Well, with the warmer weather certainly making fishing fun on the wild streams, particularly late afternoon…. I wanted to give one of the big wild waters a bash. It’s also a bit of a nice change from skulking about in the jungle of a wild stream, and casting your dry fly on to a six pence, under that really low alder branch !!!! Also, the knees have a break too, from kneeling and climbing in and out of the stream, negotiating fallen trees, barbed wire and flood debris. Is it me, or are some farmers obsessed with reams of barbed wire, literally everywhere, and rusty old bits strewn over the fields and beside new stock fencing !!! It’s like low wire entanglement ….. except worse .. It’s cursed stuff, just a nightmare to deal with, when you’re in expensive waders !!!! And fencing is put up so close to streams these days. One winter flood, and that neat, tight, shiny fencing put up last season, is now suspended in the air, with the bankside under it, long since swept away….. probably out by Chepstow now. Why not give the river bank a buffer zone, and plant willow, or alder, to get the banks structure more stable. I’m sure in a lot of these cases, the WILD TROUT TRUST would be happy to come out and offer advice on these wild unloved streams !!!!! They really do need looking after, as, once these trout nurseries and habitats are gone, then what ??????
Right, onto my red letter day at Nant-y-moch…… she was just sublime !!!! Total fun, from when I parked up, and was greeted by a cuckoo calling out at half eight in the morning, to when I packed up with tired legs at six in the evening…. Three dozen or more fish made it to my net, which actually stayed wet all day I think lol !!!!! Barely had time for a decent lunch…. Ha ha !!!!
Small traditional wets, early on did the business, and of course here, I keep on the move ….always moving, literally step and cast, step and cast ….. Late afternoon, small sedgehogs were getting hammered, superb fun !!! Some of the tally were really chunky decent fish too …. Just the best of wild Wales fishing ! And those markings, stunning spots, each one very different from the last …………
I didn’t see another soul all day either, perfect. Just me, the cuckoos and the odd distant lamb bleeting on the hillside ….. That takes some beating to be honest, and all for the pricey sum of fourteen quid ….. you really can’t fault that !!!!
Takes were savage and feisty through out the day, on both the wet flies and on the top !!! i must admit getting a good line out with a sedgehog getting hit on the surface with a splashy, angry rise, and striking with a thumping fish on the end is something else….. One never tires of that !!!! I think that’s why I fished till six in the evening, sport was that good. Just the conditions and the ripple. Everything was just perfect….. and I’ve put it down as a bonefide red letter day !!!!!
So, there we go, another busy week ahead for escape the mainstream, two clients out , one on a wild stream, and another chap fishing one of the big reservoirs …. I have however altered his day, as Tuesday was still looking bright with very little breeze, so a change of day has been agreed, with a more overcast day, with hopefully what’s forecast as a decent wind too !!!! We shall see, but ultimately, it’s a lucky dip fishing the big wild reservoirs in summer time …. That said, red letter days can be had, with superb late afternoon dry fly sport on Claerwen or Penygarreg ….. Stand by when it’s hectic, sport can be absolutely frantic, especially if the heather fly or cochybonddu are about !!!!!!
I shall endeavour to get up to another favourite of mine soon, Llyn Bugeilyn, the “Shepherds Pool” as Frank Ward referred to it, in his excellent book, The Lakes of Wales….My old stomping ground from way back, and I’m sure these fish from this hallowed location are getting bigger. I always remembered them as small feisty little trout, hammering a well ginked dry fly on the surface. Now, Salmo Nigrippinis seems to be a lot bigger !!! The famed black finned brown trout has been living a very healthy life style. Lovely specimens can be caught here, generally the average size is eight to ten inches, but quite a few are twelve or more inches now….. Maybe our climate, with milder winters up there, who knows…. A lovely place, and a firm favourite of mine, when the wind is in the right direction, sport can be sublime here too ….
As I’m completing this blog , it’s another warm one here in Rhayader. The town is bustling as usual, with the general chaos of tourists going about their business. Some mountain biking, some driving their classic cars, others hiking, whilst some just enjoy the warmth, and sit out at The Lamb and Flag, enjoying a cool pint or having some banter with good friends …. Summertime in this town is something special, I feel very lucky…… it’s a place of calm, serenity, but also of wilderness…. With the Elenydd so close, and a back garden of eighty square miles to play in…….. Not bad hey …. Do I feel spoilt, you bet !!!! Is it a wild anglers dream, most definately !!!! Till next time folks , enjoy the fireball in the sky, you never know how long it’s going to be smiling …… And, if you’re fishing, enjoy the Mayfly, and no doubt, I’ll catch up with you very soon on my adventures wading up the wild streams ….. tight lines you piscatorial people of the angle ………… 🎣🐟