Feedback & Reports

My first ever session on the stretch. Walked the whole length of the North bank, fishing all of the pikey looking slacks. Had 3 low doubles all to whole herring. Some very pikey looking swims on the south bank and can't wait to get back and give them a go.

An experimental kind of day, two rods out, one trotting and one heavy nymphing: 4 x grayling 15 - 16 inches, 1 x out of season brown trout 17 inches. The coldest day yet, minus 5 when we started, so the trotting rod in particular with its small rings was constantly freezing up. The fish came in the last hour before dark, shoaled up tight on the bottom in deep turbulent water and all to the trotting method - it just didn't seem possible to get down there with the fly rod, however much tungsten used. Note, another large Irfon brownie, again a hen in excellent condition - no sign of having spawned that I could see.

Very cold day with frost and snow on the banks. Fishing hard with only one small pike landed in the morning.

2 x Chub (both around 1.5 lb) on luncheon meat. Thanks

1 rod caught 1 brown trout 12" on goldhead GRHE. 2nd rod caught 3 grayling 10'', 12" and 14" on pink shrimp or orange tagged goldhead GRHE

A most enjoyable day - the sun even showed its head in late pm! Season's Greetings to all at WUF office!

Freezing cold day with snow on the bank. River low & clear and didn't fancy my chances. Had a nice pike of 23-12 at 10.00am on whole herring which turned out to be the same fish I had 200yds upstream a fortnight ago. This one must be on WUF'S payroll. Pulled out of another at midday and that was it for the day.

10 x grayling to 16.5 inches with the trotting rod. While the snow fell on Eastern England, we just had a desperately cold day in central Wales, mainly due to the biting easterly wind - I can't remember feeling so cold, particularly the hand trying to control the reel. Rod rings icing up all day, except for an hour between 2 and 3 in the afternoon, so difficult to trot. Also a new experience - meshes of net freezing to back of wading jacket. However, some grayling were still ready to play, plus there was a white knuckle half hour in the morning after a large cock salmon, very dark and diseased by now, picked up the single maggot. After I failed to tail him he eventually got below me into Stone Catch where I couldn't follow and the tiny hook straightened.

Sadly no fish caught but superb beat. A very enjoyable blank. The river was high and coloured. I fully intend to try again.

Blank, except for a 4 inch grayling parr.

Not such a good idea this, as a lot of coloured water still rushing down - wherever the fish were lying, I couldn't get a nymph down to them. Nice place to be though, on a lovely sunny morning. This beat could use a trim next year as it's getting quite overgrown.

There's been a bit of a hiatus with an enforced 6 weeks absence from fishing moving water. Very frustrating it was. Anyway here's a result:

16th December, Irfon at Cefnllysgynne: a day with the trotting rod, water high but clear and not too cold. 29 x grayling to 18 inches. The grayling were hard on the bottom nearly all the time although there was a brief hatch of large dark olives mid-afternoon. The best grayling was the last fish of the day, at dusk, and took right under the rod top. Also 2 x out of season trout: the larger of these, a hen fish in very good condition for the time of year, was also 18 inches. It's worth noting the number of large trout the Irfon is throwing up these days, quite apart from the grayling it has a reputation for. Most rivers produce the occasional good one, but the Irfon seems to be doing it regularly for the last few seasons.