Feedback & Reports

We arrived in pouring rain. The river was very high with the water coloured. We decided we would start at the head of the beat Edw Pool. After 10 minutes of trekking along the unkempt trail at the edge of the water; over fallen trees, mossy rocks and dense brambles, the trail came to an end. It was impossible to continue on, although it may have been possible via wading in the river if it had been lower. I do remember vaguely reaching the Edw Pool via the road on another occasion.
We returned to Lady Alexander's Catch, a long and splendid piece of fly water. Between the croys I hooked a 4lb grilse and ten minutes later, a little further down, I hooked a 31lb hen fish. We stopped for a break, talked to the water bailiffs and carried on fishing. My chum Michael elected to carry on down through the pool and I went back to the head of the pool. Within ten minutes I had my third fish, a cock of 16lbs. All three fish were just getting their mating colours and all three fell to a small Cascade. Michael had three small trout.
Thanks to Seth at the W&UF office for suggesting Abernant. My suggestion would be to revise the details - making clear if anglers are allowed to park inside the gate (which is much safer than in the lay-by, and to include a realistic route to reach Edw Pool which is a lovely piece of water and would make this my first choice of beat in future.
WUF Note: Access improvements to Abernant are scheduled in the next few days with the reinstatement of the path to the top of the Edw Pool a priority. The current parking is in the roadside layby only as access to the field is required.

3 Salmon

River quite high and fast and gusty winds, and the water very coloured. 1 small trout about 6 inches returned.

1 Trout

Fish for a couple of hours in late afternoon. Caught 3 smallish rising trout in first 15 mins on a size 18 grey duster, then saw nothing more.

3 Trout

Mixed weather,sun & showers. Water a little high and coloured. 2 WBT taken, one to 2 lbs both long deep nymphing in gullys etc. Many more missed probably due to a lack of concentration! Lovely day on varied and interesting beat. Wading not easy and a wading staff an absolute must. Some fly life, mostly caddis.

2 Trout

River about 1 foot above normal levels, no Salmon or Sea Trout seen. Brown Trout taken on Sea Trout flies and 1 on spinner, all returned.

3 Trout

After weeks of reading catch reports talking about low river levels, I arrived on the bank after three days of rain and plenty of water pushing through and in good colour. The weather was fine sunshine and broken cloud. Arrived around 7.00am and fished until 6.00pm. Everything I had read about the walk from the car park to the bottom end of the copse was true. The hill is a challenge with your gear so travel light, I'm pleased I did. The footpath through the copse wasn't as overgrown as I had been led to believe it would be from the reports I'd read but it was treacherous after the rain. Getting down to the river required the use of a rope. There aren't many swims accessible in the copse so its not hard to work out which one produces the multiple catch reports. Not the most comfortable day's fishing perched on a rock but well worth it. Fished pellet and feeder in the crease between a pool created by the croy and the main flow. I only landed 6 fish but with the Barbel to 7lb 4oz and Chub to 4lb 8oz it was a satisfying day. I would definitely go back.

3 Barbel, 3 Chub

Three brown trout, 9", 10" and a superb fish of 18", impossible to tell if the latter was a grown on stock fish from 2014 or completely wild, but either way an indication that the water supports trout to rival those in the Usk itself. Very windy, blowing down towards the dam, so fishing the right bank I was restricted to the more sheltered bays where the wind didn't push the fly line back around my head. As a consequence I fished heavier than I would have preferred with a 7wt ghost tip, GRHE gold head, Diawl Bach on the mid dropper and orange hopper on the top. One fish on each with the best to the Diawl Bach. A great way to spend a short afternoon and worth a whole day next time.

3 Trout

I fished the last swim at the very end of the beat. Started on the feeder fishing the crease on the edge of the slack water. I had a few small chub around 6oz. After 3 hours of watching a motionless quivertip I got the trotting rod out and had 2 decent chub one over 4lb. The 2 guys upstream didnt appear to be fairing much better although I did see a barbel come out. The highlight of the day was a kingfisher perched on my rod. Beware if you dont like cattle. They are in the field and are very curious surrounding my car and licking the paint for whatever reason.

6 Chub

Hit the river at just the right time as it was starting to drop and fine down. The result was 16 barbel to 8.10 all taken on pellet from Legg Meadow, most upstreaming in mid river. Always enjoy fishing Courtfield but can't always count on a bag of this size.

16 Barbel

Gorgeous stretch, a tranquil and peaceful place except for fifteen minutes of mayhem when a very lively group of children in five or six canoes were shepherded from pool to pool by instructors. Needless to say, they held just above our swim and proceeded to shout instructions. To add to our delight, the children who were too young to canoe were brought along the bank by another instructor. They settled on the top of the bank directly behind us and engaged us in lively conversation!! Fortunately, they didn't stay long and we found it all rather hilarious.
All fish caught on pellet, with the river dropping back nicely.
A stunningly beautiful stretch of river, some lovely swims and a great place to fish (especially if you like children!)

4 Barbel, 1 Chub