The Wye and Usk Federation.
As reported on 13 th July.
Those salmon anglers that responded to our exhortation to go fishing have enjoyed some good sport on the upper Wye this week. We’ve been struggling to keep up with the numbers being reported but we are fairly sure that more have been caught between Glasbury and Newbridge than have been reported on any of the Fish Scotland websites. The Deputy Director has managed 5 since Wednesday morning, fishing for an hour before and after work. Fish from 16lb down to 8lb fell for the charms of a barbless No 8 Bann shrimp fished on a sink tip line. Yesterday the Wye had dropped and cleared enough for the middle river beats to start fishing and encouragingly they have also reported catches including silver grilse with plenty more seen running through.

Other notable catches include a 10lb fish caught and returned by Colin McPherson from Pwll-y-Feadda on Wednesday, his first ever salmon. Alan Fitzpatrick had an 11lb fish from the Rectory, his first Wye salmon for 10 years and Steve Atkins a 10lb fish from Gromain, his first Welsh salmon.

A quick tot up of the Upper Wye Booking Office beats shows that from Sunday (when the river started to clear) until this morning, the Rocks has produced at least 1, Glanwye 8, Pwll-y-faedda 3, Ty Newydd 1, Gromain 7, Llanstephan/Llangoed 6 and the Rectory 6. The fish have been in the 9-12lb class with the odd bigger one up to 20 lb. Some coloured but some fresh ones amongst them. Thankfully most are being returned and we ask that this practice is continued.

The Usk salmon fishing has been patchy this week but most middle river beats have picked up 1 or 2 with the water dropping slowly and the fish trickling through. Trout fishing on the Usk has been improving with some lovely late evening rises. Excitement in the office is growing as we near skated sedge time!
It has been raining hard since 8 am and we expect the rivers to rise again, washing things off for a day or two. As and when water levels fall it should start all over again. With perfect water conditions and a river that is giving up fish, it’s somewhat surprising that only half the available upper Wye rods were booked last week. If you want to catch a salmon in the wonderful streams and scenery of the Upper Wye and Usk, you may not have a better chance this season. Call 01982 551 520 to reserve your place.