Feedback & Reports

Nil

3 x trout, dry flies - sparse olive hatch

3 Trout

An early foray onto the Brecon Honddu. Water was quite high, but clearing with a tint of colour. Fishing heavy nymphs we had half a dozen each over the course of a couple of hours, mostly 9 to 11 inchers. RM did however land a really good fish, of 17 inches.

12 Trout

Plenty of promising water but no fish for me today. Most of the beat is easy to access from right bank except for the bottom bit which I couldn't get to. This bit looked like easier access from left bank but I ran out of time to explore. River a little high but falling and clearing nicely. Bit of an easterly breeze. No visible fly life or rising fish.

No fish seen - to be expected this time of year. Fishery manager Terry very helpful . Good maps and access. Lots of water to fish so noted lies /pools would be really useful on beat Maps to narrow down the guess/ potential time wasted in unproductive areas

2 Barbel, 2 Chub

1 Grayling, 3 Barbel, 3 Chub

5 Barbel, 11 Chub

Pleasant day, river high and coloured, just a single Chub caught close in on meat.

1 Chub

Lovely to be back on the Usk again, although good grief the water was cold! That was quite tough below waist level as you have to wade a lot here, the water is still pretty high and cold and the winter floods have carved out some pretty deep holes in a couple of places that were previously easy wading near the banks. Above waist level great though, especially as I got to try out a bamboo Granger Special 8.5 I found over winter - my feet may have been numb but casting that sent a tingle up my spine, a rod over 75 years old and it still casts so sweetly. Perfect fishing tool, those old rod-builders really knew what they were doing (and while it may be just a tad heavier, far superior to any graphite I've ever fished with!). Not much hatching so the fishing was slow, but there were just a few LDOs and march browns trickling off in the early afternoon and while those brief hatches were on I managed to catch two - the best a nice one of 14.5" caught off the top on a March brown CDC Emerger to start the season in style!

Fish were in decent condition, only a little lean after winter. Interestingly the bigger one had lost about half a cm of it's lower caudal fin from sitting on the bottom over winter, and also had a long, perfect V-mark on it's shoulder (see photo); the latter must have been an old wound from a fishing bird (cormorant seen on the water today as well!), but completely healed.

Thanks for a lovely day out, great to be out on the Usk again after the long winter!

2 Trout