Early start to the river season on the Wye and Usk at Longtown

Red and I set off on a cool cloudy morning in Bristol to fish the Longtown beat on the Wye and Usk Wild Streams. Pleasantly surprised by this lovely little stretch of the upper Monnow. An upland stream cascading through the Brecon's with a beautiful backdrop. The river was gin clear and fairly low but steely cold topping out on the thermometer at about 8C. We fished plenty of runs but found it tough with the deeper sections only showing signs of fish. By midday Large Dark Olives were trickling off frequently but rises were scarce. We had a couple of tugs each from fish in the deeper pools and I watched a small WBT chase my nymph in fished deep. After a short lunch break in the glorious sunshine we set off again changing tactics to heavier nymphs. I was rewarded immediately with a good fish and to my surprise it was lovely Grayling at at least 15" and well over a 1lb which I quickly returned.

 

The afternoon wore on even with the warming sun but it still did not bring the trout on the feed. Despite the hard fishing Dippers, Grey Wagtail and Wood Anemones added to the ambiance and contributed to a pretty special place.

Red casts to likely looking run.

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.