Feedback & Reports

Sad to say I didn't catch one fish although I did rise one on an olive Klinkhammer. I had fished the lower river earlier and much preferred the middle beat. Again the water was slightly coloured. I saw a few (very few) dark olives coming off the water but no natural rises at all. It was a difficult early season day. Similarly to the lower beat, I found it hard to get round some trees. Also I was unsure where to park - "after the stone bridge, turn right and park on the grass" but actually you have to go through a gate to do so - unless I parked in the wrong place!
However don't get me wrong I shall come back and fish this beat again it is a beautiful wild stream and I believe it a privilege to be able to do so, so thank you.

Set out lunchtime to fish the Lower beat and was disappointed to see another anglers car in the parking area. Checked his dashboard and there was no paper etc indicating he was on the "upper" as per the simple instructions for this beat so presumed he had beaten us to the lower.
We didn't fancy the upper for various reasons so had a bit of drive around checking out other beats in the area.
Returned to long town on the way home to find the angler returning to his car. When I asked him which stretch he had fished he said the UPPER!!!!! I was more than a little perturbed by this!!!! WHY CANT PEOPLE FOLLOW. SIMPLE INSTRUCTIONS?????!!!!!!!!!!!
So having wasted hours of our fishing time when we could have been on the lower as we planned we got the rods out and only had time to have a go on the first 200 yds or so below the bridge. We'd missed the hatch but still managed a few.
Personal thanks to the selfish angler who could not follow the WUF parking instructions and wrecked our day!

6 Trout

Spinning, river fairly high and coloured. Two small Brown Trout on pink Flying C, both in lovely condition and safely returned. Colin the Ghillie most helpful as always!

2 Trout

Still and misty, drizzle in afternoon and heavy rain after. Not cold.
Hatch at 1pm for about half an hour, fish rising and caught 3 around a pound.
Tried nymphs rest of day, nothing.

3 Trout

A soft grey day - the forecast rain did not materialise and the river was in great nick. LDOs and March Browns (? - didn't actually positively identify, not sure they were dark enough!) hatched from 12.30pm till 2pm and in that period we should have had 8 fish on dries - but every one came off, 7 threw the hook and the one that was properly hooked smashed my 3lb point! The rises were often very subtle and even in the fast water I could see fish coming to the fly before they got there - probably means I was trigger happy! Resigned to a fishless - but none the less lovely day in the valley with wood anemomies out - we decided on 1 last go at 3.30pm. Just as I was entering the water a fish rose a couple of rod lengths out - so I waited and up he came again. Given the earlier experiences I wasn't over optimistic but a much more confident take of my size 12 para olive resulted in an excellent scrap from a 16" typical Usk Brownie - well hooked at last, safely returned. First fish of the season! Final score Fish 8 - Bullocks 1.

1 Trout

This looks like a lovely bit of fly fishing when the river is about a foot lower than I experienced. I shall definitely book again in the future.

1 Trout

It started raining heavily as I arrived but I gave it a go. The water soon became coloured and I have to record a blank. Better luck next time.

Really NOT IMPRESSED with this beat.
Went to the beat under my Wild Stream Season permit BUT after walking down to the beat start I was left dismayed at the appalling access!!! I could not get to the water ANYWHERE on the lower half of the beat.
Frustratingly the access on the LEFT bank is VERY GOOD all along the stretch, might I suggest that the foundation negotiate anglers an access on the left bank?
Very disappointed and frustrated. Would have been even more perturbed had I booked and paid for this through the Booking Office.

WUF note - The Wild Streams beats vary considerably from beat to beat. Chanstone Court is a very wild beat but the rewards can be excellent. Anglers are advised to use our Anglers feedback section to research beats before fishing them.

An inauspicious start as the rain started once over the Severn bridge. Still it was warmer than last May's visit and much less windy. The rain stopped around noon. This is a lovely beat; the water was crystal clear and quite low. Very little fly life seen, mainly LDOs but did I see a couple of March browns? To the fishing, all caught on GRHE upstream bar one on a spider. All released, all a good size and all gave a good fight with plenty of jumping. Best just over a pound - still quite skinny for their length. The streamy water at the top of the beat was the most productive.

7 Trout

Nice beat to fish but a substantial rise in water resulted in zero success again.