Feedback & Reports

CP and BS from London fished the beat, 11.30am-4.00pm. Water very clear and river level good; not affected by recent rains. Scattered clouds and occasional rain. Fish seen and rising throughout the day, fished a combination of small dry flies upstream and nymphs down and across; 2 brown trout caught and released.

2 Trout

Blanked in the morning & made up for it with a good 'fry-up' on the tailgate of the truck at lunchtime with some piping hot tea from the Kelly's kettle; A small shower of rain after 2pm seems to chivvy the fish up a bit & MB from Hampshire caught his first Wye salmon in the Armies run on a cascade pattern with a bit of sparkle in the tail. Coloured, cock fish of about 8 1/2 lbs.
Terrier had a wonderful day as the hazel bushes were full of squirrels & she also likes to be 'in charge' when a fish is being unhooked & released. JC from Hampshire had a good trout on a dry fly towards the end of the day.
Will post some go-pro footage of 'Mikes first Wye salmon' on the tube under that heading later on. Thanks WUF for another great day of pleasure on the upper Wye.

1 Salmon, 1 Trout, 4 Grayling, 1 Other

Pretty much my last fish of what has been quite a skinny season. Aberedw is like my death row last request beat! Partly because this is where I learnt to small stream dry fly fish and partly because it offers pool after pool of interesting and exciting angling with a chance on every cast.
Was rewarded with 11 wbt all to dries - anything sedgy worked. Some fin perfect 9"-12" specimens along with the feisty 6 inchers. Made my way up to the additional 700 or so yards this beat offers but was welcomed by an almighty downpour. The gorge at the bottom of the beat turned purple and reminiscent of Middle Earth. A few casts were rewarded with an angry 9" trout but rain stopped play.
Great day, every angler needs a death row beat!

11 Trout

Glorious weather more akin to summer than September and such scenic surroundings. The river was tinged with a bit of colour after recent rain and the Barbel came in early afternoon. Surprisingly the overcast evening brought only Chub. Best Barbel was 7lb 9ozs and was caught down the inside in the streamer weed. Pellet on a link ledger was the successful tactic. Don't be put off by the weed or the steep banks. It's like much of the Wye, if a little more overgrown due being off the beaten track. Only one canoe seen all day.

2 Barbel, 7 Chub

Didn't have any fish from 06.30 up to 13.50.....Then it averaged two fish an hour. Baits used and caught on included meat, pellet and boilies.

8 Barbel, 4 Chub

6 x trout 6-10 inches, Rusty Klinkhammer. This little stream is still extremely low. Incidentally, Martin the farmer here currently has cattle in one of the left bank fields and has made a drinking place for them by wiring off a 20 foot section of the channel. Just duck under the slack wire and head on upstream.

6 Trout

My first visit to the Usk this year and unfortunately all the porkers seemed to be somewhere else. Saw very little in the way of fish all day but did manage 3 x wbt to nymph patterns fished on a french leader. All returned.

3 Trout

Lovely beat, though the river was lower than I'd hoped, only a couple of inches above summer low and clearing. A lot of trout activity, with hatches of dark olives hatching. Alternated the salmon rod with the the trout rod, taking a couple of modest brownies on the latter and losing a pound-plus fish at the net. No sign of salmon.

2 Trout

Fished the middle section of the beat using pellet. A very pleasant day but no fish caught.

Arrived at Fownhope and chose the hike to the wooded area. Conditions were dry and we both found the walk certainly gets the heart pumping. However it is certainly not as arduous as many of the reports suggest although I can see how negotiating the wooded area path could be rather tricky in wet conditions.
The fishing action was non stop with all barbel falling to feeder tactics and elips pellets. Anglers should note that the swims within this area are very snaggy so quality abrasion resistant line is a must. We finished the day by returning to the upper stretch where we both took more barbel.
Fownhope is a stunning stretch of the Wye and the quality of the fishing is second to none. Many thanks to the WUF for enabling access to such an exceptional stretch.

17 Barbel, 4 Chub