River Honddu May 12th
Tributary of the Usk
The rains have come at last. Put like that, it sounds biblical and over dramatic but the rivers have looked desperate recently. So today I set off for this tributary of the Usk with some trepidation. Would it be too coloured up to be fishable? The Usk does colour quickly and dramatically, but whilst the river was rising and a little dirty, there was nothing to stop me climbing into my waders.
The river in lowish water is a series of deep pools and shallow riffles, with the great majority of the trout in the pools. The Honddu is surrounded by woodland, and the flowers were a delight. Bluebells crowded up against campions and yellow archangel. The smell of wild garlic pervaded the air and in places a few wood anemones were still in flower.
The fish rose readily to a dry fly whilst the nymph was less effective. This is the opposite of recent trips to 'the tributaries' and may be a result of the dirty water making the nymph more difficult to see? There were mayfly and smaller olives on the wing along with large stoneflies, but the trout weren't picky and grabbed my black offering with alacrity.