River Wye, Llangoed Beat
I came away from the river today wondering if standing in water is addictive? The weather was wonderful. Warm air, with a gentle breeze and a hint of autumn in the air. The river was almost perfect. Well compared to recent days, it was a real improvement. The water was a little high, but clear with a tint of brown.
Llangoed is a generous beat; in the sense there is a lot of water to fish. And the stretch is very varied. There are classic riffles and pools; there are deep, slow and mysterious sections -- places where chub cruise and pike lurk. Then there are gutters and rock ledges, and finally, as if that was not enough, there are pools of rumbustious water below small waterfalls. Altogether too much for a humble angler.
So how did we get on? Well an honest day's fishing brought an equally honest return. A small pod of grayling were found. They obligingly rose to a dry fly and amongst those that came to the hand was a fine fish of nearly one and a half pounds. Brown trout too were eager takers of the dry fly, though with them we conspired to play a game of long distance catch and release. The highlight of the day, a mother otter and her cub. Fishing is a never ending pleasure
Deep, dark and mysterious
Orchard Pool