Feedback & Reports

River a foot up and a nice height, falling very slowly despite some very heavy rain at times, but too coloured I think, even for the spinner - I'm learning that the Usk does not fish as well in strong colour as many 'softer' rivers I know, like the Towy. No takes to spinner or fly and no sign of fish, including trout, except one rolling salmon in the Rocks. Lovely beat though, will be back. Was rather confused by the reference in the directions to the Steel Horse Cafe, which turned out to be half a mile from the river and certainly no sign of a fishing hut there. And is the 'private car park next to the water' the pull-in in front of the old hut by the Chain Bridge (which I used) or is there another which I failed to find? Clarification would be appreciated.

River was very high and in flood. We fished anyway as we'd travelled from London. 1 small trout and one lost. Saw 2 salmon.

1 Trout

Only 4 out of the 6 rods could meet for this trip. We approached the river at 5 am not exactly full of confidence, it was on the rise but a good colour. I found a swim and two of us settled to pit our wits against whiskers. At 0930 we were tearing our hair out ready to go home we had lost that much tackle due to snags. We popped down to have a chat with a mate who had lifted 3 barbel out. So we changed swim and persevered it paid off and I lifted 2 and lost 1 barbel. We moved up near the pump house late in the day and hit a good spot and we landed 9 more barbel before we called it a day when the thunder storm arrived. I think if I fished this again I wouldn't hesitate to move if I wasn't getting any joy within an hour. It's a cracking beat but needs to be worked to pay dividends.

14 Barbel, 1 Chub

Nice to be back on the river again and to find it in perfect condition. We both caught barbel on a range of baits. Nothing massive but enough to keep you interested and enough swims to allow a bit of moving around to keep in touch with the fish. Plenty of eels about as well!

2 Barbel

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2 Barbel

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1 Barbel, 6 Chub

Delightful setting. Very challenging conditions for me, with heavy rain and lots of water coming down. There was some obvious trout activity in the pools. I had several "takes" using a small Adams, but failed to net fish. I will definitely return and will attempt to sharpen-up my techniques!

Wash-off. Arrived at approx. 9am and the river was up and coloured after a few days rain. Probably only needed a dry day prior and it would've been spot on.
Cracking spot though and the river looks like it would be incredible in the right conditions, and excellent scenery surrounding - looking forward to going back.

Fished the middle part of the beat, where there is respite from the faster water conditions. Caught 2 barbel to 6lb-14oz and 3 average size chub. Lashing 30 minute rainstorms at 4pm and 6pm had the water turning brown / red with so much mud going into the river. The river is probably too murky for really good fishing at the moment, so fairly pleased to catch a few fish.

2 Barbel, 3 Chub

River coloured but quite a few trout seen. One salmon that had been in the river some time made a fleeting appearance.

2 Trout