Bbbbbbbrrrrrrrrrrr !!!!! As I’m writing this it’s minus two outside, got down to minus eight last night, on my thermometer in the garden; when I went out to top up the bird feeders with fat balls and nuts. The birds were straight onto the feeders as soon as I turned my back, quite literally !! Last night was certainly a night to have the log burner on stun…… toasty Welsh cottages …. They knew how to build them and make use of space…. Not these huge voids above you to heat up in modern so called trendy houses ….. it’s as if human evolution is going backwards.!!!!.
Anyway moving onto thinking about the season ahead of us. It’s really been only the last week or so that fishing has been workable ….. a good buddy of mine has done superbly trotting on the Wye…. It’s a delicate precise art, that also means you cover more water without the need of wading, that’s gotta be a bonus ….and more versatile than the tungsten nymphs, and he seems to locate the bigger fish in deep deep water below Builth Wells…. And of course shotting is altered to get to those deadly drop offs, that harbour lumps….. he’s had quite a few this last week or so ….. cracking sport, and superb seeing that float dip under when he located a good pod of fish ….. exciting sport and a morning of two dozen is fun, followed by a hearty all day breakfast in Builth …….. great fun!!!! My love does still glide with the small streams, secretive tributaries and wild mountain llyns ….. I just love the serenity of them …. Hardly fished at all, these fish have never been hooked and are as wild as the mountains that surround their sacred home ….
Early season is fun on the wild streams, but can be cold and hard work, till the fish come to life in early April. Obviously the Upper Wye comes alive earlier than that, with March brown hatches and olives bringing the fish “ on “…. Great fun, and fab early season sport can be had…. The big wild waters of the Elan and Claerwen are fun too …. Get a good westerly ripple, and a good mornings sport can be had. I’m spoilt in fairness, I’ve got countless rivers and huge reservoirs to fish, along with secluded mountain llyns that house some stunningly beautiful trout….. some of those llyns are fished by two or three anglers a season, because of their accessibility!!!! The ones I fish demand a two hour hike , but so worth the effort …..
The hill llyns start a bit later than the reservoirs, and mountain llyns like Gynon and Bugeilyn don’t really fish well till the end of April….. and even then, high up, the wind can be bitterly cold and really have an adverse effect on a days angling !! Work the shoreline, especially the top of Claerwen, and some good sport can be had. On the back end of March, when the season opens on the Elan Valley reservoirs ….. it’s just a lovely feeling, hitting into that first Elenydd brownie of the new Season …… the best feeling ever !!!!
Always cool up here in the Cambrian mountains early on, with the tributaries quite a bit behind the River Wye and Usk, you really have to work for your fish …. Fine tactics, and being flexible are key to success, along with being mobile on the wild stillwaters !!! Wrap up too, as early season you’ll feel that wind going right through you….. I always take my battered Alladin flask. It’s an old timer, and it’s been everywhere from Norway to Bosnia and lots of places in between !!!! Still does the job, and keeps my brew lovely and hot. I frequently put a tipple of Baileys into my coffee too….. warms the cockles you know !!!!!!!
So, as with all choices in life, as the season progresses, it’s nice to ear mark golden days up in the mountains, like when the Heather fly shows up and the clumsy little Cochybonddu starts flying around and turning Claerwen into a feeding frenzy, with some of the best dry fly sport you’ll ever encounter …….. make sure you’re there for that one ! Last season, three quick morning sessions I think I brought to the net seventy plus fish, lots a really good stamp too ….. totally wild, never been caught pristine mountain brownies….. These leopards demand the ultimate respect and have grown up from the small feeder streams from eggs, to be the two pound crackers that some of them are in the huge sea of Wales……. Don’t dismiss the other mountain llyns at this dynamic time either ….. fish up in Gynon, Carw, Gwngu and the Cerriglwyddion lakes will also be hammering the bracken clock like there is no tommorrow ….. timing is everything on this hatch !!!!! Get it right, and a red letter day is yours !!!!!
So, a colder, drier few days, looks like more of the wet stuff at the weekend…. That’ll send the rivers up yet again ….. shame, as they’re just sitting at a lovely height, low and clear for fishing after the ladies. Stealthy tactics are required , wether you’re euronymphing or trotting ….. finesse is key, stealth and distance presentation will get you your sequinned lady !!!!!!
February is another dismal month in fairness, but it’s a month of anticipation, that new line, all spooled on, those new tungsten pheasant tails youve lovingly tied on a wet windy night in December….hope they’ll be effective on the Severn??? That old timer of a rod sat in its case just waiting to come alive again …. Like an old buddy ……. You know it backwards …. She’s an old Orvis, you’ve had her thirty eight years…. She’s been with you over many a mountain, you’ll stumbled , fallen down steep gorges, gone in the drink, but miraculously she’s survived, she’s gone miles, she’s cast countless wet and dry flies…. Ohhhhhh and she can cast the sexiest of loops ……. Ohhhhhhhhh yesssss !!!!! You know she likes to show off …… she’s a tart in carbon !!!!
Well, another blog comes to an end folks, it’s that time again , fire up the log burner, and get her on stun mode….. another cold night in the Elenydd, but would I want to be anywhere else, not a chance ……….. as they say, I’m “ Living the dream “ …….We are here for a good time, not a long time ….. enjoy it folks !!!!!! 😉😉😉🤪🤪🤪🎣🎣🐟🐟🏴
