top of the beat
A Green World
River Wye, Doldowlod Beat.
May 11th
Doldowlod is one of the upper beats. It has a character all of its own. The valley is narrower, the countryside wilder. It also has a little more gravel on some of its beats, and so wading is not quite as daunting as it can be on other beats.
After yesterday on Glanwye, I was looking forward to fishing the clear waters of the upper Wye. Imagine my disappointment on seeing a mucky olive river. Doldowlod is above the Ithon and Irfon tributaries. The former in particular can bring a lot of colour into the river. So this dirty water was even more unexpected. I can only assume that there had been a big thunderstorm up in the mountains.
The water was warm and the air temperature and humidity were more like August than May. However we had come to fish and fish we did, but with little success. It was too dirty to see your feet which made the normally relaxed wading quite exciting. It also meant the fish couldn't easily see a nymph. But we did get some offers to the dry fly and one trout came to hand. With temperatures in the high 80s in the afternoon; it was nice to be water cooled. But after a few hours it was even nicer to retreat into the shade and just watch the river rolling by.
top of the beat
A Green World