I've spent a very enjoyable weekend exploring some of the Wye & Usk Foundation beats above LLanwrtyd (specifically Beat 5 for those of you with a copy of the passport to hand).

Incredible sunshine and gin clear water made the fishing 'challenging' - I caught nothing of any size - but it was certainly an education.

First impressions are that the fish population is sparse, the odd fish 6 - 8" maybe 10" here and there but then you come across the odd substantial creature of 2 - 3lb! Astounding! Fishing with a 7', 4wt and a 7X point, crawling on hands and knees and all I could do was spook fish - in fact I'm an expert spooker.

The Foundation beats and the voucher system are a gem - I'll certainly be back - I will not be beaten!

Sounds wonderful Lighthouse! A 2/3lb fish is a monster up there - come to think of it, on any river

Were you on the dry or the nymph - much coming off?
bfn
Dave

__________________
"A homeward tramp thro' mist wrapped night,
With heart and creel in common light,
Complete content, the day has brought it,
They fished for pleasure - and they caught it"

P F Morgan
taken from the catch record book at Llanthony Hotel, Honddu Valley, Aug 1942

www.monnowlogue.com
www.monnow.org.uk

Mostly fished dry but there was very little natural fly coming off and few fish of any size beyond parr were keen to rise. In addition a brisk downstream breeze added to the degree of difficulty!

Funny Lighthouse, I had almost the same experience on the upper Wye (Doldowlod) this weekend...

Especially in the renowned gutter (very, VERY quiet water), I was doing my very best to be invisible(I was almost holding my breath to be honest, think even I couldn't see myself) and I could see the fish, a few 12 to 13 inchers were there among smaller fish but none of them would actually take my nymph. They were probably chatting about me and slagging me off.

I did manage to catch a few fish in the faster parts of the river around 20:30 or 21:00, and all my success was thanks to the good old black pennel. Can anyone explain why upstream, sophisticated, doing-my-best upstream nymphing never seems to work, while the rustic down&accross black pennel always gets me something?? It's really surprising...

A great weekend anyway (I would have loved to catch more than this one grayling and four trouts), wonderful river, a gem as you say!

The highlight of the weekend was when an otter (and a good-sized one) came into the river under my very nose, and stared at me for 30 seconds before diving into the water... Truly beautiful.

I think the WUF is doing a cracking job, i've rarely seen such nice rivers as the Wye and Usk!

Flo