Monthly Archives: May 2019

In search of wild brown trout in the welsh mountain lakes

It’s a little different to what i normally do but my good butty Dan asked if I fancied fishing for wild browns in a lake in the welsh mountains and I jumped at the chance! I’ve fished the lake before and it was a great days fishing but the weather was a little better with overcast skies and a good steady breeze on the water that day!

We were greeted with bright sun and hot, very hot! Not the best conditions for chasing wild brown trout in! But fishing is fishing and we made the most of the fresh air and beautiful scenery! Not to shabby hey?

There was some promise with clouds building over head throughout the day but the takes and fish were hard to come by.

We both moved around the lake looking for drop offs and waiting for cloud cover to cast. We both had a few takes but they seamed very reluctant to hammer the fly, It was a little Frustrating at times but time past chatting away about the fish Dan lost the day before. I’ll not say much about it because he’s a big fella and I don’t fancy having a black eye lol all I can say is, it was big, very big!

Dan below with a stunning wild brown trout that he fooled with a little black lure he tied on the lake bank, Stripped very quickly

After Flogging the water to death we decided to move back across the lake to get some food and tie a few flies to pass the time and to see if the weather would change a little.

As the day went on the cloud cover got a little better and fish started to rise for a bit, I did try but to no avail sadly. It was quite difficult in amongst the weed beds so I give up!

I did finally avoid the blank after what felt a age trying to catch. It was a lovely fish that for the size give me a hell of a scrap and took a few runs and leaps before slipping it into the net

Time slipped away chatting about all things in life with Dan and the fish he lost the day before 😉 All in all a great day with great company. Sometimes it’s not all about how many you catch, It’s about taking everything in and relaxing with good mates! And thats what we did!

Until next time and tight lines all!

Monnow Auction Guided day with Barry and Paul A.k.a. chuckle brothers!:)

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Slightly different day today for me I helped Rob Bending Guiding Barry and Paul, the successful winners of his Monnow auction lot, A day on the river Usk chasing wild browns!

More the dry fly anglers they both wanted to see what the French leader was all about and how it’s used Effectively.

They both had the right gear for it, 10ft 3/4wt rods & they were ready to go! We started off with the basics including, casting, line control, presentation & bite detection & before we knew it they were both getting takes & fish.

The guys were both keen to learn about fly selection & the reasoning behind it & this was explained & demonstrated throughout the day with the abundance of fly life & hatches coming off.

Later in the day the fish really came on & the guys got in to the fish with some dry fly action with the fish on hawthorns, medium olives & then midges. It was a pleasure to help rob guide two absolute gentlemen who were open minded & keen asking about the why? When? & How? Instead of just catching a bin full of fish.

I thoroughly enjoyed the day & you’re more than welcome back down anytime gents & cheers for the beers! 🍻

Fishing the river Usk

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Over the weekend me and my good mate sam went and had a little look at the river Usk in Mardy. It’s been a long time since I’ve fished the beat, I think it was the year before on the March browns and we caught it perfect if I can remember rightly!

We got to the river quite early and bumped into another angler walking off the beat but he was on the Wye and Usk passport, so after a little chat and saving the guy some cash in his future trips we headed up river scanning the river for anything moving! We did spot a fish but it only popped up the once. Time was around 10.30am and there were some Signs of fly activity!

Fly life this time of the year can be a right mix-and-match. Olives, small olives, brookduns, yellow mays, mayfly, black gnats and many more! It Can be a minefield for anglers matching the size and pattern that the trout lock onto!

While waiting on the trout to react to the flies, me and Sam done a little nymphing in the fast water and the deeper pools with good results. We both got busted up and was a little disappointed but that’s how it goes.

We did catch around half a dozen between us, nothing big but pure quality!

Finally moving out of the fast water, we made our way to the long tails hoping to find trout rising and there were a few taking olives and the odd bigger duns so we set up the dry rods. I was using my 10ft 3wt with a leader around 16/18ft for Presentation

But just before Stalking a trout rising on the far bank, I watched a guy for a while before going over to chat with him. His name was Glyn and he was quite new to it so I lent a hand changing his set up and helping him get better presentation. Was great chatting about fishing and we dropped onto the subject of the fishing blogs he reads. He said he reads a blog taff Diaries 🙂 made me smile because it was all good. I then Re-introduced myself as the writer. we both laughed for a bit after!

I love how fishing can bring people together from all walks of life on the river. It was great chatting away about flies and leaders and I hope I helped and explained it enough to understand