grayling were great on the top today, 19 & 20ins fantastic specimens! This beat does produce big fish. All on D/H sedge.

2 Trout, 6 Grayling

River perfect at 8" on the Ddol Farm guage and running clear, so that helped the wading on this beat where some care is needed at all times. Very sunny all day with little wind. Some sedges present a.m. and p.m., a few small olives on the water in the afternoon and some big spinners in the air in the evening as well. A few fish rose off and on all day and I even caught my last lady at 8.30pm when I could barely see the olive that I had cast to the rise. Lovely stuff! As at Abernant last week, the grayling were in heads-up mode but here some trout were rising too. Fished a single emerger most of the day and took fish on it as well when fishing duo with various small nymphs, none of which elicited any response. Most grayling of 13-15" and trout 14-15". As usual at Doldowlod, the absence of smaller year-classes of grayling is always a concern. Undoubtedly the goosanders, four here today, have a say in that. Took rising and non-rising fish on small hare's ear and dark olive emergers and one on a Grayling Steel Blue. The little olive was by far the most favoured. A lovely day right through to the dusky finish!

8 Trout, 14 Grayling

Challenging fishing in a beautiful location with deep water in places. Had trouble finding the beat but eventually found the track to the upper limit footbridge. The fishing in the upper section is very limited due to the steep bank. I could not fish the other bank as I could not find the path that avoided the white cottage, even though one is shown on your beat map. This was a pity as I could not reach the best water. Caught 3 trout, one being 1lb+. A good day but the signage could be better.

3 Trout

Thanks for the advice, I really enjoyed my day on the Doldowlod stretch of water. It is a lovely beat with shallow rock terraces and a deep central channel. I parked at the sawmill and went three fields downstream. I only managed to fish the bottom 3 pools.
Unfortunately I did not catch any fish, neither did I manage to rise any. I arrived on the beat around 10.30am and there were a few fish rising. There was an excellent hatch of small fly with occasional mayfly getting up. However the sun was shining brightly and I found the going very difficult. All the rising fish were at the tail ends of the pools in the slower water. They were spooked very easily, mainly I think by the shadow of the leader on the gravel as the water was gin clear. The rise finished around midday. After that there was only a very occasional rise and I never managed to tempt any of them despite several changes of flies - nymphs, klinkhammers, Mayflies - dark colours and then light colours - but to no avail. Some good sized trout came down passed me as I gradually moved upstream - and I spotted a number moving around when wearing Polaroid glasses and standing on the bank amongst the trees. I left to come home around 4.30. The afternoon was fairly dead as regards to fish movement.

A lovely stretch of water but bright sunshine and temperature rising to 20 degrees with very clear water meant fish spooked very easily. Good hatch of fly from 10am to 12pm with occasional mayfly getting up. Some rising fish at tail end of pools but I was unable to temp them despite numerous changes of fly. It all went dead from midday onwards. I was on the beat from 10am to 4.30pm. Good fish came downstream past me as I gently waded upstream - they are there but I could not get amongst them.