The Wye and Usk Foundation

Ian M from , Monday 5 May, 2008

On fishing the Usk at bridge meadow: A very good days fishing, caught five Brown trout (four returned in good condition). All caught on dry fly fished up stream. The flies started hatching around 10am and continued untill I left early evening.
Mostly midge and grannom flies but I also saw two yellow upwing flies that I think were mayflies, and there were small daddies on the grassland next to the river.
Many thanks to everyone involved with WUF, my day fishing made all the easier due to the ease of booking using the online sevice and the excellent description of the beat and directions to it.

Chris C from Kilsby, Monday 5 May, 2008

On fishing for bats: Here's a picture for you:

On Sunday I had struggled to get a take for a few hours in the likely spots on the lower reservoir, so headed up to Craig-Goch about 4pm to see if I could find a fish or two. Couldn't pull over or turn round so ended up at the pull-in where the Elan River enters the system and was pleasantly surprised to read on the noticeboard that the previously restricted top-end is open to fishing for the 2008 season.

Thought I'd give it a go and found fish quickly where the river enters the reservoir proper. After about 30 mins fishing and with a couple of fish in the bag I noticed that a sizeable bat was patrolling up and down picking up insects close to the water (in bright sunlight!). After another quarter of an hour or so I hooked into what I thought was the mother of all Elan Valley trout but which turned out to be 2 reasonable fish, one on the point and one on the middle dropper with both fighting hard in opposite directions. Having struggled to net the slightly larger fish on the dropper I was on my knees trying to do something about the fish on the point when it became obvious that the fly on the top dropper was gyrating about in a manner which was proving irresistable to the errant bat. There I was with one angry fish in the net, another going mental on the point and me flapping about like a mad thing trying to stop the bat hooking itself on the top dropper! Incredibly and somewhat fortuitously I managed to not fall in, scare the bat off and land the point fish although the video would not have made pretty viewing. I will always remember this session for almost having a full house of two brown trout and one bat! To even things up a bit it has to be said that I did go arse-over-tit once later on and shipped some water over the top of both waders. I also caught a total of 9 fish, lost 3 others and pricked a few more before 7pm - an eventful 3 hours and much better than watching boring Chelsea against Newcastle on Sky Sports!

Paul R from Bristol, Sunday 4 May, 2008

Fishing the usk at Glan-yr-Afon: Weather warm, overcast, with occasional shower. Client, Rob Ormond, fished from 09:30 to 12:30. 8 fish caught and released, biggest, 1.5, 1.75 and 2lbs. Water clear and height 10.5” (webcam gauge) temperature 52F, old currency. Plenty of fly life, sparse hatches of Large dark Olives, Grannoms, a few larger sedges, and ?Olive Uprights?

Client delighted with the river and the fishing.

Miles T from , Tuesday 22 April, 2008

On using the Online Booking System and fishing the: Lovely day, the first I have been able to book using the on-line booking system. I only thought of going late on Friday and was out of vouchers, so only the on-line booking system made the trip possible. A really lovely beat with plenty of interesting pools and runs to explore. All 12 trout I caught were of a decent size (around the half pound mark). Few signs of moving fish during the day, but they were obviously feeding below the surface. I shall have to go and take another look at mayfly time...

Robert M-D from , Monday 21 April, 2008

Trout fishing the upper Usk: We enjoyed some sensational Olive fishing on the Usk over the past few days despite the cold NE winds. Thank you very much for your pre-trip guidance and your excellent and friendly service.
I have attached one or two pictures of our trip. I managed to wrestle a monster brownie on the last day that gave me a run for my money! The fish was carefully returned to fight and more importantly spawn another day. I am writing an article about fly fishing on the Usk for fly fishing and fly tying and Trout and Salmon so I will give you notice of a publishing date in case it is of interest.
Finally if you talk to the nice gentleman who oversees the fishing at Fenni Fach could you let him know that we did very well and caught a number of nice fish on Olives - he came and had a chat with us and was very friendly and gave us some great advice - I imagine that he is wondering how we got on.

Here is the catch return:

Cefn Rhosan Fowr 17th April: 2 Brown Trout (both 2lbs)
Fenni Fach 18th April: 10 Brown Trout (up to 2lb)
Pentscallog 19th April: 4 Brown Trout (all over 2lbs + one monster!)

Robert M-D from , Monday 21 April, 2008

Spring trout fishing on the upper usk part 2: As you can imagine the fish (4lb8oz) gave one hell of a scrap. I hooked the fish right in the head of the pool and she steadily charged down stream right to the tail (some 40 or so yards - you can see how far it ran from the picture). Chasing fish downstream reminded me of fishing in New Zealand where sometimes you have to follow a big fella over various sets of rapids and through pool after pool..... At one point in the fight the line got snagged on a big boulder towards the back of the pool and grated back and forth until suddenly (and miraculously) it sprang free and the battle was back on.... I just managed, thanks to a lot of side strain, to steer the fish away from the tail of the pool because I think it wanted to plunge down the rapids. My 4 weight was bent in a horseshoe and somehow the light tippet held just long enough to coax the clonking trout to the net.....

Tim A from Birmingham, Monday 14 April, 2008

On fishing Beat 35 lower Stanton: Once again I turned up without a pen today so apart from leaving my vouchers I was unable to leave any catch return details. This was my first visit to this beat and it was absolutely fantastic. In three hours I landed 22 beautifully marked brown trout to 14" and lost countless others. After some rain, presumably, up the valley the water colour changed from clear to strong milky tea the sport switched off and I contentedly stopped fishing.

Oliver B from Glos, Saturday 12 April, 2008

trout fishing the middle usk:
I did go out on the Abergavenny Town Water last Friday and I caught 21 altogether averaging about a pound, with a couple of larger ones included. The grannom were coming off like crazy in bursts all day and fish were going absolutely potty for them. I got one fish which I had been watching as it fooled about over the gravel after them in about 6 inches of water behind me. Also two hooked up together on one occasion.

I was fishing North Country spiders just under the surface, not dries, but striking mostly to the visible rise. Logically enough, Hares Lug and Plover plus Woodcock and Hares Lug, which are both generally acknowledged as near enough grannom imitations were the ones picked out from the cast. You can actually tie these with a little green silk butt to imitate the egg sac, although these weren’t.

DC from Herefordshire, Friday 11 April, 2008

Early trout fishing:
Thought you might be interested to know that I wetted a line on the Honddu at Lower Stanton yesterday and had 11 fish to 12-14" (not in the 37 fish league of the steller performers but very acceptable nonetheless!). Some gnats and sedges early on and then LDOs from cc.10.30 until 1.30 p.m. but not too many. Fish taken whilst LDO hatch on. Taken on tiny tung head PTN flashback nymphs. Saw only two fish rise so essentially nothing moving up top yet. A nice stretch of water if a tad expensive on tying time for the PTNs left in the trees!

Went down to Ashford House today (Friday). An amazing sedge hatch in the short-lived 10.30 morning sunshine (not grannom) and some fish were after them on the top. Then no fish on the top apart from the very sporadic oncer probably after LDO nymphs. LDOs were around in various numbers from 10.30 until 3 p.m. Had five trout, two at 2.25lb, to tunghead flashback PTNs. The fish, not surpisingly, are still pretty much on the bottom but clearly getting interested!

B.H from Somerset, Wednesday 26 March, 2008

On a late season coarse fishing trip to the Lugg: When you get the all the tokens collected you will see that an angler claims to have caught a 7lb+ fish from the Lugg on beat R33 on the last day of the season.
That over excited angler is me! I am always reluctant to estimate the weight of fish because I do not generally take scales with me. I am not that bothered about the weight. However for catch return purposes I would not want to mislead the Foundation.
This fish was a lump. It was without doubt the biggest Chub I have ever seen, and I remain convinced, (even in rare sober moments), that it was over 7lb. The biggest chub that I have seen weighed was 6lb 5oz and this chub was certainly a bigger fish than that one. It was just over 25 inches long and very fat. I enclose a photograph so that you can make your own mind up and qualify the record if you think that I am deluded. You will see that it is slightly deformed towards the tail end but is otherwise fin and scale perfect. It is very fat and solid, not like the flabby spawned out chub that one sees during the early weeks of the season.
Suffice it to say that on a difficult day (the river was still soupy and although dropping was still high) this fish made my season.

M.B from from Glos, Tuesday 25 March, 2008

On a days trout fishing in March: I went out on the Usk Town water Sunday morning and, somewhat to my surprise, got 5 on spiders. One of these was a 16 inch fish, although I am guessing this was one of last year’s stockies which over-wintered well. A few Large Dark olives were hatching, despite the gale and blasts of sleet, so there was a reason for trout to be rising up from the bottom. Most amazing of all, the sand martins had turned up and were darting over the river in numbers. “Oh look,” said a nice old lady passing, “the first sand martins and the first anglers always seem to arrive here together.” “True enough,” I told her. “But where was my winter holiday in South Africa?”

P.S. from by email, Monday 10 March, 2008

on a days salmon fishing at Caradoc Caught two kelts (6/7lbs and about 4lbs - both lean but well mended). Then hooked a spring salmon - very powerful. Came off after about ten minutes, but got a good look at him - estimate 10/15lb. All these fish took a 2" copper tube fly with a dressing about 4" long - thought it might have been a bit big for the temperature (43 deg F) - apparently not. Never hooked a Wye springer before. This has ended my belief failure

G.P. from Staffordshire, Monday 10 March, 2008

Today (7 March) on Holme Lacy 3 we had two fresh salmon. One estimated at between 25 and 26lbs caught on a Flying C by gillie Colin Richardson and then a fish between 15 and 16lbs caught by Gordon Lucock. Both returned safely. These are our ealiest fish since 1993. Bodes well!

R.H. from London, Thursday 28 February, 2008

On Barbel fishing lower wye in February......can I just say what a marvellous time my friend and I had on the White House Fishery last week and thank you so much for accommodating the extra day for us due to our “unforeseen” circumstances. We can’t wait to get back on the river in the new season and sample more of the pristine Barbel fishing on offer.

G.S. from Holland, Saturday 1 December, 2007

On a September fishing trip.....: So it happened that we were all home before dinner time. Tired after a long journey, but with lots of great memories of a fantastic fishing week in a beautiful countryside. And with a thankful feeling towards all those people that helped us make the most of our time in Wales. We will certainly return one day.

P.L. from South Yorkshire, Tuesday 27 November, 2007

On the Autumn Riverwalk......: We would like to thank you and your colleagues for all the work you put into making the River Walk such an enjoyable day. My wife & I were on the "Wye Coach" with Stephen and felt it had been well worth the effort of comming down from Rotherham South Yorkshire. I am sure that we will see you again next year perhaps & hopefully be able to fit in some fishing in the meantime.

M.S. from Gloucestershire, Monday 26 November, 2007

On the Autumn River Walk....: Just a quick email to say thanks to you and all involved at your organisation for a great day out on the Autumn river walk. I met some really nice people and the guides were very informative, knowledgeable and most of all very enthusiastic. Would you also pass on my thanks to the cafe we went to for lunch. The meal was great and I had to have a second helping. All in all a great day. Looking forward to the next day out.

P.B. from Gloucestershire, Monday 26 November, 2007

On the Autumn River Walk: Just wanted to thank you all for a superb day out yesterday - it could not have been better!

M.R. from Oxfordshire, Monday 26 November, 2007

On the Riverwalk: I just wanted to thanks those who organised yesterday out on the various rivers. These things do not work well unless they are properly planned and yesterday hit all the spots!!! I think we were particularly lucky in spotting so many fish, especially at the falls...... wow!

I am very keen to have a go on some of the waters on the Usk that we visited next season, particularly the Penpont fishery.

I have attached a photo that you might like of a salmon jumping..... you may already have hundreds|!!!!!

J.H. from Powys, Monday 26 November, 2007

On the Autumn Riverwalk: Just to thank the Foundation for organising an excellent and informative day out yesterday, my wife and I really enjoyed our first river walk. Please pass this along to Simon and his colleagues.

M.N. from Powys, Monday 26 November, 2007

On the Riverwalk.....: Just to say what an excellent day out it was. Thanks.

B.H. from Devon, Monday 26 November, 2007

On coarse fishing the upper Wye & Irfon....: A thoroughly enjoyable couple of days. Will need to fish both beats again since I spent as much time walking and watching as I did fishing. The Irfon is particularly pituresque (even in the grey skies and driving rain - thank Snowbee for breathable chest waders!) and the grayling fishing excellent.

Thank you for your execllent organisation. This really is a great scheme - I have hardly scratched the surface of the fishing on offer (6 beats so far this year) and what makes it is not the fishing (which is excellent - I worked out that in five visits to one beat I am averaging a barbel every 45 minutes of fishing time - + at least one chub for every barbel - outstanding by my standards) but the beautiful Wye Valley and its wildlife. Thank you and please do keep up the good work.

J.S. from Oxfordshire, Monday 26 November, 2007

On grayling fishing the Irfon.....: Beautiful beat, wonderful setting. Found fishing tough - water was coming through pretty sharpish and wind was troublesome. Could have used some local expertise. Stayed at Caer Beris - excellent, could not be faulted. Excellent service from the foundation - efficient, friendly, helpful. I popped into Rods n Reels in Builth and received a freindly & helpful welcome although the guy in the shop had not heard of Gofyyne as a beat. However, very helpful.
Will be back.. muy appetite is whetted!

P.R. from Bristol, Tuesday 13 November, 2007

Fished the Llanfechan beat of the Irfon with I.M. 09:30 to 16:00

The weather was overcast with blustery north westerly wind. There was a little drizzle at times. The river was still low and clear. 10” on the gauge.

The fishing runs for about a mile between the top of Cefnllyswynne and Aberbwtran. The bottom is where the Hafrena stream enters. The first deep pool is the mud pool. I was fishing a leader with Klinkhamer, size 20 PTN and blackbeadhead caddis. I waded up and fished the streamy water taking 2 trout on the caddis nymph. I then noticed fish rising amongst the floating leaves in the eddies and swirls of the slack water of the pool, off to the left. I cast out and took 2 grayling on the Klinkhamer. There were medium sized (14 or 16) olives hatching off. I moved above the grassy island and caught another 2 grayling there. One took the caddis, probably on the lift, and was the biggest of the 4 grayling. The other took the Klinkhamer.

Little Glaslyn Pool had small grayling rising in its deep, smooth-surfaced tail. They rose at the dry fly but were too small to take it. I did manage to take one medium-sized grayling on the small PTN

Glaslyn pool is a huge deep pool. There were fish rising on the far side. I pricked one small grayling after taking a brown trout in the stream of the main current.

The last fish came from the Penrhw Gutter and again took the Klinkhamer (whilst my nymph was stuck on a rock ledge ! The wading here is a nightmare. The olives stopped coming off about 1 o’clock but small stoneflies and the odd caddis emerged in the later afternoon. It became increasing dark and rainy as the afternoon progressed.

My total 6 grayling and 3 trout

Ian took 3 grayling, 2 from the Mud Pool and one from Glaslyn.

The grayling were not big, the largest was just over the pound, but it was fun to see rising fish and catch them on dry flies in November. A wonderful beat with some challenging wading and tremendous pools; almost oversized for the Irfon.

C.S. from Hampshire, Wednesday 7 November, 2007

I don't expect you to have remembered my wife and I calling at your office and meeting you a couple of years ago. You have very kindly kept me informed all this time, and you send me the Passport Manual, but thus far it has been difficult to get across to your patch from mine (here in Hampshire)! I'm hoping to be able to remedy this next year, however, particularly for salmon. Please continue to send me your Passport and the river sitreps. Thanks so much!

O.B. from Glos, Tuesday 6 November, 2007

Autumn fishing on the Irfon.....: It’s not a booking office beat, I know, but you might like the feed-back that the Cammarch Hotel’s lower beat seems to be right on song at the moment. I fished the lower beat last Friday, in weather more like September than November, to find grayling, including some big ones, spread all over the shallows and rising to olives. Water Hen Bloa and Grayling Steel Blue were, logically enough, the ones which they wanted from a cast of old fashioned wet flies, and I had 12 grayling between 14 and 18 inches for the day, plus smaller ones and a few out of season trout. It was classic autumn fishing, in lovely scenery.

C.B. from Worcs, Sunday 4 November, 2007

Grayling fishing on the Irfon....: The two of us had a super day on Friday catching and releasing a total of 28 grayling. However, average size of fish was down somewhat compared with catches in previous years with almost all the fish between 12oz and 1lb 4oz. As usual the autumn colours in the Irfon valley were spectacular and the scenery alone was worth the journey.

C.B. from Middlesex, Wednesday 31 October, 2007

An October coarse fishing trip to the Wye....: A good week for me & John, held out for the big one's on the lead & feeder most of the week. The river was low & clear at start of the week, coloured-up on Wednesday, falling by Thursday with colour running out rest of the week.

Sun 13/10/07, White House:

Weather: Still day, cloudy, light wind now & then, ave temp 15c.

I caught 2 chub up to 4lbs
John was on the feeder, 2 chub up to 4lbs & a few Dace.
Salmon moving, on & off during the day, fish up to 10bs.

Mon 14/10/07, Caradoc:

Weather: Light rain first thing, misty clearing sunny spell & cloudy, ave temp 15c.

I blanked, but John caught. 2 chub up to 4lbs.
Watched Perch 2-3Lbs bkt-attacking small stuff all day.
Salmon moving some silver fish up to 10Lbs.


Tues 15/10/07, Llanstephan:

Weather: Rain all day, ave temp 13c.

I had 1 chub 4lbs & Dace, Brownies.
John had a bag of Dace odd Brownie.
Salmon, on & off during the day, fish up to 8lbs.


Wed 16/10/07, Sheep house:

Weather: Sunny & cloudy, Ave temp 15c.

I had a big bag of Dace- 60 plus fish (up to 3/4Lbs), lost just as many, a few brownies up to 2Lbs.
On the Float Maggs.
John also had a good bag of Dace on feeder, similar to above.


Thurs 18/10/07 Whitney Court:

Weather: Frost first thing, misty cloudy with sunny spells ave temp 15c.

On the float again, maggs. I caught 7 chub up to almost 5Lbs, lost just as many, Sea trout 2Lbs, Brown 2Lbs.
John, float fished as well, had six chub up to 5Lbs 6oz. Lost a few fish as well.
Double figure salmon moving up.


Fri 19/10/07 Preston Court:

Weather: Frost first thing, misty cloudy with sunny spells ave temp 15c.

On the lead, I had 3 chub up to 4Lbs.
John was on the feeder for a mixed bag, dace, perch up to 2Lbs, bleak, roach.
Double figure salmon moving, some silver fish.

R.W. from Hampshire, Sunday 28 October, 2007

On a coarse fishing trip to the middle Wye...: Fished Middle Hill Court beat first and last day, and Holme Lacy beat in between. Fishing was excellent, particularly given it coincided with the first three ground frosts of the autumn. The areas of river that hold fish seem to hold large numbers. Stayed at Pencraig Country House Hotel, which was relaxed with excellent food. Can't wait to return to the River Wye, and will be supporting the excellent Wye and Usk Foundation in the future. Keep up the good work.

J.T. from Oxon, Saturday 27 October, 2007

On coarse fishing the upper Wye...: Thanks very much for a memorable day in wonderful surroundings. pb chub as well.

T.D. from Bristol, Wednesday 17 October, 2007

On a last-day Wye salmon trip....: Many thanks for doing the arrangements for fishing at White House on the Wye yesterday. It turned out a really lovely autumn day with a light breeze and water slightly up and dropping following Tuesday’s rain. I had a fine cock fish of 8lb on an Ally’s shrimp pattern, fifth cast of the day. He was safely returned in good health despite having fought like a dervish. Although there were a number of fish showing, particularly later in the day, I only had one other pluck. This was my first English, indeed first British, salmon on my first visit to the Wye, so you must excuse my sounding rather pleased with myself!

Thanks again, and to Simon too for his advice on flies and fishing approach. I shall no doubt be in touch for some more next season!

O.B. from Glos, Monday 15 October, 2007

On grayling fishing the upper Wye....: Pwll y Faedda 12 October - this was supposed to be a grayling day. Actually it was quite a good day, although a lot of smaller fish - 14 up to 11/2 pounds and 16 out of season trout, and with olives hatching all the time.
The odd one out was a coloured cock salmon of 34.5 inches, which rose very delicately in the middle of a shoal of grayling and sucked in the North Country spider on the point. He told me later, as I was removing the size 16 Hare's Lug and Plover from his cavernous maw, that he had taken it because he was sick of seeing Bann Shrimps whizzing past him every day - tell Simon! Released unharmed.

R.L. from Hong Kong, Sunday 14 October, 2007

My stay in the UK has come to an end after a very enjoyable 13 year period. The Wye and Usk have given me so many memorable moments, and because of that, I'd like to see if I can spend some time with them for one more time, before my departure in Xmas. Knowing that both trout and salmon are out of season, grayling and course are probably the only choice.

B.H. from Devon, Saturday 13 October, 2007

Barbel really are the most magnificent fish. The Wye is the most marvellous river and Backney is a lovely beat. The pipe works were not intrusive but once they are finished it will be better still. I managed five Barbel to just under 10lbs and a number of nice chub. All to small (11mm) pellets. A thoroughly enjoyable day.

A.D. from Dorset, Saturday 13 October, 2007

On salmon fishing at White House....: Many thanks for your advice on fishing the White House fishery last friday. Had an enjoyable day had two fish on but unfortuantely nothing landed! Seemed to be a few stale residents around which lept about during the day and great fun having them slash at a collie dog!
Met the owner who was very helpful and pointed out a few lies and how to get at them. The "grandstand" pool was a joy to fish but the bits upstream a bit tricky; a deep wade on a bank out in the river to cast to the opposite croys below their hut (the little middle croy I had one fish on) but with a deeper channel on the inside getting in/out was difficult! However a good day and great value and suited youngsters like Huw and me!
Many thanks and look forward to the spring. Hope to get over a bit more often!

A.B. from Dorset, Friday 12 October, 2007

On the web gauges.....: I would like to thank you for providing this information online. I travel to fish the river Wye at Hay, from Dorset, and the journey of 140 miles can now be made knowing the condition of the river is fishable.
I am sure that hundreds of anglers will be greatful for this service.

M.W. from Worcs, Thursday 11 October, 2007

On grayling fishing the Irfon...: 24 fish caught between the 2 of us, mostly Grayling. Although conditions seemed perfect there didn't seem to be much of a rise as we had seen on previous visits. There is so much water to fish here its hard to find where the fish are shoaled up, although we are starting to build up an idea of certain hotspots, but i'm sure this will all change on our next visit!

F.W. from Glos, Monday 8 October, 2007

On fishing the Dore....: 18 Grayling biggest to about 14 inches and 2 Brown Trout around 10 inches.
The beat is really beautiful but could do with just a little more trimming. I would in no way let this put you off fishing it, as the catch return from above is for a short afternoon session about 3 hours.
If this beat stays so under fished it should provide excellent sport for those of us who know it is there.

S.A. from London, Monday 8 October, 2007

On fishing the Irfon and upper Wye....: My son and I fished this wonderful water (Cefnllysgwynne)last Thursday. What a lovely river. Our catch report is rather poor. We both had several small grayling with 'bugs' out of shallow, fast water but the surroundings were excellent. Charles was both helpful and equally surprised we caught so little but that is fishing......or maybe we were poor fishers. Whatever we will fish it again.

FYI we fished your beat 3 last Wednesday afternoon/evening and Tom took 7 excellent grayling from the top pool whilst I managed a few tiddlers a the lower end of the beat. On Friday we fished your beat 25. We managed to touch a couple of fish, possibly trout, from the deeper pools but nothing on the bank. The day was wonderfully bright and we were soundly beaten by the fish! Superb autumn weather and difficult water for us.

Such great fun. Thank you for your assistance and we will see you again.

L.C. from Herefordshire, Monday 8 October, 2007

On grayling fishing the Irfon....: Many thanks for arranging the fishing at Llanfechan on 6th October. It is stunningly beautiful. We caught 2 grayling - one of almost 1lb 8oz and lost many.

W.B. from Worcestershire, Friday 5 October, 2007

On autumn grayling fishing.....: My faith in grayling stocks is restored. I spent a day on the Llangamarch lower beat of the Irfon yesterday with ten fish four over 40 cm all on dry red sedge. There were some good shoals of fish to be found and good numbers rising. A salmon was cruising the deepest pool. Not a sight of an otter though! Thanks for your advice.

M.W. from London, Friday 5 October, 2007

On grayling fishing the upper Wye....: Altogether with my friends we had following booking for last week:

1) Gromain on 27/09/2007- we got to the place quite late and managed to do only couple of hours fishing. Three of us caught 9 grayling ranging from 37 to 41 cm. All fish were returned to water.

2) The Rocks on 28/09/2007 - it was a beautiful day for fishing. Altogether we caught 35 grayling ranging from 30 to 43 cm and 6 trout from 31 to 42 cm. Again all fish were returned safely to water.

One of my friends is a Polish journalist and is planning to write article to Wedkarski Swiat- biggest fishing newspaper in Poland, from our trip.

R.E. from Northants, Friday 5 October, 2007

On coarse fishing the Wye....: N.C. and I fished the Wye for the first time last friday. The Weather was bright and sunny but despite this we both caught fish in fabulous surroundings and N. caught his first ever barbel.

Please accept our thanks for all that you do; the fishing and the surroundings really are first class.

R.M.D. from Oxfordshire, Tuesday 2 October, 2007

On fishing the Wye and Usk...: M. and I fished the Wye and Usk on the 10th and 11th of September and I just wanted to update you....

We had a good days fishing on the Wye catching 15 fish between us up to one and half pounds. Four of those 15 were grayling. I also lost a couple of substantially bigger fish which moved into fast water (c. 2-4lb mark).

At Fenni Fach we saw a number of cracking trout(3-4lb) sipping of the surface and there was a lot of surface activity around 5pm. The fish however were very very spooky and hard to catch and we only manage to get four good fish up to one and half pounds. I think the seriel rise may have been to caenis because they were very fussy. Fantastic stretch of water! I will be back in June to fish it when the water is higher and to have another crack on Penpont and Glan yr Afon.

Thanks so much for your advice it came up trumps again.

K.S. from London, Tuesday 2 October, 2007

The Passport arrived today, and I have had a great deal of pleasure already looking through the booklets, plotting and planning for the next trout season - inspired by my recent trip to the Usk.

It all looks wonderfully tempting, and the documents (indeed the whole system) are extremely well thought-out.

I look forward to receiving the 2008 Passport in due course, and in the longer term to some good fishing trips to Wales. I hadn't been there for at least 15 years, and am wondering why ever not - it's as easy to get to from London as, say, Dorset. Could be "the new Scotland" for me!

M.W. from Worcs, Sunday 30 September, 2007

On fishing the upper Lugg....: Catch returns for our day at Presteigne - Beat 33 yesterday.

We finished on the upper beat and didn't fancy the walk back down to the voucher box (hope this is OK).

M.W. - 31 trout, biggest 11"
G.W. - 41 trout, biggest 12"
C.W. - 20 trout, 1 grayling, biggest trout 12"

I think these catch returns shocked us all, when we arrived the river looked very clear and low, I have walked this stretch a few times in the past and although this river runs very clear most of the time the level was the lowest I've seen it. As far as quantity of fish this trip must rate the best for all three of us.

The lower stretch was by far the most productive with the upper stretch being far more overgrown (many lost nymphs) and much harder to target the fish.

The amount of fish we all lost out-numbered the ones we actually caught which shows the quality of this stretch of river, by the way the vast majority of fish were caught on nymphs although the fish were rising and many flies were hatching the catch rate was far better on nymph.

Another superb bit of WUF water!

S.B. from Coventry, Sunday 30 September, 2007

On salmon fishing the upper Wye....: Hoorah! Finally managed to extract a salmon from Llyn Em. In fact I hooked two, but the bigger one got off (mid double). The smaller was a 27" hen fish taken from Middle Caban and put up a terrific scrap but swam off strongly on release. It made my day.

I.C. from West Midlands, Friday 28 September, 2007

On salmon fishing the upper Wye.....: Had only my second day on the beat yesterday and returned covered in glory.

Hooked and landed a very black but very strong cock about 7lb by the Yew Tree in the Spring Pool c9am. Fished that out and started down the Cottage Pool in a somewhat prefunctory manner having hardly any expectation of anything in there and promptly hooked a very bright little grilse of about 5lb. Drove round to the other side and scoured the Boards and nearly went to lunch but thought I ought to try the tail of Bach Howey. Fiddled about trying to fish round the big rock with too short a line which did not seem to be very effective, so I cast a longer line and figure of eighted it back and wallop! Ten minutes later I had a dark 10lb Hen in the net and then duly photographed and returned.

At this point my luck changed and the ungrateful brute whacked my digital camera with its tail and deposited it in the Wye. I replaced it today for Ł80 which I must say is a price I would have gladly paid for a day like that and the photographs survived. Thanks for an excellent day.

G.T. from Gloucestershire, Thursday 27 September, 2007

On trout fishing the Usk...: I just had to write to extol the virtues of fishing for wild brown trout on the river Usk aided by Frank Williams.

Firstly the Usk, we fished the Glan-Yr-Afon beat right at the end of the season and it was a beautiful beat. The water was wide enough in places to allow casting with ease in most places with some novice tight stretches to test the roll cast, and fast water to sink some heavy nymphs in. With mountains in the distance set in secluded woodland with an ancient single track bridge marking the start of the beat it was all you could ask of a Welsh wild brown trout river, and though the conditions were not perfect we could see the trout, but getting them out would be the test.

Without Franks help me and my friend (both virgins to river fly fishing for trout) would have struggled. My friend Phil had only picked up the fly rod this year and I have mainly fished stillwaters since a lad with some spinning for salmon. His assistance was far and above what we expected he managed to cram into just a few hours, he taught us how to roll cast and the importance of mending line, how to read the river and what was hatching. He had even visited the day before and tied some fly’s to match the hatches he had seen for us to use. We were then shown the Northern method of fishing spiders, Czech Nymphing, and the New Zealand dropper method. Plus he even brewed up a tea and had lunch with us, giving far to many pointers to mention. My friend said his casting had come on leaps and bounds thanks to Frank & I had picked up some great new techniques and tips, truly invaluable.

The outcome was that I managed to catch two brownies between 6”-8” with two more 10” and the first one of the day (just 3 casts after instructions from Frank ended and I started fishing in earnest) a cracking 15” of Wild Hard Fighting Brownie that made my day!

I cant thank enough both The Wye and Usk Foundation for the sterling work they do enabling us to fish this great Welsh wild brown trout river, and Frank Williams a committed, passionate angler who is a great coach!

M.W. from Worcs, Monday 24 September, 2007

On fishing the Arrow....: I fished the Court Of Noke section of the Arrow yesterday which considering the amount of rain that we had prior to my visit remained low and clear, I must say I wasn't too optimistic initially but shortly after starting to fish I lost a fish which was a good sign.

Flies were coming off the water all day and there were one or two fish rising to them but most of my success was on the nymph which produced a total of 9 fish and quite a few lost.

I have attached a couple of photos (not very good quality I'm afraid), one of the grayling (17 1/2") and one of the trout (16 1/2") which is hard to believe you can catch out of a river the size of the Arrow, this really is a little gem if your prepared to lose a few flies on the trees and vegetation!.

As always all fish returned safely.

Keep up the good work.

M.W. from Newport, Monday 24 September, 2007

On salmon fishing the Usk....: Excellent day's fishing with good evidence of habitat maintenance. Kept company by a patrolling kingfisher all day. Hooked and lost a fantastic bright silver grilse c6-8lbs. Spent 3/4 of the day on fly but wihtout luck.
Will definitely return to try again. Returned the caught salmon (8-9lbs) - slightly reddening but in very good condition.

C.E. from Suffolk, Tuesday 18 September, 2007

Just a note re the fishing at Winforton and Middle Hill Court on 13th, 14th Sept. Winforton was tough going, could have done with a bit more water but managed a good chub of about 5lb and a couple of small brownies on the fly.

Met up with Adam Fisher at Middle Hill Court who gave us a really useful and detailed intro to the water. Fishing and surroundings were stunning. Both the fly fishing barbel virgins I had with me caught good fish and absolutely loved it. I’ve attached a couple of pics which I think sum the day up better than words can. 10 in total without really trying too hard including 3, 9lbers. All absolute mint condition. On an interesting note the barbel were jumping out of the water around us throughout the day – never seen that before.

R.Z. from Worcs, Monday 17 September, 2007

Thanks for the recommendation for Kilsby house. The wife and I stayed at the house for a few days last week and had a great time. I fished their beat optimistically as the water was really low from the lack of rain but still took some small brownies on a dry. The river and setting is beautiful and I bet the fishing would have been great if the river had been at normal level.

A.L. from London, Monday 17 September, 2007

On fishing the Usk...: By way of a catch return, I managed 5 trout, the best going just over a pound. The fishing was a bit tough with some fish taking tiny flies in the day time (caenis?) and a reasonable rise in the evening, but trout difficult to tempt. I missed a couple on a sedge but couldn't get them to take my flies that easily. Still, very enjoyable.

K.K. from Kent, Monday 17 September, 2007

On fishing the upper Wye: 40+ chub, 20+ trout to 1lb, 7 grayling to over 1lb.
We all blanked on the top beat, both the pair that fished in the am and those there in the PM. When the shadows lengthened a particularly tricky rise began - complex multiple species hatch and similarly complex rise forms. Managed too hook three fish at this stage, all came off. Two were risen to size 22 dries, and one to a size 8 Royal Wulff! (we were getting slightly deranged by the frustration at that stage). Three of us saw an absolutely monstrous brown halfway along the top beat... it was not too far from the hut on the far bank. Big enough to have been a salmon, but consistently head and tail rising to what looked to be sherry spinners. A truly awesome brown, dubbed the "beast of Gromain." The salmon fisher in the party was adamant it was not one - that it was certainly a brown. I sincerely hope he was right, and I'll be booking early next season to prove the point!
Thanks for a wonderful, if somewhat testing, day. Would be grateful if you could train the fish to ignore disgusting large flies next season.

F.B. from East Sussex, Wednesday 12 September, 2007

On canoeists.....: We found in the main on this trip that all the canoeists were very mindful of us as soon as they saw us, when we were fishing. In fact it was nice to hear them call to each other when in a group of 2 or more, to be aware of fishermen ahead and to steer to the far side of the river whenever possible.

On some stretches that was not always possible with the low water conditions, and in the main they were very considerate in passing slowly and with as little disturbance as possible. In fact it was a pleasure to see the "professional" for want of a better word, canoeists, who were extremely mindful of our activities and did their utmost not to disturb the river any more than was absolutely necessary as they passed by, gliding most of the way when possible.

On this trip we only experienced real conflict with our activities by a couple of canoes paddled by school children in a group of about 6-10 canoes. These 2 were sadly lacking way behind the others and were not paying attention to their instructor/guide who steered all the others away from us to the far side of the river. These 2 canoes came right in under our rods, much to their instructors displeasure. Although the disturbance was avoidable, it did not affect us to much and the children looked very sheepish for what they had done, & when shouted at by their leader, they looked very embarrassed, although no apologies were given to us. As they were just children we accepted that this sort of thing will happen from time to time and just smiled at them.

We do appreciate that they have as much right on the river as we have and so did not complain in any way. In fact the only disturbance really caused to us was by these school parties who tended to be more excitable and noisy. That's the way children are and it was a pleasure to see them enjoying their day as much as we were. In fact we were only jealous that we did not get that sort of opportunity and activity when we were at school.

On another 2 occasions, canoeists were actually very helpful. Two separate sets were close by when I was playing a barbel, both of them stopped some way upstream whilst I played the fish, once the fish was landed, they approached & were interested in what I had caught. On both occasions one of the party got out of their canoes to take a photo of me and the fish, for which I was very grateful.

It was interesting that on both occasions they asked if I intended killing and eating the fish. When I explained that I only fished for pleasure, & that in my opinion it would be a crime to kill such magnificent creatures they were very obviously pleased with that reply and stayed to see me holding the fish in the water to allow recovery before releasing each fish so that it swam away successfully and unharmed. One young lady asked if she could touch the fish, and was pleasantly surprised at how smooth and clean it felt. I'm not sure what she expected, but she did say how beautiful she thought that it was. I could not agree more.

On another occasion, whilst walking up river with Terry,surveying the river for likely looking deeper runs, we asked an American couple( maybe Canadian I can never tell the difference) if they had passed over any deeper places. They replied that they had but much further upstream. As we were walking back to the car, the guy parked his canoe and called to us to show us where they had spotted a deeper run in the river that was not visible from the bank due to the river side growth. Terry caught many trout from there later that day. Real co-operation between us and them.

The only problems we had were unfortunately unavoidable due to the low water conditions, where the canoeists had to come closer than we would have liked but they had no choice. They did try to keep as far away as possible though. At one point it gave us some amusement and plenty of laughs. What was happening was, just upstream from us were some rapids which brought the canoes across the river from our side and into some bushes on the far side, despite their efforts to steer clear. They laughed as much as we did. Each time a set of canoes were seen to approach this rapid we waited for the fun to begin and were not disappointed on any occasion during that day.

P.W. from West Midlands, Thursday 6 September, 2007

On fishing the Hindwell.....: The Hindwell is officially driving me to distraction ! It is heaving with trout that I can't catch. I fished it last Sunday and had one and lost another. C and C.T. blanked. As you may know I love tiny streams (I now have a 4' 9" rod for the really little ones !) and I have never seen so many trout as there are in the Hindwell, at one stage fish were even moving around my feet, but nothing was rising and there was hardly any fly life. I couldn't move them to nymphs or wet flies let alone a dry. Have I just caught it on off days on the times I have fished it ? Or is there a knack to the place I haven't sussed out yet? What have the returns been like for the stretch? I have a nasty feeling I could become obsessed with it as it is absolutely beautiful.

M.B. from South Wales, Monday 27 August, 2007

On fishing the Wye.....: Only sporadic fish rising through day. My first ever barbel on the fly - fantastic!

C.S. & A.B. from Glos, Thursday 23 August, 2007

Fishing the Irfon....: A lovely stretch of river and plenty of water for two anglers. The grayling appeared to outnumber the trout which is not surprising given how much good gravel there is in the river. The best days fishing this summer by a mile. Saw some small paw prints in the sand which looked too large for mink and could possibly be otter??

M.T. & N.C. from Warwicks, Thursday 23 August, 2007

On fishing Llyn Em.....: Cracking day on a lovely beat - esp the Island stream (just as Simon said it would be!). Good that N enjoyed success - I think he was beginning to doubt whether fish couuld be caught in rivers!
Seemed to be nowhere in Builth to get breakfast beefore 9.00am - it would have been most welcome after a 5.30 set off! Is someone missing an opportunity here, or are we the only ones daft enough to want a cafe at that time in the morning?
Thanks to all

D.S. & M.K. from Oxfordshire, Monday 20 August, 2007

On a first barbel fishing trip to the lower Wye...: I fished Middle Hill Court at the weekend (Sunday) with my Fishing Pal.......We booked this trip 3 months ago and due to this years horrible weather conditions we have been washed off twice. We have both always wanted to catch Barbel with no luck, so the Wye seemed the answer.
We finally met Adam Fisher at 6.30am on Sunday and he was a very informative and really nice chap with some great tips.
We ended up catching 21 Barbel with the best being 9.6Lbs! plus 3 chub, a common carp and an eel. The day was an absolute dream and we cannot wait to come back in the very near future to try out another venue. Thankyou very much, and thankyou to Adam Fisher.

B.H. from Devon, Monday 13 August, 2007

On barbel fishing the lower Wye....: Just returned from a great three days on the Wye at Goodrich.

The fishing was great. The river absolutely spot on - nice height and flow - clearing but with just enough colour to ansure that the fish were ot too "spooky". Fishing was a bit slow in the heat of the day on Friday and Saturday, (only to be expected), but early and late it fished very well. 8 Barbel betwen 5lb and just under 10 pounds plus a number of chub and a few eels. All on either luncheon meat or halibut pellet. (Hope that suffices as a catch return).

Got up early this morning and fished the Vanstone Pool from 5.30am to about 9.00am. Three Barbel plus two that slipped the hook. However Barbel of 9lb 10oz and 9lb 14oz within half an hour of each other rounded off a great weekend. Went back to the hotel for breakfast and decided to "enjoy the moment" rather than go back to the fishing.

The Salmon anglers on Friday and today were good company, the chap who has the beat today arrived just as I was landing the 9lb 10oz fish this morning and kindly took a photograph - which I attach just in case you are interested - although you probably receive too many anglers photographs and are probably fed up receiving them, so don't feel obliged to look at it.

Saw several salmon "moving" over the weekend in different spots along the beat.

Incidentally I stayed at the Pencraig Court Hotel - which is on the Monmouth to Ross road only a few minutes drive from the beat. Indeed it is possible to access part of the right hand bank from the hotel itself which sits immediately above the run from the Corner tree to Vanstone Pool, (although moving downstream is tricky on that bank so I fished from the left hand bank). It is a good spot to stay though - and I hope you don't mind - but I mentioned the Foundation - I was singing your praises - and got the impression that they would be in touch with you to see if they can organises mutual web site links. They have my recommendation. Friendly and relaxed family run hotel - excellent food - good value for money.

I'll be in touch to book up again before too long. Might even try another beat - they all sound enticing!

Thanks very much - the foundation is doing an excellent job - keep up the good work.

M.W. from Worcs, Friday 10 August, 2007

On fishing the Arrow: This is was my second visit to the beat and I was rewarded with 12 fish on both occasions (as always all returned safely) although most fish were caught in the first few hours of daylight, again the wildlife you get to see along these stretches of river when quietly walking upstream is amazing, I've been graced with Deer, Kingfishers, Dippers, a family of Buzzards and even a Barn Owl as I arrived, can't get much better than that!

T.A. from Bristol, Wednesday 8 August, 2007

After coarse fishing on the middle Wye...: Caught more in my last 3 trips to the Wye than ever on the Bristol Avon.

T.P. from Bristol, Thursday 2 August, 2007

Coarse fishing the Wye at Goodrich....: I have just had a pleasant afternoon catching 3 Chub to 4-1/2lb and 5 barbel between 5 & 9 lbs. I also saw salmon jumping, kingfishers, buzzards, and deer and in fact it was a very pleasant afternoon!!

M.W. from Worcs, Wednesday 1 August, 2007

On fishing the Irfon....: Just to inform you of our catch returns for our day at Cefnllysgwynne yesterday. We arrived at 7.30am under a blanket of cold fog which soon lifted to reveal clear blue skies. The river was slightly up but running clear which for this time of the year was ideal.

The day started well with the 2nd cast producing a 16" brownie falling to a heavy olive bug, this was later followed by a similar sized grayling which was in perfect condition, although things slowed down during the day the pure beauty and wildlife of this river in the summer is more than enough to overwhelm any angler.

During the late afternoon we were fortunate enough to witness a rise on one of the slower stretches, the likes of which I have personally never witnessed before. The whole of the 200+ yard glide suddenly erupted with rising fish and once we had found the right fly (brown or orange bodied klinkhammer) the sport was tremendous, although as with all rises, short lived. Most of these fish were grayling of a size in excess of 12" and its hard to believe when you wade through a pool that you think has few fish in it that there could be so much surface activity.

At the end of the day we totalled 34 fish between the 2 of us, caught on both nymphs and dry flies, but more amazing was the quality of the fish, the majority of both the trout and grayling were exceeding 12". All fish were carefully returned back to the water to fight another day.

We can't wait to return again soon and thank you for the ease of which it is to book these waters it means we can all get on and enjoy the fishing!

M.B. from Scotland, Tuesday 31 July, 2007

Thank you for the up dates on the rivers, please keep them coming. I'm in the forces and I'm away a lot, but it is nice to come home and see how the foundations doing. Haven't had much time to fish at all lately, but when I do I would love to fish the wye and usk. I'm based in Scotland at the moment, and I think the fishing is overpriced and over rated. Good luck with your excellent work and hopefully when I'm based back in the west country I can support you more.

R.N. from Essex, Friday 27 July, 2007

On a first coarse fishing trip to the Wye....: Thanks for your help and advice for our first visit to the River Wye which turned into one of our best fishing trips ever! The countryside and river was beautiful and the wildlife was amazing Owls, Hawks, Falcons, Kingfishers and a Otter to top it all (Heaven). We caught 36 Barbel to just under 9lbs and numeus Chub to nearly 5lbs over three days between the two of us, all returned safely. Also being keen on photography it was great to be able to take a break from the fishing and photograph the natural surroundings. It was such a pleasure to be able to spend some time on a river that is not over fished and in such good condition, your work is greatly appreciated.

C.Y. from Northhants, Monday 16 July, 2007

On Llyn Bugeilyn: I tried to access fishing on Llyn Bugeilyn, but with the recent rains found that the track wasn't suitable for normal road vehicles, there were lots of large pools and water running off across the track. I went quite a way down then chickened out as I was afraid that if it rained again that it would make the return journey even more hazardous. Not having local knowledge I didn't know how deep the pools were, and although I tested some by walking in, I wasn't sure if they would become impassable.You might like to point out the difficulties of negotiating the track in a mail or in the next booklet, although you say the track is rutted I didn't expect it to be that bad.

I was a bit disappointed as I had travelled from Northampton early that morning, but the beauty of the passport system means there is usually a viable backup and all was saved by a good day on Rhyader AA Craig Goch where I caught six brownies, all around/over 10" and one to 1.5 lb on Bibio and Olive Bumble.

Keep up the good work, will be back soon.

J.S. from Cornwall, Monday 16 July, 2007

Numerous small brown trout and one grayling at Gofynne on the 11th July 2007.

One hen salmon approx 9 lbs and one cock salmon approx 13 lbs caught on a rapala in the gullies at The Rocks on the 12th July 2007. Both fish returned safely to the water.

Many thanks for a great time.

Hope to come back soon.

R.M.D. from Oxfordshire, Monday 2 July, 2007

On trout fishing the Usk....: Just a quick not to say thanks so much for your advice last Wednesday. My friend and I went down to Penpont and had a very successful evening. There was a rise for Olives going on at about 4pm when we arrived but this tailed off a bit and all went pretty quite for a couple of hours. As the evening went on fish began to head and tail in small pods of about 2 or 3 fish - some quite large. I caught a couple of beauties on size 18 F flies and then some more on olive emerger patterns as the light began to fade. For about half an hour before dark we had excellent sport taking several fish that pushed the 2lb mark and lost a couple of other more substantial fish.

The following morning we had an early start on Glen-a-afon (I think this is how you spell it). Anyway we had a great day. Early morning (c. 6.30am) there was a decent rise underway for - I think - spent olives. That tailed off and then everything went quite. Looking for a change of tactics we put our dry flies and small nymphs away and switched to a 3 fly Czech nymph set up. This change was met with immediate success and we proceeded to catch a number of fine trout up to around 2lb. Again, we lost some larger fish that must have been 3lb+ (but I suppose we will never know.....). Are sea trout partial to the occasional Czech nymph if it is swung strait into their mouth???

Anyway, really just wanted to thank you for persuading us to come down from Oxford. We had a brilliant 24 hours of fishing.

B.P. from Cheshire, Monday 2 July, 2007

On coarse fishing the middle Wye: I fished the Wye 5 days last week & both Chub & Barbel were feeding well. My son & I had chub to 5lb + and barbel of 7,8,9 lb & in one session two doubles of 10lb 2oz & 11lb 12oz.

Brilliant.

R.B. from London, Monday 25 June, 2007

On fishing the upper Usk: We had a great day yesterday on the Upper Usk. about 17 fish between us from all over the beat. Biggest just over a pound. Great hatches of fly (tons of different species, which was only dampened by the rain in late afternoon). Also lots of small fish visible in river. Good sign all is healthy.

P. A-B. from Bristol, Wednesday 20 June, 2007

On fishing the Aberbwtran beat of the Irfon....: 5 trout best 1˝lb. 1 grayling all fish returned. Fished for 2hours Cool and cloudy with hardly any fly hatching or fish rising. All trout on nymph grayling on dry fly. A delightful stretch of water.

P.H. from Northants, Monday 11 June, 2007

Once again sincere thanks to all of you at the Foundation, you're a godsend to reservoir anglers like us who don't have access to game rivers here in the Midlands. In the words of good old Arnie, we'll be back. Speak to you soon.

P.A. from Berkshire, Friday 8 June, 2007

On an upper Wye corporate day.....: Just a note to thank you for your efforts in organising the fishing day yesterday. We had a wonderful time, everybody caught fish and Louis and Rich were great guides and excellent company.

I will have no hesitation in repeating the event next year.

D.O. from Berkshire, Wednesday 30 May, 2007

On shad fishing...: I had a great time on Saturday. I did not manage to get any more trout - I got a number of fish to rise but for some reason my ability to hook them disappeared. I moved down to the Ty-mawr pool later and realised my ambition to catch a shad! I called it a day when I had caught 4. I found the best bit about fishing for them was seeing them mob the fly - very exciting in anticipation of the take. Many thanks for putting me on to the pool - I would never have chosen to fish there by myself, I was under the impression they tend to hang about in streamy water.

P.W. from West Mids, Monday 21 May, 2007

Cliff and I paid our first visit to the Llynfi Dulas on Saturday and had a great day despite the colour coming from one of the feeder streams. We had thirty fish between us at least three of which were over a pound. All on mayfly patterns. It was at its best when the river began to clear at around 3.30 p.m. Pretty good hatch of mayflies considering that it is a just a little early for them really.

M.T. from Warwicks, Sunday 20 May, 2007

On Wye tributary fishing....: The Edw fished like an absolute dream, by the way. I'm not sure I've ever enjoyed day's fishing more. One particular beauty was just over the pound mark and 14 inches, but there were plenty more around the 8 and 9 inch mark. Lots of mayfly about.
Keep up the good work!

M.B. from Leicestershire, Tuesday 15 May, 2007

On fishing an upper Wye beats with Kim Tribe...: ...unfortunately having had several takes did not catch anything, hopefully this will be remedied next time. I still enjoyed the day out there with Kim Tribes company. A man with a wealth of knowledge and fun to be with. Thank you.

R.J. from , Monday 14 May, 2007

On fishing the Edw....: My brother and I enjoyed an afternoons fishing on beat 16 of the River Edw on 14th May 2007, using vouchers from your sister scheme the Eden River Trust. Absentmindedly we forgot to post our catch returns into the beat box. Unfortunately my brother did not catch anything but this did not detract in the slightest from a wonderful day out. Congratulations on operating such an excellent scheme.

M.H. from Glos, Thursday 10 May, 2007

On the Passport scheme....: 2007 is the first time I have participated in your roving voucher scheme and I have to say how fantastic a service you provide. Your admin lady who processes the payments and issues vouchers is super, the directions provided are clear and the whole set up has an air about it that tells you it is run by enthusiastic staff.
I have so for been able to find myself "out of mobile coverage" on three occasions and I am looking forward to the rest of the season, especially now it has rained.

T.W. from London, Thursday 10 May, 2007

On the webcam.....: I’d just like to say what a great idea the images and live web cam of the water gauge is. It’s a great benefit for anglers, including myself, who aren’t local. Including the water temperature would also be very useful.

J.G. from London, Thursday 10 May, 2007

On the Passport scheme...: A big thank you to all in the office from my girlfriend and me – we had a wonderful weekend camped up by Llanthony Abbey, and fished the Monnow on Beat 15.

Hannah took her very first wild trout, and raved about it for days.

The information you provide in the Passport and particularly the website is invaluable to those of us locked in the City and trying to plan brief escapes.

L.S. from Berkshire, Thursday 10 May, 2007

On the webcam....: ..Congratulations on water conditions section of website - I am spending far too much time watching and not working...

M.R. from West Midlands, Wednesday 2 May, 2007

Hi, would like to thank you for a great weekend on some of your beats.fished beat 16 & 17 of the Edw and beat 6 of the Dunhow, plus we had a look at some of the other beats. I had a 7 inch brown (released unharmed) on beat 17 with a goldhead Bibio, lost one & had several takes on dry. Although my friend and I fished over the weekend and only caught one fish the venues were again in pristine condition with a good head of fish showing. the major downside was the wind which kept the fish down a lot of the time. I would like to point out the helpfulness of both the campsite owner of fforest fields and the staff in rods n reels who not only topped up our roving vouchers, but gave great advice on locations etc... One or two farmers also had the odd friendly chat. I introduced my fishing buddy to your set up and he was thrilled to bits...so you have one more enthusiastic fisherman hooked. His details were taken on purchasing further vouchers so hopefully he will be on your mailing list. all the best keep up the good work.

R.C. from Worcestershire, Wednesday 25 April, 2007

On the Passport scheme......: I would just like to say what a great days fishing I had on the new Titley Beat on the Arrow.
Thanks for all your efforts in getting beats such as this on to the Passport scheme which would normally be inaccessible to most anglers. I caught seven brown's ranging from 6 inches up to 12 inches and were all beautifully marked and in good condition.
There were no fish showing on the top all afternoon so a gold head nymph was used which took all the fish.
A great afternoon out !!!!

Thanks again.

S.G. from Lincs., Wednesday 25 April, 2007

On fishing voucher beats 39 & 20: Lovely beat on the Arrow - managed 1 fish - fished 3.30 to 5.00 Fished most of beat 20 on the Irthon at Disserth on the 21st - 3 takes but missed them all! very difficult condtions - low and clear - fish easliy spooked - river untidy the nearer you get to L Wells.
Saw some tidy trout though.

H.J. from South Wales, Tuesday 10 April, 2007

Thanks for my Easter Monday booking at Dan y parc. I had a great session between 11-3 - with grannom and olives coming off. Rich was a cracking guide and we spent most of the time stalking big fish. I eventually took a lovely fish of about 1.5 lb - which was returned.

B.T. from London, Tuesday 10 April, 2007

On Easter trout fishing on the Usk: Had a great day on the river and will certainly be back!!

Little action on the surface with the trout sitting low on the bottom taking nymphs. Had quite a few hits but was only able to hook the one. A really beautifully marked fish of about 1 3/4 pounds. Not too bad at all!
Caught on a size 14 gold bead head pheasant tail nymph just to the side of Llanspyddid Rough. Did see a cracking trout of about 2 1/2 pounds in-between what I think was highwell and poplar pools and quite a few smaller fish of about 1/2 a pound.

D.S. from Surrey, Tuesday 10 April, 2007

I just wanted to congratulate you on what you've achieved and also offer a big thanks. I've just spent four days fishing your roving voucher beats and it has been without doubt the best fishing I've had in this country. The scenery was stunning and the rivers even more so. I didn't catch a huge number of fish but that was more down to my nigh on complete refusal to fish anything other than dries. As soon as I started to use nymphs I began to catch.. Ho hum.. Did get a beauty of a brown, around 18" from the Irfon. I was amazed at the water quality in this river - there were stretches that looked almost like New Zealand.

I will certainly be back as often as possible.

My only thought, more an observation really, is what can be done to encourage farmers to dispose of litter like fertiliser bags without them ending up in the rivers? An aesthetic only but I guess a difficult one to solve due to the large numbers of farms along the rivers?

Anyway,thanks again.

M.T. from London, Tuesday 10 April, 2007

On fishing the Clettwr stream....: 6 fish to around 8". All that you say of this wonderful place is true - and more so. But, I should have heeded the warnings rather more and I might have avoided a ducking.

E & A.E from Herefordshire, Sunday 8 April, 2007

We would like to say thank you to the wyeuskfoundation for the fishing availability information which has provided us with a very enjoyable bank holiday three day fishing trip, we didn`t catch much but that doesn`t matter we still had a good time. The Cornhill pub in Rhayader for anyone staying in the area often has live music on at weekends and they do good real ale which added to our night in Rhayader.

I.N. from West Glamorgan, Monday 13 November, 2006

On coarse fishing the upper Wye.....: I thought that you would be pleased to know that your scheme enabled me to have a great day out on the Llanstephan beat on Saturday. I tried trotting for grayling in the morning but had no luck.

In the afternoon, despite a very gusty wind I found the chub in very obliging mood and between 2 swims on the 'Orchard' I caught 12 chub with 4 being over 4 pounds.
Fantastic sport and I'll be back again to try and get one of the whoppers!

H.C. from Surrey, Tuesday 7 November, 2006

On our river report emails......: I so enjoy reading the river reports when sat in my London based staff room I can almost imagine I am back home on one of the many rivers.

M.W. from Worcestershire, Tuesday 7 November, 2006

On River Irfon grayling fishing....: We arrived at the river at 7.45am to experience a temperature drop down to -2 degrees from the 6 degrees it was where we started out from and a freezing thick fog!. The river was like tap water and we were wondering if we would catch anything at all.

Initially, the going was certainly tough with rod rings freezing and no sign of the fog lifting. Fortunately early afternoon saw the sun finally break through and instantly the fish responded with grayling rising to a hatch of olives, this was short lived but enabled us to catch on both dry fly and nymph for the rest of the afternoon.

Locating the feeding fish seems to be the key to success and was helped by a regular visiter to the waters (Charlie) who pointed us in the right direction.

We ended up with a total of 11 Grayling (with most of them over a 1lb) and 2 brownies, we were taken aback by the sheer beauty of this stretch of river and we are sure there is a potential to catch a lot of big Grayling from this river, (slightly warmer weather and a little more practice!).

We will certainly be looking forward to the next chance we get to visit the Irfon again, thanks.

G.G. from West Mids, Wednesday 25 October, 2006

On coarse fishing the middle Wye in late Sept.....: The river was fairly low and full of streamer weed, with a lot loose and in the flow, this unfortunately made my target of ledgering for barbel impossible as the line became weed bound within minutes. However, I changed to stick float donned the waders and float fished maggots between the weed beds, I have to say it was literally a “fish a chuck” small roach, chub, bleak and even the odd minnow, the problem was I could not feed the small fish “off” which of course prevented me from fishing at a depth were the larger fish may have been.

Biggest chub was around the 2 pounds mark, with the average fish around 3 to 4 ounces. The number of fish caught ??? must be well in excess of 150 ?. Pity about the weed but a very pleasurable day in very nice surroundings, being able to drive to the spot is also a very useful.

J.P. from Somerset, Tuesday 26 September, 2006

On fishing the Usk....: Superb day again. Many large fish moving - mainly browns but couple of salmon too. Smaller browns quicker to take the fly!!

C.P. from S Yorks, Tuesday 19 September, 2006

On 2 days coarse fishing on the Wye...: Some of the most thrilling fishing in the most perfect surroundings - what a wonderful part of the country! We are both river fishermen by choice and delight in using traditional tackle and methods. This is how fishing should be!(Mr Crabtree told me) Full marks to the Foundation for their work and foresight in bringing this kind of experience to an appreciative audience - incidentally the website has to be one of the best designed we've seen, ease of navigation and presentation absolutely top notch. Finally a well deserved 'plug' for Aly and Dave Beavins at 'Gromaine Cottage'(via the Foundation website) - friendly and accommodating, gargantuan breakfasts - the perfect hosts! As Arnie said - 'I'll be back'

A.L. from London, Thursday 14 September, 2006

On fishing the middle/upper Usk...: I had a nice day at Glanusk Ty Mawr yesterday. A reasonable hatch of small upwings in the morning and I caught a few smallish fish on a CDC dun. Not too much happening on the surface in the afternoon and had a few more small ones (6-8 inches) on wet flies. By around 5.30pm the sedge started to show and a few trout were leaping out of the water. First cast with a size 16 Elk Hair Caddis tempted a 2lb brown – super fish. By around 7pm, there were lots of spinners in the air but I had to go. I cursed under my breath many times as I watched many trout sipping the spinners as I put my fishing tackle into the boot of my car – one of the downsides of living in London.

The water was a little low but not too bad. I’d imagine that this beat would fish brilliantly with another 8 inches of water.

I saw at least one salmon (7-8lbs) showing towards the bottom of the beat and possibly another small salmon or very large trout leapt out of the water in the pool by the fishing hut – about 4-5lbs.

M.R. from West Mids, Friday 8 September, 2006

Hi, I used my roving vouchers for the first time today, on the Edw beat 12. I had a cracking 15oz brown (returned unharmed) which was in fantastic condition and put up a terrific fight. I look forward to next season, as this one draws to a close. I am happy to end this years river trout fishing on a high. All the best & keep up the good work.

J.P. from Somerset, Thursday 7 September, 2006

On fishing the Usk....: Thank you on behalf of my guest and myself for a truly memorable day's fishing. A wonderful stretch of river in beuatiful surroundings - we fully intend to return next season (hopefully more than once!). Please also pass on our thanks to Stuart Jarvis for his excellent company, knowledge of the river and instruction.

M.A. from Northants, Tuesday 5 September, 2006

Coarse fishing on the Wye at Holme Lacy, 31st august '06.
A brilliant days fishing with me, my dad and my brother catching nine chub and severn barbel between us.
I caught four chub to 5lb and one perfect barbel of 6lb 8oz. My Dad caught two chub 5lb and two barbel to 7lb 8oz. My brother caught the most with three chub to 4lb and then four barbel to 8lb 8oz.
Brilliant fishing on a healthy looking river Wye. No keepnets were used and after a quick photo of a couple of fish they were all returned safe and well.
Looking forward to booking our next trip!

J.N. from London, Monday 4 September, 2006

On a first visit to the Usk.....: Herewith a short note to thank both you and Wendy for all your support and advice on my 1st taste of fishing the Usk and its tributaries.

It was fantastic and I’m sure to return as soon as I possibly can.

C.E. from Suffolk, Monday 4 September, 2006

Just a note to update you on the fishing here on Friday. I fished from about 2.30 to 8pm in the end. 8 barbel and 9 chub in total.

4 small barbel in the 2 - 4lb bracket and 4 bigger fish over 7lb the biggest which went to 8lb 5oz. Lost what seemed like a good double which literally straightened the hook after an awesome fight and another which cleverly transferred me to a snag, it's certainly no place for light tackle! The stamp of the chub was impressive with most of the catch made up of 4-5lbers....

....So all in all, fantastic fishing - many thanks.

A.M. from Worcs, Saturday 2 September, 2006

On coarse fishing the middle Wye...: Best days fishing ever will return very, very soon.

A.L. from London, Tuesday 29 August, 2006

Doldowlod – caught 3 grayling, the best of which was around 2.5lbs (my best ever) and lost 2 decent fish. All returned. Sparse hatches throughout the day and the water seemed rather low and gin clear – not easy but hugely enjoyable.

Fenni Fach – 2 small trout saved a difficult day (returned of course). The water was dropping through the day and again, the water was incredibly clear which made the trout very spooky indeed. Lost one cracking fish at the end of the day. Reasonable hatches of small and medium upwinged flies through the day. Again, hugely enjoyable and the surroundings on this beat are absolutely stunning. Had I not had to return to London by late afternoon, I sense that the evening would have been a lot more productive as the hatches were gathering momentum from around 4pm and I dare say that some of the better fish would’ve come out to play in the fading light.

Thanks for sorting everything out. I’ll be back soon!

J.B. from London, Tuesday 29 August, 2006

Hope all is well. Thanks for organising the trip - we had a great time. The weather was amazingly good and the trout were fighting! We only kept 3 fish - all grayling, taken from Ty-Newydd, all around the 1lb size. We had success with the trout thoughout the three days, and I was surprised how well they fought for their size...

L.W. from Essex, Wednesday 23 August, 2006

On coarse fishing the middle Wye......: What can I say – a fantastic stretch of river and all to ourselves.

Coming from Essex we have a shortage of good strong rivers to fish and this was simply heaven for my friend and I. We have searched for wild surroundings and wild fish and now have found it.

We caught 3 x Barbel up to 8lbs and all swam away strongly after a short rest and were all in good condition(and no break offs !!) This stretch would have to be one of the best Chub stretches I have ever fished with all fish well over 4lbs and the best running to nearly 7lb, and to keep us purists happy Dace, Roach and Chub all came to the stick float and centrepin. There was even a 3” long Rainbow Trout with a liking for Corn!

Our thanks for supplying an outstanding fishery and we will be back. I am so pleased to hear you want to keep this stretch away from the fishing pressure that now exists with a lot of the Severn , Avon etc.

I will contact you in the near future but are planning a two day stint in the Autumn.

Finally I have to say you are extremely lucky to have this piece of Angling Heaven on your doorstep set amongst beautiful countryside. Thanks again –

C.S. from Glos, Wednesday 16 August, 2006

On barbel fishing in the middle Wye......: My son and I spent the Monday float fishing and whilst I enjoyed sport catching dace after dace (not so common nowadays) to a lb in weight Philip could not stop catching chub and he certainly would have filled a keepnet.Around 5pm Philip went on the ledger and promptly lost 2 barbel but third time lucky he caught a personal best of 10lb 2oz which was in pristine condition and made his and my day.
Tuesday was an all out assault on the barbel but we continuously caught chub to 4lb then Colin the ghillie came along and suggested fishing the end of the stretch which we duly did.
The place was stuffed with fish and I managed to wade and catch my first Wye barbel which was especially satisfying as I actually watched the fish take the freelined bait (there is none better).
Unfortunately novice canoeists then decided to stop in the shallows and curtailed the sport.
We both reached our goals and caught a Wye barbel and left having thoroughly enjoyed ourselves both of us vowing to come back.

W.B. from Worcs, Friday 11 August, 2006

Fishing the Wye at Newbridge.....: 12 grayling mostly caught in late afternoon. All on floating red sedge. Best a good 2lbs from channels beat bottom pool. Very few fish rising, not much fly life, though eating my sandwich on bridge at Doldowlod I saw a huge grayling just above bridge chase a sedge fly, its dorsal fin cutting the water like a mini shark.

T.G. from Bucks, Thursday 10 August, 2006

On Usk fishing and one of the instructors.......: I write to thank you for arranging the fishing at Dan-y-parc last Monday 7th,also for the introduction to Rich White. Despite the heat and the somewhat low water level I had a most wonderful couple of hours...... This was my first time for over 55 years on a river but it will not be my last.. Rich was a very good guide and managed to improve my somewhat heavy handed reservoir style.

I intend to try and get over to your area every three or four weeks and look forward to calling at your offices on my next visit,I don’t think I shall bother too much with
reservoirs in this area in the future - quite boring compared to your rivers. Once again, many thanks for all your help

C.S. from Warwickshire, Wednesday 9 August, 2006

First visit to a Roving Voucher beat.....: Having received your newsletters for quite a while I finally could no longer resist the temptation to try one of the locations for the first time - yesterday I went to Beat 13 on the Edw and had a wonderful day. I winkled out seven wild brownies, the biggest about 8 inches, which is not bad for August, and I lost others. The scenery and wildlife is fantastic and I shall certainly return and try some of the other beats. It is a great scheme. Incidentally, another angler turned up on the same beat later in the day and he too was singing its praises.

I.R. from Glos, Monday 24 July, 2006

On fishing the middle reaches of the Usk....: A total of fouteen trout were caught, the best just under a pound. All were safely returned. The day was very bright with the best fishing between 8-10pm. I lost a good fish just before dark and from its antics I think it was undoubtedly a sea trout. It is a lovely stretch of river with a good variety of water. I will certainly recommend it to friends and will certainly book it again myself.

C.Y. from Northants, Tuesday 18 July, 2006

A newcomer to wild trout fishing.....: Fished beat 12 on the Edw on the 15 July weather bright and hot.
I am a novice flyfisher, only started last July on Midlands resevoirs, so I was a bit daunted by the prospect of travelling 150 miles to try my hand at wild brownies. However I managed to catch two 9 - 10" fish on nymphs returned both.
Great day although tiring by the time I had waded up the stream and and back to the car.
Keep up the great work, hope to come back soon...

FDG from Bristol, Monday 10 July, 2006

On one of the Foundation approved instructors.....: I had a fantastic day with Kim who's a great instructor - among other skills, he's got all the necessary patience and sense of humor to bear with the slowest learners. My fishing skills and my confidence (in my abilities, but also in the river holding loads of nice fish) received a huge boost on Sunday and this guiding day was a great investment! I'm looking forward to my next guided trip with Kim now... My catch rate increased 10-fold in one day! So my expectation now is that i'll keep this rate of 25-30 fish a day, and next time i go with Kim i'll top 300 fish, right? I've seen lots of recommendations for Kim on your website and I can add my voice to this
chorus: he's just extremely good at his job of making people understand and practice fly fishing better!

Thanks for all the advice!

B.W. from London, Tuesday 4 July, 2006

Just a quick, belated, note to thankyou for all of your help. We all had a great weekend fishing the various beats and I am happy to say that everyone caught fish. Most had not fished the Wye before. Personally I caught my biggest ever grayling.

The beats were simply stunning and the campsite was great as well. I think that it would be fair to say that I would have really struggled without your help. The trip for next year is already being talked about....perhaps the Usk.

Thanks again,

T.M. from Bristol, Wednesday 28 June, 2006

I had a gorgeous days fishing [on the Usk] last Thursday 21st June......We had 10 fish between us, all on dry fly, and most of them in the evening. All were small - about 1/2 pound, with a few larger fish lost. All were returned. There was a reasonable hatch of little sulphur coloured mayflies which they were taking well throughout the day. Also had masses of takes on a gold head nymph during the day but couldn't hook anything with this approach. It's a gorgeous beat with loads of wildlife, and I hope to return to it soon.

A.C. from Shropshire, Monday 26 June, 2006

Just a quickie to say thanks for remembering the waders!!!! Robin had a fabulous day's fishing...despite nearly being swept away in pusuit of a frisky trout!! He survived, but sadly his mobile phone is no longer with us!!!

Llangoed Hall was also divine - all in all a fab weekend. Thank you for your able assistance to a fishing virgin!

P.W. from Worcestershire, Sunday 25 June, 2006

Just a note to say that I have just returned from a weeks holiday fishing around Builth with my niece and some friends. We fished two of your waters. The first was the Edw on the Hundred House beat see photos attached where it was tough going as the trout there seem to have developed telepathy My niece caught her first small stream brownie though 11inches and she was very chuffed. The other water we went to was the Usk at Sennybridge. This was one of most beautiful stretches of river I have seen. We caught plenty of small trout and lost a couple of proper uns. Traditional spider patterns worked well in the quicker water. Later on though the fish were driving us daft as there was a fall of anglers curse and we could only get takes on tiny Griffiths gnats. But a good time was had by all. Keep up the good work!

M.P. from Bedforshire, Monday 12 June, 2006

Superb Friday and Saturday 14 Shad caught on Gromain beat with a more than a few lost , trout to the dry fly in the evening up to 1lb with a bonus grayling well over 2 lb best dry fly blue wing olive best shad fly gold head damsel.

A.D. from Camarthenshire, Sunday 11 June, 2006

I fished the Fenni Fach beat on 02/06/06, really tough day weather wise brilliant sunshine, still managed plenty of offers only landed 4 trout.
1st trout 1/2lb, 2 around the 3/4lb mark and finally a cracking trout pushing 3lb on a size 16 parachute adams. All fish were returned, will definetly fish the Usk again very enjoyable hopefully better conditions next time.

J.J. from London, Tuesday 6 June, 2006

Just to say we had a fabulous week. I had an enormous brownie at Fenni Fach. On for about 10mins before I lost it - 60cm He jumped many times and it was very exciting, so happy but also disappointed

A.L. from London, Tuesday 6 June, 2006

I fished Dan-y-Parc yesterday WOW Its a fantastic stretch and the water was perfect. I managed 6 decent trout on the upper beat in the morning, the best going one and a half pounds. I started on the wet fly and caught the days best fish on my second cast, and then the fish started rising at around 10am. After a fruitless hour, I managed to pick one up on an elk hair dun imitation but as soon as I tried my trusty CDC Dun it catches fish anywhere when other patterns fail, I got a take from virtually every trout that I covered. I lost one cracker that was north of 2lbs as he tore off line into the far bank and came loose.

M.B. from Caerphilly, Tuesday 6 June, 2006

I got up to the Aberedw beat yesterday and whilst not as successful as your latest endeavours I managed 11 very pretty & feisty brownies in about 4 hours or so, all on various klinkhammers dark olive & brown mostly. I know I may get more on nymphs but I just get so much more fun out of catching them on dries. There was an amazing amount of insect life about too - brook duns, some enormous sedges, the odd yellow may dun and even a stray mayfly, but nothing appeared to be hatching as far as I could see.

M.T. from Warwickshire, Thursday 1 June, 2006

On fishing an upper Wye beat on 31/5/06: For the record, the fish weighed just on 14 pounds and was caught on a (home tied!) cascade size 8 double - the fly is now preserved for posterity.
Once again, thanks to you and all the team for quite fabulous support and service. It really is an outstanding organisation that you have; one of which you should all be very proud. I'll keep telling people...

G.J. from Essex, Thursday 18 May, 2006

I had loads of fun while i was up, rain coloured water for a couple of days but thats when you go off to be a tourist and see the sights, the best day was behind the trout inn, and a lovely place to stay as well, the big bath was perfect for drying facilities, they thought i was mad.
The best beat was 5, parking at the church plenty of space and with the coppicing was so easy to cast an 8ft rod, couple nice fish there on a pheasant tail, i was a bit miffed at where the beat ended as i couldnt find any signs, maybe i didnt go far enough but i did wade a long way.
Well im back in the land of the living down here with my pollution that you dont have, but i am certain of one thing i will be back

P.R. from Bristol, Wednesday 17 May, 2006

A brief note of appreciation for all the work you have done to make the Passport Scheme the success that it is. I fished 2 beats this weekend Llynfi Dulas & Beulah Cammarch and had the most marvellous time.
I drove home on Sunday afternoon feeling that these beats not only offered exceptional fishing but they also generated a great sense of well being from spending time immersed in nature and the beautiful British countryside. Catching wild brown trout was a great pleasure, made all the better by the knowledge that these fisheries had been repaired and restored.

H.H. from Iceland, Friday 12 May, 2006

We had a wonderful day at river Usk the 4. of May. It was
only just a little bit to warm and it affected our ability to catch a fish, we were quite active but the fish wasent. We still caught 5 nice trout, which we released. Four of them came from lower part of the strech, and one in the upper I do not remember the pools name. We saw though much more fish in the upper part pools. I will hopefully be able to come back one day and maybe try also for the king of salmonids.
With best regards to you and the staff around you, expecially Simon for good information about Fenni Fach

M.B. from Somerset, Thursday 11 May, 2006

Yesterday,10 May 2006,I fished the Holme Lacy 3 Beat of the Wye, as per my booking and I am absolutely chuffed to bits to inform you that I had a superb fighting fit, bar of silver 11lb Hen fish on the spinner at about 3.20pm.
Colin Richardson, the Ghillie, was a really nice bloke and thoroughly knowledgeable and totally helpfull during my day on the River, and as per your suggestion, I rewarded him accordingly.
I made it clear to him what it meant to catch only my second Salmon ever, a memory that will never leave me.....he apparently was just as pleased to have seen me take the fish.
for your information,the fish never left the water,was NOT netted,and the lure released in the flow.....and I felt really proud to see it swim off strongly....with a good firm hand shake from Colin.
I hope that I will be booking some more Salmon fishing with you again soon......hopefully with the same fantastic result....

A.L. from London, Wednesday 10 May, 2006

Thank you for sorting this out. We had two lovely days fishing with really nice weather. I picked up a lot of fish mainly trout with a few grayling on Ty Newydd fishing wet flies on the gravely run and my friends caught a few on dries. We returned all fish. We didnt catch anything out of the ordinary best trout was around 10 inches, but it was really enjoyable.

On Fenni Fach yesterday, I managed 2 trout, the best being 1lb and my 2 friends blanked. We all loved it though and I have to say that this could well be the most beautiful stretch of river Ive ever fished. The water was gin clear and I imagine relatively low. I could spot fish in some pools pretty large actually and I found that fish were easily spooked. On seeing rising fish, I would slowly wade into a pool without so I thought making too much of a din, yet the rises would stop. I fish the English chalk streams quite regularly so I know all about spooky fish, but these were especially wary. I couldnt raise any to dries despite using F-Flies and CDCs that work well for me elsewhere very challenging, but then thats the point I was broken in one pool by a really savage take to the wet fly looked a decent fish as I saw what looked like a very broad golden flash in the water as the fish took.

One suggestion for Fenni Fach it was quite difficult to follow the map and it would be great if there were signs by the side of some of the named pools just so anglers can tell where they are with a little more precision. They would obviously need to be of a design that would not look outlandish in such beautiful surroundings.

We will all be back, especially to Fenni Fach.

Thanks again and best wishes,

I.T. from Surrey, Saturday 6 May, 2006

Wonderful day yesterday, lots of brown trout around, but we are still too hopeless to catch anything.

B.B. from Worcester, Friday 5 May, 2006

On fishing the Glanusk Estate beat: A hot day! few grannom mainly egg laying. Only sporadic rises Caought only 4 fish three at 1lb lots of misses. I tried nymphing but not a touch. Small dry blue dun was best. bailiff reported fishing had been difficult this season. The other 3 anglers there had no luck at all. It is a lovely stretch, very easy access and wading and I shall ceratinly go again.

R.W. from Hereford, Thursday 13 April, 2006

Had great day on Penpont, lovely stetch of river.

No real hatch during the day (Cold down stream wind in afternoon), but delighted to see how much life there was under the stones in the river, March brown nymphs in abundance, and lots of Stone flies (Think these were Yellow Sallys?) plus a few Yellow May nymphs.

Caught 6 fish in total upto 12 inches. In morning on size 14 Stone Clinger nymph and two fish later in day on dry Kilkhammer ( Was only dry I could get fish to come too).

A.H. from Staffs, Monday 19 December, 2005

On fishing the Llyn Em beat of the upper Wye: Just to let you know I had a rather lovely days fishing on Friday. The river was up and rising slowly, but still fishable. I did't catch a huge number of fish but they were all a good size, although nothing over 2lbs.
Thanks again

J.M. from Staffs, Sunday 16 October, 2005

On winter grayling fishing on the Irfon: We had a great days fishing on Saturday. The river was in perfect condition and the grayling were very obliging. We caught approx 20 fish – all returned obviously – with 3 14in and 5 12in, the balance were mainly 8 to 12 inch fish.

Most fell to dry flies – Tupps, Klinkhammer etc, and a few to PT nymphs. One trout at 10in was also returned.

I’ll be in touch soon to book another day before the cold weather arrives.

N.W. from Worcs, Wednesday 12 October, 2005

managed to catch 8 decent grayling all returned largest I guess 1.5lb. River seemed odd? Can't really describe it
didn't see a fish rise all day and only one kamikaze parr took fly
I still really enjoyed day and love the variety that each stretch offers. I find it interesting that each beat is so completely different in every aspect from depth, layout of pools and flow,make up of bottom plus where else could you go for a days fishing and have the RAF turn up to fly lowlevel( i swear the harrier jet clipped the trees on his turn into the valley!)
thanks
will phone soon for next trip!

I.S. from Dorset, Saturday 8 October, 2005

On late season salmon fishing on the Usk: Fished yesterday which was the re-scheduled trip from week before. Found it difficult with the fly rod due to the high bank and trees but managed two fish from the salmon pool.
First was a grilse about 4 lb on a flying `c` and later I had my first fly caught atlantic salmon (had pacifics) a cock fish about 12 lb. Both fish coloured and returned but made the trip a memorable one.

M.B. from South Wales, Friday 7 October, 2005

On winter grayling fishing: ..... I managed my best bag of grayling in over a year on Sunday on the Irfon, on the bottom beat of the Cammarch Hotel water. The day was made special before I even began though, as what I thought was a rock downstream of me began to move and to my surprise was an otter, occasionally sticking his head out of the water as he swam upstream past me. Unfortunately this was too quick for me to get my camera out and get a photo, but I guess it's a good indication of the head of fish in the river. Anyway, I managed to bag a total of 18 grayling (and one out of season brownie) from the long straight downstream of the railway bridge in about 5 hours fishing (down once on the nymphs then back up twice on dry fly): one fish came to a GRHE and all the rest on various shades of klinkhammers (dark and light grey and tan all seemed to work). I was forced into the changes as a few stray back casts left the flies in unreachable branches, but it was a relief to see my favourite dry fly working again after the blank at Clochfaen a couple of week previously. I was also surprised by the high percentage of fish over the pound mark - at least 5 by my estimation, with one possibly nudging 1 3/4lbs, and they all fought really hard into the bargain.

M.S. from London, Monday 19 September, 2005

Just a quick note to say how much we enjoyed the fishing this weekend on the Ty Newydd stretch, Both my father and I caught plenty of grayling and brownies.

Thanks again and looking forward to fishing with you next season.

P.W. from Worcs, Tuesday 6 September, 2005

On the Cregrina beat of the Edw: I thought Cregrina was superb. The fishing was tough but we saw plenty of trout and I think we will be back there in the late spring next year. One of the best things was the positioning of the access gates into the river . It seemed that every time we wanted a gate there was one!!

N.R. from Warwickshire, Monday 29 August, 2005

On fishing Pwll-y-Faedda: Both N.W.and I had a memorable days fishing at Pwll-y-faedda, possibly one of the best days fishing I've ever enjoyed. We both caught good sized trout and grayling
all on dry fly to the musical accompaniment from the wedding party's jazz band playing such numbers as "Ain't she Sweet".

J.T. from Glos, Friday 26 August, 2005

Fishing at Pwll-y-Faedda: Had a great days fishing at Pwll-y-Faedda on 13-8-05.
Around 15 grayling the best being nearly 2 Lb and another 5 at around 1.25 Lb. About 10 brownies the best being 1.25Lb and a few at 1Lb.
One of my best grayling days with most falling to czeck nymphs.
Thanks for a great day and will speak soon.

P.K. from The Netherlands, Sunday 21 August, 2005

On a trip to the Wye: Back home i felt the need to mail you my experiences on the two beats of the wye, the gromain and the ty ned wed (???? Can't remember precisely), I booked when I had been visiting you in Builth wells.

First of all i would like to say that it was very nice to have met the both of you. You both have been very kind in helping me out, very much appreciated! Most friendly.....And sorry simon, no Bruce and Walker Nordic Speycaster for this guy; I'll stick to my European Two Handed Sage 9141.

The fishing was great for grayling and a bit poor for trout. On both beats I caught a shitload of grayling; really can't tell the figures, it were many.
Mostly on small dries, black hackles, black dubbing, hook 18 en 20. There were a few really big ones, really a lot of fun. Caught three very big chubs as well, one of them blind on one eye.....

I caught only a few trout, perhaps 8 in total over two days, with one fine specimen. I think that a lot of trout is taken home. Have to say that i haven't fished in the evening unfortunately; perhaps an evening rise would have given me some more brownies....due to my family obligations I had to leave each day round 18.00 hours.

In my last week I fished the Usk for one evening, near Talybont. Great evening rise at about 21.00 hours with some stunning fishing. Pity it was so short......Beautifull brown trout of nice size too. I managed to catch 8 of them.

Back home I have been reading the Wye and Usk passport, with the voucher system; looks to me a fantastic way of exploring a lot of water (that is to say, if there's any water in the rivers....Both the wye and usk were quite shallow; allthough i brought my salmonrod with me, i haven't felt the urge of using it, alas.) I'm going to talk it through with a flyfishing friend of mine, perhaps something for next year.

At last and to my shame: I took a grayling home for supper; it was lovely....

Thanks for everything,

E.E. from Germany, Tuesday 16 August, 2005

On fishing the Wye...: thank you for your organisation on last Sunday. Everything was perfect – also the weather.

Felix – my son – and Louis haven’t had success catching a fish. I caught a Grayling with 13 inches. That’s all. But it was great fun and it was not the last time I contacted you. I think in spring next year latest we will go fishing again. It depends from the school holidays in Germany.

Thank you for all at the time being.

F.S. from Italy, Friday 12 August, 2005

On our website.....: I really liked your web site...and appreciate a lot the work you're doing there, I hope we shall learn something from you here in Italy about conservation of the beautiful brownie rivers we have.

P.B. from Glos, Tuesday 2 August, 2005

Fished Ty Newydd on Sunday afternoon with my son James

Awful afternoon - rained nearly all the time - but was it enough to trigger a spate?

Had 8 browns to 0.5lb between us and James had 2 grayling of 1 and 1.75 lb

Excellent fishing as always

F.S. from France, Thursday 30 June, 2005

I write to you to relate our fishing on june 5 and 8 on Abercamlais and Fennifach beats.
On june 5, we have caught 1 brown trout of 3 lbs and 2 brown trouts of 2 lbs.We have released a lot of trouts between 8 and 14 inches.
On june 8, we have released all trouts.They were between 8 and 14 inches.
On june 9, on Penpont, we have release 15 brown trouts between 8 and 12 inches.The water was low.
Usk is a very fantastic river, perhaps we will come back to Wales in 2006.
Thank you very much for your welcome.

R.H. from London, Monday 27 June, 2005

On an Instructor and a weekend's Wye fishing......: A little bit of feedback from the weekend’s fishing.

We were very concerned about the fishing on Saturday after the rain during the previous 24 hours. On arrival at Fenni Fach the water clarity was very poor and wading was more that a little hazardous. However we stuck to the plan and Kim joined us at about 3pm and we fished until it was pitch dark.

Fishing was extremely good and Kim’s instruction eye opening. He is a great asset to you and should be mandatory if people want to get the most out of these rivers.

I caught 15 fish – 2 over 1 ˝ pounds. All brown trout.

Andrew caught 6 fish

All returned.

Great day.

SUNDAY

We arrived at Ty Newydd at about 10.00am and fishing until 2.30pm when we had to leave to head back to London. It is a glorious location – superb water and breathtaking views.

Conditions were very different – water clarity was much better and it was a bright, warm, sunny day. We tried to remember everything Kim had taught us and it worked. I fished in the faster flowing water (a risky business) and caught 10 fish of which 3 were salmon parr and 1 grayling. 1 trout was a decent size the rest were all fairly small. Andrew caught 4 fish (2 trout, 1 grayling and 1 parr). Superb sport and very exciting. All returned.

So all in all the fishing, scenery and instruction were 1st class. This was all the more pleasing because after all the rain you had we were not very confident of catching a great deal.

Once again Kim was excellent and has completely changed the way I look at river fishing.

Great weekend.

Many thanks for all your help as always.

M.T. from Gwent, Tuesday 21 June, 2005

On fishing Llyn Em....: Today was fantastic, 5 in the morning, 3 in afternoon smallest 1/2 pound biggest 1 1/2 pound. Black was the in colour, dawl bach, black nat size 14. 1 greyling 1/2 pound.
2 dace. lost count of the small salmon. I hate catching small salmon, so afraid of hurting them. What a stunning beat, Just like the river I use to fish in western cape. Saw what looked like a very large salmon, unless there are large carp in river. Please let me know what other fish are on that beat. Fish rose and rolled large tail fin. Noticed other beats sign posted on way. Please can you include me on e-mail service as to what is happening. On the whole splendid 2 days.

P.B. from Glos, Wednesday 15 June, 2005

Many thanks for putting us on gromain on Monday - had a good day!

25 fish between us up to 1lb - mostly trout but a few out of season grayling and one dace - despite tricky cold downstream breeze. No sign of shad so did not bother fishing for them.

All fish on dries bar 3 on nymph - suspect I could have had more on the latter but its not my favourite.

Hatch of pale wateries & caenis esp after 7pm.

My 17 year old son James was most impressed! 11 of the fish were his all caught on the same fly - not changed once although it was tied back on a few times to remove the wind knots in the leader.

Thanks again for some excellent fishing

S.P. from London, Wednesday 1 June, 2005

On trout fishing the Usk....: Fenni Fech - 11 brown Trout, largest to 2lb's
Abercamlais - 6 Brown Trout, largest to 2lb's

All fish returned. Great fishing, such a pleasure to try these new waters. I hope to be down soon again to try the different beats you guys have secured.