Builth Wells Area 4/4/09

I decided to pop down to the Wye around Builth Saturday afternoon for a few hours fishing in the hope that the trout may have 'switched on' now the temperatures have risen a little.

The river is running extremely low and clear at the moment so expectations weren't too high, although I had noticed quite a few Grannom coming off the river as I walked along it earlier...the trout seemed very reluctant to rise!!

I headed for a stretch well below the town bridge and had hopes of fishing upstream 'New Zealand' style but unfortunately this stretch is prone to catching the wind which was skimming downstream making a decent presentation almost impossible, so I opted for the 'across & down' approach with a team of three consisting of: beadhead PT pupa on the point with Partridge & Orange and Waterhen Bloa making up the other two.

I hooked and lost what seemed a sizable fish early on but the three hour session ended with just a handful of Parr and one decent out of season Grayling.

The river conditions at the moment certainly don't help, with the low, clear water making the larger and more wary fish very nervous and probably not prepared to venture out to play until it gets a little darker. Also this year there seems to have been a large number of Goosanders & Cormorants patrolling this stretch of river which has possibly made them even more skittish.

Hopefully the rain forecast for the next week will freshen things up, with easter looming I may find myself with a couple of extra days available to try and sort out some of those larger specimens that the Wye holds.......i'll keep you posted.