Upper Wye

Back up to a very pretty part of the Upper Wye just below Rhayader which again did not disappoint.

The upstream breeze which is a rare occurrence on this part of the river made casting and fly presentation so much easier and although there were no fish rising I soon found some quality fish willing to take my nymph.

There was very few upwing flies coming off the water but as usual for this time of year there was quite a few small sedges skimming just above the surface, my nymph of choice was a #16 GRHE with a 2mm tungsten bead attached to help get it down in some of the fast turbulent water often found on these boulder strewn sections of the Upper Wye system. I find the Hares Ear nymph a good choice when there are sedge flies hatching and is my usual 'go to' fly in these situations.

Much Chewed #16 Tungsten Head Gold Ribbed Hares Ear Nymph

As I have mentioned before..what this part of the river lacks in quantity it certainly makes up in quality, many of the resident fish here will put a hefty bend in the rod and give you some heart stopping fights amongst the boulders.

The weather, location and the abundance of wildlife seen pretty much made for a perfect days fishing and to have near enough a mile of river all to myself I returned home feeling more than spoilt.

Rain Stops Play

Well it's sods law...I head down to one of my favourite rivers and find it looking in excellent condition and the fish in the mood for a bit of a play then after an hour or so of some hectic fishing the heavens open and duly empties it's water reservoirs right on my little patch!

The grayling and trout were readily taking both nymph and dry but an hour or so of relentless heavy rain soon filled up the little feeder streams and gushed chocolate coloured water into the river (a familiar consequence of lowland rivers) totally wiping out any chance of continuing fishing.

 

Then the rains come and 'game over'.



One of many of the feeder streams pouring in its coloured water.

With the majority of the river trout season well behind us lots of new waters I'd planned to fish this year will likely be 'put on the shelf' until next season unless things settle down well before 30th September.

Back In The Land Of The Grayling

It's been a while since my last post and the last couple of months must rate as one of the most frustrating periods I can remember. I rely mostly on the weekend to get out fishing and for most of that couple of months the rain seems to  have always arrived at exactly the wrong time to flood the rivers for the weekend.

Well as I write this the sun is blazing and temperatures are well up to mid twenties so I'm hoping we are into a settled spell which will allow rivers to run a bit closer to normal for this time of year.

I took full advantage on Sunday when the rivers began to fall and myself and fishing buddy Nick headed off to the River Ithon (major upper tributary to the Wye). It was still running quite high and carrying a fair bit of colour but looked fishable when we got to the river.

Due to the adverse weather of late the water temperatures have remained low and as a result seeing any fish rising is a rare occurrence...such was today and the plan of action was an out and out nymph attack, something on par to what we would normally be doing in the depths of winter!

We soon located some nice Grayling and were both getting some pretty hefty bends in the rods, they were definitely favouring the faster/streamer water of around 2-3 foot deep and seemed to be well anchored to the bottom.


Nick's 10' #2 almost bend double with a large Grayling!

47cm hard fighting Grayling for Nick.

Although we had connected with a few trout it was a day for Grayling and plenty of them, the water level and colour had obviously instilled them with a feeling of safety and a willingness to feed.

One of a few brown trout caught on the day

I switched flies a few times during the day but I found that heavily weighted (tungsten beadhead) nymphs in the #12-#14 sizes worked best.

This current spell of warmer weather should now bring the water temperatures back up and induce more surface activity and the dry fly box may soon be re-opened!

The Wettest Draught On Record!

At the back end of March I was posting about how many of the rivers I fish were in desperate need of some rain to bring the levels back up...well all I can say is - be careful what you wish for!!!

The draught warnings imposed on many counties are a thing of the past and have been replaced by flood warnings making river fishing a bit of a lottery.

The main problem for me is that over the last few weeks the heaviest rain had fallen at the back end of the week which pushed the spate rivers up instantly and although they normally drop quickly they always seemed to stay too high over the weekend leaving me frustrated.

Last weekend I headed for the Elan Valley reservoirs run by the Rhayader And Elan Valley Angling Association to relieve some of the frustration of not being able to fish the rivers.

With 850 acres of water available to fish the key is to have some idea of which likely spots are worth heading for first. I would imagine even regular long term fishermen here still find fish location a little hit and miss. Much will depend on wind direction as to which bank to head for (no boat fishing available here).

After a few visits here I'm now starting to get my head around it a little and have a better idea on giving myself a chance to connect with some of the trout which it holds.

Although there is some stocking carried out the majority of the fish here are natural wild brown trout, a fish of a pound in weight would be classed as a good fish. There are no rainbow trout stocked at the Elan reservoirs.

I ended an enjoyable afternoon with half a dozen fish (all wild) and a little more knowledge but still longing to cast a dry fly upstream to a rising fish on a river...please!!!

Getting Wild In North Wales

This trip had been booked for a few weeks and one I was eager to experience, myself and a couple of mates had planned a weekend fishing some of the lakes in the wilds of North Wales.

Erw Fawr cottage...base for the weekend.

Arriving at our base situated in Garreg...a small village close to the foothills of Mount Snowdon on Friday we unpacked and headed straight out to inspect a couple of nearby lakes as possible venues for Sunday as we had set aside Saturday to travel a little further south to spend a day at Tall-y-llyn.

Talyllyn is a natural 220-acre, shallow, Brown Trout Lake nestling in the southwest corner of the Snowdonia National Park and below the peak of Cader Idris. It has a most spectacular setting and is very well equip to accommodate the many visiting anglers it receives each year with boats and tackle available to hire.

Steve and Martin assessing the conditions on our arrival at Tal-y-llyn

Conditions on this weekend would have been a holidaymakers dream with wall to wall sunshine and temperatures well into the high twenties but for fishing it was not what was wanted at all, we also had to content with some very high winds.

This  'loch' style of fishing is not something I have had a go at before and although getting used to the pace of the boat drifts with the strong winds took some getting used to I soon felt comfortable with the techniques but there was no doubt today was going to be tough and so it proved with me ending the day with a blank and my boat partners catching half a dozen between them (their loch style experience showing through).

'Whitewater' showing as the wind sweeps westward down the valley

View from the Pe-y-bont Hotel where we retreated for lunchtime refreshments!

A rapid retreat to a local pub followed where we deliberating the day and what might be the venue for the following day, Steve had come armed with a portfolio of local waters so we had plenty to choose from. In light of the kind of day we had and the weather forecast for Sunday we thought best not to hire boats and opted to try out a remote lake which is also the source of the Afon Artro.

Turning off the main road we winded our way five miles up to Llyn Cwm Bychan which could not have been more appealing to the eye with its crystal clear blue water and its mountain surrounds.

First sight of Llyn Cwm Bychan

There is no supplementary stocking carried out here and the trout are all totally wild, fishing charge is three pounds which is worth paying just to admire the scenery!

View looking from the eastside car park

We fished from the banks on the north shore and had to contend with similar conditions as experienced on Tal-y-llyn. The day proved to run a similar course with very little fish action due mostly to the extremely bright conditions, Steve and Martin again proved to be one step ahead of me and both caught a couple of these wild beauties but I was left licking my wounds again and had nothing to show for the weekends fishing other than a few lost fish and a good sun tan...but more importantly I had visited what must be some of the most prettiest lakes in one of the wildest parts of the UK and now have the taste for this unique style of fly fishing.

Rock And Rea

I must confess to being a bit of a rock music fan and couldn't resist the opportunity to see Black Sabbath make a long awaited return to their hometown to play a warm up gig at the Birmingham O2 Academy on Saturday night in preparation for their slot at the Download Festival, a real treat for any Sabbath fan and for me a night of pure rock indulgence.

The planned fishing the following day ended up starting a little later than usual due mainly to my body requiring a little longer to recover from such events than it used to (and a few too many celebratory drinks!) but fish I did!...and when I arrived at the River Rea in Shropshire the river looked quite high and coloured but with about 12" of visibility in the water and fish rising I was soon tackling up and casting towards the rises.

Quite high murky water to greet my arrival

It was soon apparent that the fish in this small river had lost some of the normal inhibitions they display when the water is lower and clearer and it was just a matter of working out the right dry pattern that would get the better results.

The Griffith's Gnat - a deadly pattern when there are small midges buzzing over the surface



Distinct white leading edge to anal fin

With masses of black gnats buzzing over the water the Griffith's Gnat proved very successful and as I slowly made my way upstream picking off rising fish and throwing prospective casts at likely looking spots I couldn't have wished for a more pleasant and relaxing way to spend an afternoon...and such a contrast to the previous nights events...they do say variety is the spice of life!

A Step In the Right Direction On The Monnow

I got the chance to visit the River Monnow again last weekend and started to get the feel of why this valley is so special to so many. I had only fished it previously during the winter months but on this visit things were definitely on the change.

Buds and leaves starting to appear on trees, flies hatching from the water surface with one or two trout taking advantage and sipping them off the top...and even the sun radiating some warmth on to my face when it occasionally peeped out from behind the clouds.

Another thing that stood out was the amount of habitat restoration work that had been carried out along the stretch I fished. There had been many bank side trees felled in a controlled way which allowed them to fall into the shallow river edges creating an instant sanctuary for the small vulnerable fish fry and even for the larger fish which may come under attack from the many piscivorous birds that are often found patrolling our inland waterways. The stems of the young trees are also only cut part way through so they are still allowed to continue to grow.

Young trees felled and left to grow along the river edges



This old dead branch cut and secured to the bank side which adds cover and diversity to the water flow

 This habitat work which is carried out by the 'Monnow Rivers Association' will reap rewards in securing healthy fish stocks for us all to enjoy in the future.

Water temperatures still seem to be a little on the cool side so I think it will be a couple of weeks before the trout really kick in, although fortunately there were still a few willing to fall for my duo tactics.