Holiday Highlights

The last four days have consisted of trips to the River Usk, River Wye and  two Wye tributaries, all days were quite testing fishing under the conditions but with some memorable highlights...photos below:


Spectacular waterfall on the Upper River Usk at Cefn Rhosan Fawr.

Me wondering how many fish must be lurking down there but failing to catch them!



More of the beautiful River Usk.



Eagle eyed Nick...waiting for a trout to give itself up!



My first Yellow May Dun (Heptagenia sulphurea) spotted on the 1st of May.

Large Brook Dun (Ecdyonurus torrentis).

Fish of the weekend...taking a #18 Pheasant Tail Nymph.

One of a shoal of Minnow (Phoxinus Phoxinus) in full breeding colour.



Gale force winds making a normally placid Wye look like the Atlantic shoreline!



Nearly Dry Wye

Last weekend I took in a couple of visits to a beat of the River Wye well upstream of my usual haunt of Builth Wells, the river here under these rain starved conditions proved hard work with some of the pools hardly moving and trout wary of anything out of the ordinary.

The Wye takes on a much more rugged feel to it here with the riverbed strewn with large rocks and boulders covered in slimy algae which makes grip impossible and wading 'interesting' to say the least.

The bonus of this part of the river is that the sight of a Red Kite of Buzzard soaring overhead is rarely far away and the landscape in this part of Mid Wales can be stunning.

I did managed to connect with a few of the trout over the 2 days and also quite a few of the still active Grayling readily taking dries off the surface including what would have been a personal best fish for me although I only took a couple of  photos and returned it quickly without any weight or accurate measurement. I have duly noted the location so I can return during the Grayling season and hopefully meet up with him again.

With Easter just around the corner we all usually long for some decent weather but I can't help hoping for a good downpour to arrive soon...especially with a planned trip to the Upper Usk in just over a week.

Trout On The Move

The trout were starting to show themselves a little more as I took a trip to a Shropshire stream for a few hours indulgence on Thursday afternoon.

Fishing the duo method I caught nine fish in total with only one taking the dry (which had actually sunk below the surface before the fish took it).

Everything is starting to look good now with plenty of flies coming off the surface, the birds, butterflies and bees were in abundance and I really got the feeling that some good dry fly action was just around the corner.

Fishing With Furled Leaders

I had been anticipating casting at some rising fish so I could test some Furled Leaders I had recently acquired from mrtrout who is a regular poster on the flyforums website. I was very impressed with the quality of these leaders when I received them and was just looking for the right opportunity to 'field test' them.

As instructed by Steven (mrtrout) these leaders just need treating with Mucilin floatant before fishing and they should float fine...well he wasn't wrong there, one treatment at the beginning and that was it. It lay perfect on the surface all day.

On Saturday I was armed with my 7' #4 rod with a 3' furled leader and 4' tippet attached...I was exploring a new piece of water on a Wye tributary that I have access to and early afternoon when I arrived there was a superb hatch of Large Dark Olives which were being readily taken...unfortunately as I soon found out the rising fish seemed to be all Grayling (where were you all winter when I needed you!). A few small trout were caught later but nothing that put a bend in the rod.

Sunday I was back on the Upper Wye with my 9' #5 rod with a 5' furled leader and 5' of tippet and the Grannom hatch seems to be well underway, it was an afternoon of sunshine and showers with very little of the former! When the sun did emerge briefly from the rain clouds the Grannom seemed to immediately respond and swarm to the surface triggering a few rises. Again it was to be mostly Grayling but I was rewarded when a fantastic early season brownie that sipped my CDC dry off the top and gave a great fight.

Grannom...seeking refuge from the rain

 The furled leaders performed superbly for both dry fly and duo methods and I'm sure will now play a major part of this season’s trout fishing.

Last Bite Of The Cherry

Its been a long, cold winter and my Grayling fishing has been nothing short of  disappointing. On Saturday I took a last ditch attempt to put a bend in my recently acquired Greys Streamflex 10' #4 with a few hours on the River Wye in Mid-Wales.

Fortunately the fish were not too put off with the low and clear river and as I arrived there were one or two flies coming off the water prompting a couple of fish to venture to the surface. After taking a couple of small Grayling on a dry olive pattern it was a change to a team of three weighted nymphs that brought a few more with a couple of  Grayling to put a proper bend in the Streamflex.



Bedraggled March Brown (Rhithrogena germanica)

 

Time now to look forward to what the trout season has to offer, with the heavy weighted flies back in the box for a while and the dry fly box in the top pocket ready to test some new patterns.

Upper River Wye

An early morning walk along the river is always a joy for most anglers but sometimes the scenery makes it extra special as is always the case when I walk along the part of the Upper River Wye just upstream from Builth Wells.


'The Rocks'


This part of the river is known as 'The Rocks' and the river here tumbles and twists through a deep rocky gorge which makes for some stunning scenery. The Salmon had once run in good number up here late in the season but the recent down turn in the Wye salmon run has unfortunately made it a bit of a lottery to catch one...I really do hope things improve in the future..but I'm not holding my breath.



Faithful Companion - 'Joe'



Fishermans Hut

With the river looking so nice it was only natural to have a few hours fishing in the afternoon. I decided on a spot downstream of Builth Wells and although the Trout season was underway there was a distinct feeling that winter was reluctant to give way to spring.

The water was ice cold and my temperature gauge had given a lowest overnight reading of -5.7deg, with a chilling upstream breeze I certainly wasn't expecting any trout action.

Always nice to see these little fellas about

As it turned out there was no sign of a trout but fortunately some of the Grayling were still keen to take my offerings. Fishing a team of tungsten nymphs attached to a sensitive braid line seemed to do the trick and I ended with a tally just nudging into double figures, no big fish but after what has been a dour winters' Grayling fishing it was worth enduring the freezing temperatures.

The Simple Way Of Fly Fishing That Is Tenkara

I've been reading quite a bit lately about an ultra simplistic style of fishing known as Tenkara, a traditional Japanese style of fishing which seems to be gaining a lot of followers in the western world.

To briefly outline the principles of Tenkara...it involves nothing more than an extremely light telescopic rod which extends between 11ft - 13ft6in in length (and closes down to 20") to which a long leader and tippet is added to the end (approximately the length of rod or longer). The fly or flies are then attached. No reel is used when fishing Tenkara.

    20" overall length when closed

            Traditional hand woven leader

The appealing aspect of Tenkara is that it requires a minimal amount of tackle which can be carried in a small pouch, together with a lightweight rod that will close down to 20" in overall length this offers the roving angler total freedom to wander unhindered.

If I'm honest I would have to admit that Tenkara's simple approach takes me back to a childhood time of fishing some local waters with a wooden stick, some line, a hook and a lump of bread trying to catch some of the resident fish.

I fancy that at some point in the future I will be trying out the Tenkara style of fishing, if so I'll be sure to let you know how I get on.

If you want to find out more then there is a wealth of information HERE


Tenkara Basics - Instructions and Lines from Tenkara USA on Vimeo.


Tenkara fly-fishing from Tenkara USA on Vimeo.

All photos and videos courtesy of TenkaraUSA