Feedback & Reports

Excellent day, (thanks to the WUF person who recommended this beat - I should have got your name) this was a great beat with some lovely pools in beautiful surroundings. We had 10 WBT, best were 3 to around 1 1/2 lbs. We also spotted and cast to a few of over 2 lbs. The day was more like an April day with sun, clouds and showers, but consistently very windy. The upper wooded section tucked down in a valley provided respite from the wind, and was great to fish. A great day on the river.

10 Trout

Despite a forecast of cloud this was an often bright day with a blustery downstream wind that made dry fly tactics difficult. Hatches were in any case sparse, with a few Yellow May Duns riding the current and swarms of gnats on the upper reaches in the morning, but these were largely ignored.
I got lucky towards the top with a strong trout lying in a nearside stream which took a grey shrimp and was adjudged better than a pound and a half. This was later trumped by a very strong fish on the island section on the middle reaches which took the trailing point fly when a small fish was in play on the dropper and simply whizzed down and across the pool in two bursts and broke me. After lunch one of the smaller pools below the first parking place produced two decent fish but I had little reward from my 'dances with bedrock' going down to the bottom pool. The middle reaches produced a little more sport in the early evening, including one decent trout which let go after a minute or so, but half of the catch today was tiddlers and it was a shame that with the benefit of the previous week's rain Fenni Fach did not have more conducive weather conditions to show more of this beautiful but challenging beat's potential.

10 Trout

All taken on olive patterns, river running clear, fish mainly rising between 10.am till 2.00pm, then after that went dead.

14 Trout

Two wild brown trout caught on gold headed nymphs to 2lbs. Lots of fish rising mid afternoon - did not go for our dry flies.

2 Trout

A nice day to be on the river and some decent fishing too. We took fish in the morning on nymphs (GRHE & olive jig nymph) and in the afternoon on various dries.

11 Trout

Heavy rain overnight so I expected the river to be coloured but in fact it was fine for the first hour or two. Parked at bottom section and soon found fish rising but we both failed to match the hatch until the trout later started taking duns. At that point I rose two very good trout on a CDC olive but failed to connect with either because the fly I was using had no hook! My partner meanwhile was landing her second trout of the day (both 1lb or so) on a comparadun.

I also met a nice guy from the Brecon club who not only pointed out very politely that I was fishing on the wrong side but also gave me two excellent march brown emerger patterns for good measure. Not long after that the river started rising (and colouring) because of rain elsewhere and the rises stopped but for a 10 inch trout that made its way onto my hook. I will fish this beat again and hopefully fish it better!

3 Trout

One BT to a dry black gnat. Cold and drizzly, not much surface action.

1 Trout

12 Trout

With low water and strong sunlight early on this was not going to be a day of big catches. Fortunately cloud came in by mid-morning and I was lucky to get a fish of a pound and three quarters on a grey shrimp near the bottom of the top section, so to speak. As in the past the lovely pools up here then refused to yield further trout so after a walk back to the car I later concentrated on the middle and bottom sections. There were steady risers after lunch in one pool but the downstream wind that prevailed today made extension of the dry fly leader difficult so I soon reverted to nymph and shrimp or a cast purely of PTNs, and might have added to my score with trout hooked and lost or simply bumped in the way the down-and-across fisher risks. Cold winds and night temps made for meagre rewards on the river but it was a pleasure to be away from the very Roman city of Bath for a few days.

4 Trout

Lovely time (although only had a couple of hours) as ever on this wonderful beat. Lost one fish. Lots of fly life about, which was great to see. Pleasure to meet David and his wife.