Our good friend Peter Anderson head sto Wales to fish some small streams, how did he get on?
Every year the good people at the Monnow Rivers Association have an auction of fishing days. In the 2010 auction I won a day on the Monnow with Dave Smith, local expert, accomplished dry fly fisher and all round good bloke. But work commitments got in the way in 2011 and we had to cancel.
In 2012 we were rained off; in 2013 I had to cancel due to a family bereavement; in 2014 we were rained off again....... But in April 2015 we made it!
The initial plan was for a day on the Monnow but Dave’s offering for the 2014 auction was a “Black Mountain's Odyssey”, a tour of the Monnow and its tributaries. I fancied that. Dave agreed and we scheduled a day covering the Dore, Escley Brook and Olchon Brook. And the weather was kind.
We met on the banks of the Dore a long way up the catchment on a glorious spring day, one of many we have enjoyed this year. I was on the bridge drooling as Dave arrived. We hadn’t fished together for three years so we had a bit of a catch up as we put the rods up. I had brought my 7’ 3 weight at Dave’s suggestion.
I generally prefer a longer rod but the seven footer was the right way to go, this was not a manicured chalkstream, far from it as I discovered as I carefully climbed down the bank avoiding fallen branches, brambles and, horribly, stray strands of barbed wire. Enough to bring me out in a cold sweat. But it was worth it.
I found myself on the edge of a stream 10 feet wide just below a mouth-watering run where the river deepened and curved round a bend with tree roots providing cover for fish.....and a trap for flies.
I fished the duo, a para adams and 18 inches below that a hares ear nymph with a tungsten bead. And whaddya know – second cast, a fish. Now it wasn’t big, there are big fish in these waters (though it’s all relative of course, big here = 1lb) but this one was a perfectly formed, absolutely beautiful fish all of six inches long!
We pushed upstream, though I had to nip back for my wading staff, it might have been a small stteam but the bottom was full of boulders, I needed my comfort blanket.
We got out and gave a deep, silty section a miss before coming to a streamy pool. Dave gave it a whirl with his nymph and had a lovely fish. On to another lovely run where my nymph did the business and Dave showed his rather good dry fly fishing skills off, picking up a fish on his olive pattern.
To be honest, I would have happily stayed for another couple of hours but we were on a mission.
Off to the Escley Brook!
We parked up and walked to the river through the pub car park. This pub has a reputation and the smell of good food was a real temptation....we were not to be diverted. A march downstream, access was even more tricky than on the Dore. Lots of fences, too much barbed wire for comfort.
The river was on its bones too. But fish were showing. We stopped at a fence, fish were rising downstream, there were some nice pools upstream. We separated, Dave searched for a way to get to the risers, I got in and started to work the duo through a deepish pool. There wasn’t much flow and it was important to get the flies into what flow there was, because that’s where the fish were.
I managed to prick three in as many casts before one stuck, it was a baby. I moved upstream over some nasty bedrock which might provide challenging wading with more water but at these levels it was fine. I came to another deepish pool with some good flow and a submerged tree branch which provided cover.
Once again I managed to hook and lose three fish in quick succession. Then it all came right, fishing through the bubble line I picked up four more lovely fish, decent sized too. Fish started to rise as Dave arrived.
He had managed to get one of the fish he had targeted and at my invitation he had a crack at the risers in this pool. He hooked a couple but they came off. A fish rose 10 yards ahead of us just off the edge of a trailing branch. I think the thing that shows that somebody is good is the ability to make the difficult look easy, and that is what Dave proceeded to do. The cast was spot on, the fish obliged.
We ended at the pool next to the pub where we knew there were fish. We didn’t catch any, not helped by the chef in his gleaming white clothing standing on the bank pointing out where the fish were. Ah well, on to the Olchon Brook.
It took 10 minutes to get there, these beats are pretty close together. We took time out for a bite to eat then it was down to the river. The usual access difficulties were overcome. This may have only been 10 minutes from the Escley Brook but it was a very different stream. This had attitude.
The Dore and Escley are essentially lowland streams, the Olchon is a barbarian coming off the mountains, there are no slow, silty stretches here. There were some deep pools though. The first pool had fast flow through the middle but each side was dead water. I needed to be directly downstream of the flow to fish it properly and avoid the fly being dragged into the dead spot.
I worked my way into position to fish, the usual duo set up. Nothing. Then it occurred to me that I was fishing too shallow and too light. The para adams came off and I popped on a size 14 hare’s ear with a 2.5mm tungsten bead. I cast into the neck of the pool and within seconds the line tightened. I lifted into the fish and the reel screamed!
It wasn’t big. Under half a pound, but my goodness it put up a fight. We pushed on and picked up the odd fish but to be honest we were both flagging. It had been a long day and very physical. It had been a wonderful though and we agreed it was time to call a halt. I went home happy.
These waters are all available of the Wye & Usk wild streams scheme, they cost a pittance. Or you could bid in the MRA auction and get a guide for the day. Whatever, these rivers are worth a go.