Feedback & Reports

Gorgeous setting but no joy. Very little fish activity. Nothing caught

Another swelteringly hot June day, but this was the only free time I had, so I had to fish. Yet again this was another beautiful and picturesque Honddu beat. There is no doubt that it was hot (around 28 degrees I would imagine, but luckily there was occasionally a slight cooling breeze) but the majority of this stretch is shaded by trees, so it is fishable. Considering the weather we have been having there was a healthy flow, with a bit of colour, but of course it could do with a bit more depth.

It was the usual varied Honddu terrain, a mixture of small pools and runs, some fast water and some slow, good small stream variety. I’m not sure what the deal here is with camping, but in the second half of the beat (past the old bridge) there were people camping, and unfortunately rubbish (beer boxes, clothing, general rubbish and there was even a blow-up dinghy in the middle of the stream!). Up to the bridge is great, but if there are people camping I would be tempted to maybe stop there, or a few hundred further metres up.

Fished with Klinkhammer and nymph, most taken on the nymph but two on the Klinkhammer. Missed a few, but caught 3 WBT in the morning, then a couple before a late lunch. Had snooze in the hot afternoon, then fished from around 5-8pm. Caught another 9, mainly between 5.30 and 7.30, after that it went very quiet. All returned. Sizes from around 6-12”, and all looking very healthy.

14 Trout

Fished 16.30 until 19.50 in conditions just about as good as one is ever likely to chance on. Great broken evening sunlight, excellent water flow and colour, with a brisk up stream breeze; plentiful fly of many descriptions and greedy fish. I tried to concentrate on the more substantial seeming rises at the top end of each pool; but, since reduced back casts under low hanging branches made the necessary distances tricky to achieve, smaller fish cruising in the middle reaches got to the fly first. I stopped tightening after a bit, in the hope that less disturbance might ensue and that, after a pause, I might successfully cover the larger fish. This plan did not work! Terrific fun, though nothing over 9 inches.
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4 Trout

Unfortunately the river rose and coloured while I was there. Plenty of fly life including Large brook duns and Mayfly. 2 caught on soft hackle dry in the first run then went to nymphs for a while before the takes dwindled to nothing. I stopped at the bridge after catching nothing for an hour. The air above the lane was thick with BWO spinners as I left around 6pm.

5 Trout

River of course low and v. clear, strong gusty cold downstream wind but some nice sunny spells, produced a steady hatch through the day - but saw no rise whatsoever. Did not see any trout either, perhaps its still a bit cold in this valley! 1x 11" trout on a gold bead GRHE from a deep pool, but no other knocks or interest. Nice break in the afternoon watching a farmer plus wife train a young collie, with help from 2 wiser dogs, herd sheep and lambs, it seemed to learn fast!

1 Trout

I was camping in the valley and thought I would spend a couple of hours fishing. As I expected there was very little water in the river and the trout were hiding. Nothing caught.

I chose the Honddu because it offered some shelter from the promised south-westerly gale, and that worked out well. The NRW river level at Tafalog was suggesting a decent water level - but it was lying, the river was desperately low and I should have paid attention to the more recent catch returns from the Monnow system. I fished through the whole beat in 4 hours but the only fish I saw were the two small brownies I caught on nymph and the one rise which I missed - despite a decent smattering of sedges and upwings of various types.

2 Trout

1 wbt 6" on para adams, one 8" on GRHE. Masses of fly life but few fish rising.

2 Trout

Day 2 of 4 on our trip. Brother in Law fished Escley brook in next valley over in England whilst I gave two Welsh Honddu back-to-back beats a go. Lower Henllan and Maes y Beran were fished and I caught nothing until 2.30pm and then the temperature came up a degree and the fish came up. 17 fish caught on various dry. Three or four were a decent 14". Very sporadic hatch. I parked at Maes y Beran and was directed to much better nearby parking by the lady of the farm who stopped for a chat. Bizarrely I met her again at the end of the day and she was very happy to hear of my haul. NB: There is camping sites riverside on both beats and I would imagine it gets very busy in the summer months.

17 Trout