The Best Of Times

If I had to pick just one month to fish then I think September may well be that month, its the time of year when the sun still has some warmth to it, the foilage on the trees is getting ready to take on its autumn colours, the air is filled with the strong aroma of Himalayan Balsam which for me evokes vivid memories of autumn fishing as a child. On top of that we can find both Trout and Grayling still eager to take our flies.

Such was my experience last weekend on possibly my most productive river this season. This small river which runs through Mid Wales was running slightly below normal level but with some very inviting deep pockets of fast flowing water which hold good numbers of large fish.

My favoured searching set up would again be the duo with a hi-viz Klinkhamer on a dropper and a #16 tungsten head bead on the point.

I had recently tied up some quill bodied nymphs and one of these as the point fly proved a big success acounting for most of the fish including many impressive grayling which found it hard to resist this little fly

Hook: Kamasan B170 - #16
Head: 2mm Black Nickel Tungsten Bead
Tail: Coq De Leon Fibres
Body: Stripped Peacock Quill
Thorax: Olive Dyed Squirrel

This potentially very productive time of year really needs to be taken advantage of as its all over too quickly and before we know it the reality of fishing in sub zero temperatures with numb toes and fingers for a couple of fish (if we're lucky) wondering what the hell we bothered to venture out for, will soon be upon us.

Back On An Old Favourite

We all have rivers/streams that hold a special place in our hearts, well one of mine has to be the River Edw which is a small tributary to the River Wye and enters the river just downstream of Builth Wells.

I headed off there Saturday and having seen high levels in both the Irfon and Wye had hoped to find it with more water in but unfortunately it was still running pretty low.

The beat I fished was Aberedw, the lower of the four under the Wye & Usk Foundation roving voucher scheme, this beat is split into two sections and although the top section is relatively short it's definitely worth a visit with a couple of stunning looking pools.

Fish came instantly from the bottom of the beat and although mostly small fish these brown trout are just beautiful and totally wild. I like to think my stealthy approach when I walk up these rivers is as good as I can be but I think I would have needed to be invisible to realistically target some of the trout that were lying in the shallow tails of some of the pools. They caught wind of me long before I could delicately drop a dry fly on there noses and bolted upstream to warn the others.

I did manage to find plenty of obliging fish from many of the deeper, faster pockets that seem to have trout queuing up ready to take either a dry or nymph.

Fly life is also a bit special on the Edw with a steady stream of late season flies hatching throughout the day, coupled with the beauty and remoteness you experience here then it is easy to see why this can become one of those 'special' places.


Autumn Dun (Ecdyonurus dispar)