CF and I spent another hard and wet day clearing the new passport beats today. A lot of the "offending" branches were laid in to the side of the streams not only to protect the banks and discourage erosion but also to provide great cover for adult and, more importantly, juvenile trout.

We can now officially report that the new beats on the Olchon Brook, Upper Escley and Upper Longtown (Monnow) are dreadful - don't look at all trouty - rather shallow, muddy ditches - generally not worth wasting your time on fishing this year.
So, you'll all have to find somewhere else - sorry for raising your hopes.

P

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Trout fishermen revere the trout; trout, on the other hand, unaware of their sublime standing in man's world, revere nothing, including man, a creature they seem to view with special contempt. Nihilism is a rare trait in fish but trout are full of it. The old men liked that.