Feedback & Reports

After a few days of heavy rain I fancied my luck in the quest for my first Welsh Salmon. Upon arrival I found the river wild and dark brown. Realising I was premature (again...) I persevered as all good men should. Trying fly and spinning on both sections I spent 6 hours carefully watching for any fishy signs, but nothing.... not a sniff...scenery was beautiful. Be aware the bank walking on this beat is not for the those with a clumsy disposition. Tomorrow is another day - I remain doggedly optimistic. WUF booking system and directions were brilliant ! Bravo !

Thank you so much for your help in choosing my beats last week. I really think that I had the best days fishing I have ever had on tuesday with the fish all free rising and the weather just right. Wednesday it was quality rather than quantity with 3 fish to a pound and a half, weather a bit ropey but another great day. Penpont today (Thursday) I could only fish for a few hours as I didnt want to sit on the M4 for hours. Still managed to land 4 to 1lb and lost a monster at the net. The fish lying under the bridge made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up but I had no time to try for them. Next time!!!!

WUF Note: Fished Abernant 26th May, Llyn Em 27th May, Penpont 28th May.

Caught and released 4 trout in total. Lost a few others. Fish were to 13". Hoping for more after the rain but was still nice to net a few.
PTN's again for the fish. Only saw 2 fish rise so didn't bother with anything else. Had a nice Monday!!! Thanks WUF for sorting out my vouchers.

Monday 8th June - fining down nicely, plenty of fish taking off the top, but proved difficult to catch !!!! Results - 3 browns between 3/4 lb and 1 lb and a couple of grayling about 1lb.

Beautiful stretch of river, easy wading. Thanks for all your help.

No sign of salmon. Three sea trout all around 1lb. caught at Moccas and returned. River low but dirty at Moccas. Will be back later in year for salmon and barbel. Ty Newydd very pretty beat. Challenging wading in coloured water.
Excellent booking service.

A lovely day on Middle Hill Court. Overcast with the odd shower.

No Salmon from either of our two rods, one possible bite, plenty of trout / small fish rising, particularly in the Maddox. Also, more than plenty of canoeists, who distinguished themselves by singing, skimming stones across the pools and capsizing and then walking through the lies.

Notwithstanding their appearance, it was a lovely day.....

12 rods from the Cheltenham & Gloucester Branch of the Fly Dressers Guild fished the Wye and Usk Challenge on Saturday 6th June. Not an easy day to fish as the water temperature was higher than the air temperature and there were rain squalls on and off all day.

Despite this only 1 rod blanked - 42 trout in total plus several grayling and a 3lb chub. Best trout 20" from Ty Newydd, a couple of other 15" and 12" fish, the rest 10" or less.

And despite the weather a continual trickle of flies - olives, brook duns and yellow mays - culminating in a fantastic hatch of olives from 5pm onwards on Ty Newydd. It was impossible to select a rising fish to cast to - there were too many, although they were very selective. Also a huge lamprey redd on Ty Newydd - at the top of the bottom pool.

Unfortuately got rained off Sunday - it poured all Saturday night! And the winner of the Wye and Usk Challenge? Well James Bullock scored maximum points thanks to his 20" trout - but incurred 100% penalty due to his failure to attend the dinner at the Severn Arms on Saturday evening - some excuse about a party! So the honours this year went to our chairman David Wilson. Well done David...

The rivers we fished were beautiful and the hotel Severn Arms very friendly and accommodating - Good food, late bars,wide and changing selection of well kept cask beers and comfortable rooms (each with different furnishings - quite nostalgic) Very hot in the day but had a marvelous swim in the Wye. Only caught one half pound brown trout in the evening at Ty Newydd, but as relative beginner was good enough to round off the perfect holiday.
Nice to be able to meet you at your HQ

It only rained once unfortunately that was from ten o clock till three thirty. At times the rain was literally bouncing of the river it was so intense. Incredibly when the rain was at its heaviest the fish started to rise !!!!!!!!.

Caught five in quick succession, 4 Penpont piglets about 8 inches and a full on porker of about 14 inches. Couldn?t see my fly at all just lifted when a fish was rising in the general area.

Went home soaked to the skin , must get a waterproof wading jacket !

Everything about this beat is intimidating. From the name, it's access (recommend a 4x4 for the upper section) and the size and type of water. With a cool ESE wind and the imminent rain the hatch was relatively limited.
Really challenging with constant changes of tactics as the river morphs into a different beast every couple of hundred yards or so. Having said that it proved a worthwhile experience. Not so much for the amount of fish caught -
3 cracking grayling all around 15" and 2 small brownies (olives and klink and dink)- but for the steep learning curve on casting, fly selection and style of fishing. When the rain arrived in the afternoon the heads of these three intrepid rods from Surrey finally dropped and retreated to the warm and safe environment of a Brecon pub!

For the more adventurous native angler this beat is a must.

Having spent a day at Cefnllysgwynne I would return with more confidence and hopefully a little more success.