Thinking of organising a long weekend in April at Skenfrith. Have heard a lot about the wild trout fishing and am keen to give it a try.

It's easy to book using the Wye and Usk Passport but rather than sticking a pin in a map I thought I would ask if anybody could recommend a beat or two for me. The Monnow is also nearby, that might be good too?

As I usually fish chalkstreams I'm also unsure of best methods for these rivers; upstream or down and across?

Any help and advice very gratefully received, good people.

Cheers

tone-s

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W&U beats:
The Monnow at Skenfrith is a lovely beat. I have only fished the Monow Valley beat once (with high water) but river access there is definitely more awkward. There are many posters here with much more Monnow experience, and I'm sure they could offer good pointers.

Last season I fished the Usk at Pantyscallog, Llandetty, Buckland, Glan yr Afon and Bridge Meadow, as well as a handful of times on private water just below Brecon. All different, all lovely.

If I could only pick two W&U beats this coming season, they would be Llandetty and Glan yr Afon for beauty and variation in water....but this is only my opinion, and I havn't yet fished them all!

I think the Usk is my perfect river...just the right size, usually wadable, not too 'manicured' but not a major battle for access either. The brown trout are really beautiful. I usually see a Kingfisher, sometimes a Red Kite, often Buzzards, once a Sparrowhawk. The countryside here is a true joy.

Tightlines.
Lewis

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'Afon Wysg it is then boys'

I'm assuming that you might be staying at the Bell. This is one of the nicest hotels that I've stayed in with great food and excellent hospitality.

When I last stayed there I was hoping to fish the evening rise and asked how late I could come back for dinner, "name your time" I was told. They also put breakfast on for me an hour early so that I could get to an early meeting in Bristol and not only that, someone came round the hotel looking for me to give me the morning paper that I had ordered.

All this plus a ton of magazines, real ground coffee and fresh milk in a jug, plus nice biscuits in jars in the room. I'll just caveat all that by saying that it was a few years ago.

The WUF have numerous excellent beats on the Monnow and its tributaries and hopefully Tigermoth, Cranefly and Mr. P will step in and make some specific and well informed recommendations but if you get stuck PM me and I'll sort you out with a ticket for 3 miles of the river starting within half a mile of the hotel. We do stock it but in April it will be wild fish and over wintered stockies only and about 40% of the trout caught over the season are wild.

You will find upstream dry fly a perfectly good method and one of the best local anglers gets virtually all of his fish to a dry Parachute Adams. Others will hang a nymph from a dry NZ style but if you wish down and across wet will also work. The water is often very clear but you will not be able to see and target fish in the same way as on a chalk stream. More often it carries a tinge of colour.

You can expect LDOs and possibly also some Grannom if you are going later in April. You can drive the 10 miles or so over to the Usk, and the spring dry fly fishing can be very good, but with the Monnow flowing past the hotel I wouldn't bother.

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“There is no more lovely country than Monmouthshire in early spring. Nowhere do the larks sing quite so passionately, as if somehow inspired by the Welsh themselves. There is a blackbird on every thorn and a cock chaffinch, a twink as they call him there, on every bush...... It moved me profoundly. I had been spared to see another spring, and I thank God for it.”

Oliver Kite
“A Spring Day on the Usk”
A Fisherman’s Diary

Tone,
As SB said in his post you are right on the doorstep to the Monnow, I would definitely book a day on the Skenfrith beat. Other choices are the Monnow Valley beat, a little tricky to access the water from the bank in places but perseverance will pay dividends. Also there will be a new beat 5 mins walk up from the Bell hotel on the passport scheme this year, well worth a look. Only a short beat but that will be reflected in the price.

If you fancy a little small stream fishing or if the main river is carrying extra water try the Honddu, the beats in the upper reaches such as Lower Henllan or Stanton can be clear within 24 hours of rain The trout in the Honddu are lightning fast so you need good reactions to connect, but there numbers and size will surprise you.

There is also the Dore, fantastic for a bit of small stream and on the whole flows at a more sedate pace than the Honddu.
There will be a further collection of beats added to the roving voucher scheme run by the WUF available for 2009.

As for methods as SB said Upsteam dry, NZ duo or upstream nymphs are all very good methods.

If that is not enough to keep you busy drop me a PM and I will offer some more advice on the waters local to where you are staying.


Frank

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Frank Williams APGAI

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I am staying at the Bell in June and have booked a day on the Skenfrith beat for 6th June.

We are also having a couple of days the the Felin Fach Griffin at Brecon so I hope to fish the Lynfi Dulas and the Usk. The holiday finishes with 4 days at Ludlow. I guess the WUF Lugg and Arrow beats are the nearest to Ludlow. Does anybody know if there is any fly fishing available on the Teme?

This holiday is more or less the same as one we took in September last year which was a complete wash out. All rivers in flood, rained haevily every day. Hope this year is better!

Regards

Peter

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Life is what happens to you when you're busy making other plans
John Lennon

http://walksandfishes.blogspot.com/

Tone-s,

It looks like you have got all of the info from Frank and SB.

April can be great but it will be getting more reliable toward the end of the month. Large dark olive hatches will be the order of the day, usually around lunchtime onward. The smaller tribs usually fish best early on in the season with mainstem coming into its own from hawthorn fly onwards.

If want som defiintive guide lines then for particualr dates then have a look back in the "Fishing he Monnow" thread in River Reports.

If I was you I would also have a day on the Usk in April whichis renouned as an early season river.

Either way; get the Wye and Usk Passport, there is pletny of fishing on both rivers.

Keep in touch, via the Monnow thread, and we can update specifically, nearer the time.

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"The sun was so delightfully warm, and the stone, which had been sitting in it for a long time, was so warm, too, that Pooh had almost decided to go on being Pooh in the middle of the stream for the rest of the morning."

www.monnow.org

What is it that makes anglers so generous and giving of their time and knowledge?

All this information is very gratefully received fellas, I will PM you when I have digested a few of the facts above.

Many thanks.

Tony.

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Tony

The others seem to have given you most of the skinny already.

Definitely fish the WUF Booking Office beat at Skenfrith and do NOT ignore the pool just below the bridge - April is a little early but this pool alone can give hours of (dryfly) pleasure and holds many good trout.

As Frank said, do not ignore the Honddu - some of the best wild trout small stream fishing to be had anywhere in any country - and can be perfectly fishable when the main rivers are out, suffering from a spate. Any of the Upper Monnow beats can be absolutely fantastic at the end of April (see WUF website and make sure you get the new Passport book) but, like most fishing, nothing can be guaranteed. If you hit it right and the LDOs are hatching you're in for a treat.

Despite feeling slightly treacherous, I would also recommend a trip over to the Usk - spring fishing for beautiful purple trout that, in my (and many others') opinion, cannot easily be rivalled.

You are a lucky man. The prospect of fishing several days in our area is something to be savoured. Two pieces of advice: stick to the dryfly and observe very carefully - some of the trout activity can be tricky to spot; do not do any rain dances; and, finally, make it a very long weekend.

Have fun but beware - once you have tasted the Monnow you are a lost soul - you wil be back and asking silly questions like "are there any clubs I could join?" and "what are the property prices like in Monmouthshire?"

Let us know how you get on by posting on the Monnow thread or putting a report on the new Monnow website, which should be live by then and will give you details of how to join the Monnow Fisheries Association - a good home for lost souls!!

tight lines and be gentle with our trout,

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.

I love the Skenfrith beat fantastic beat , one rod only though i would say

Frank i know you are a fan of the Monnow Valley fishery but wild horses couldn't drag me back there , access is an absolute joke.

Regards

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" If you stand by the river long enough the bodies of all your enemies will float by"

As Mr. P says the biggest risk you run is to become beguiled by the Monnow Valley. Read the words in my signature, they were written by Oliver Kite about the Usk but apply equally well to the Monnow.

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“There is no more lovely country than Monmouthshire in early spring. Nowhere do the larks sing quite so passionately, as if somehow inspired by the Welsh themselves. There is a blackbird on every thorn and a cock chaffinch, a twink as they call him there, on every bush...... It moved me profoundly. I had been spared to see another spring, and I thank God for it.”

Oliver Kite
“A Spring Day on the Usk”
A Fisherman’s Diary