Teifi trout again but no Salmo

Spent a few days of May bank holiday weekend being hosted at Red's Teifi retreat on a caravan site in the middle of the Welsh hills. The nights were blooming cold dropping to near freezing and I had leaky waders so I don't think my feet really felt comfortable at any point in the 48 hrs. We were spinning primarily using Mepps or I occasionally tried a Black Minnow. Our target species was Salmon or Sea Trout but I was happy with some good spirited nice sized wild Brownies. Just one day I will buy that lottery ticket and cast to a pool that contains a responsive migratory fish but not this weekend.

On the last day Red had a few casts with the fly rod while I spent an hour just taking in the scenery.

Final bash on the Teifi

Spent final weekend of Salmon season on Teifi hosted by Red and Dave. Fished a couple of beats mainly using Mepps spinners. No adult Salmon or Sea Trout but some nice little wild Brownies and the odd Salmon parr barely larger than the lure. Felt I learnt a new trade of fishing the Mepps upstream and across pretty much tempting any trout that gave itself away on the surface. I just find it unbelievable how you can cover every inch of a pool and then minutes after turning to give up a resident double figure Salmon will launch itself clear of the water just to say goodbye. Ho-hum better luck next year!

Teifi trout..

A few shots from weekend of fishing in Wales on the Teifi with Dave and Red. No Salmon or Sewin but some nice wild Brownies.

Rest Bay mayhem on a good swell

Surfed Rest today with son Henry and friend Rich. We got there an hour after high to find the tide just coming off the rocks with beautiful head high peaks reeling into bay. It was busy and the tide soon started to undo the great swell as it ripped out. At low tide it cleaned up again with some nice 4' peaks hitting the banks down by the golf course. Saw the sun quickly set before departing. A nice trip with the odd good wave. I didn't really get cold but fear next session will see gloves coming out.

Cheating the season on the Wye and Usk Wild Streams

Anyone who reads this probably thinks I have given up on the blog. Not really just a break and without a further excuse I will just jump straight back in and give an update on quick foray Red and myself made to the Garren a small tributary of the Wye. The two of us shared the £10 ticket price (which is allowable) after I'd booked it a day or so in advance. It was like cheating school as we headed off before the 1st April. We got there within 40 minutes and started to check out the water. There was heavy flow but it was fairly clear and mild in the early Spring sunshine. Unfortunately things didn't start well as a lady on the opposite bank accused us of trespassing seemingly ignorant of any fishing rights the Wye and Usk may have. Not wanting a prolonged debate we moved upstream onto to a nice little run below a weir pool. I connected with a nice wild brownie on the nymph. We then covered the weir pool to no avail - if their were fish hear they were staying low. We negotiated our way above the weir negotiating barred wire and fencing to gain access to the river - the landowners here clearly do not welcome fisherman. In many places it was just not wadeable so fishing was restricted to flicking the fly between the tree lined banks. Frustrated we returned to the short section below the weir but it yielded no sign of anymore fish. We returned to the West Country glad to have got out before the bell but somewhat disappointed. Not quite what I was hoping for on my first Wye and Usk stream.

Southerndown Surf Session

Surfed Southerndown alone today on outgoing tide about 2 hours after high tide. Started off 3' dropping to 2' as tide dropped out over rocks. Easy little session. Wind cross SE. Not great considering swell was forecast 7.5' for South Wales with light winds. Checked out Ogmore rivermouth first but tide was starting to race out and rip up the righthand peak across the river. When I got to Ogmore it looked a good 4' and offshore with plenty of longboarders out. I waited for 15 minutes and was glad I didn't get kitted up and paddle across the brown river as the surf started to deteriorate rapidly. Should have got there an hour earlier.  Massive high tide in early hours had spoilt the morning as none of the other breaks further East were working. Had to take my son to footy in the afternoon so morning it had to be.