Off to do a spot of piking?

All being well I hope to get the old fly rod out again tomorrow to try my luck with the pike! I've bought all the gear and huge flies so all I need now is a bit of luck! Watch this space!

500 signatures reached!

Great result but we need more!!!

Petition?

Is anyone else prepared to help me this this please? With 350 signatures now with some help it's possible we might be able to get up 1000?

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/give-welsh-salmon-and-sea-trout-a-chance

Petition!

Save our fishing and sign my Petition!

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/give-welsh-salmon-and-sea-trout-a-chance

End of Season Report!

What a bloody frustrating season this has been? My season started off well with a 10lb sea trout but then nose dived from there onwards! Regardless of what other anglers may say there were very few fish about throughout the season. I think the water conditions were generally good with a number of good flushes during the season but for some strange reason very few fish seemed to come in with them. I fished harder this season than any other ever yet only caught 6 fish! So what now? Well next year I'm definitely going to do more sea bass fishing down in Pembrokeshire. As far as the sea trout are concerned then the jury is out on that one I'm afraid! Have a nice Christmas everyone!

River Towy Sea Trout Catch Statistics

Interestingly it was around about 1987 that I started sea trout fishing on the Towy and from the graph it appears that catch rates were at that time about at their peak! But more interesting than that for me is that catch rates today are apparently similar to the mid seventies?

Where are the sea trout?

I haven't posted here for a month or two because frankly I haven't had anything to report! To date I have managed 6 fish, the biggest 10lb but most around the 1.5lb mark! The last 7 or so outings I haven't even seen a fish let alone catch one! I don't remember anything as bad as this in the 30 years I have fished at Llangadog and I'm not alone! Many local anglers have only had the odd fish from what I'm told. Anyway on a more positive note I'm going to try for sea bass on the fly in Pembrokeshire over the next couple of weeks if the weather will allow so I'll keep you posted!

3 nights on the river with Rod but only 1 fish between us!

Just returned from Llangadog after fishing for 3 nights with Rodney Byles! A few nice fish were showing but all I could muster was a sea trout of about 1.5lbs!

3 nights bring 2 fish and 1 lost!

Spent 3 nights on the river in perfect fishing conditions, warm and still. Lost a good size fish which buried itself in a big clump of weed leaving me with the weed! But I did manage to get a 3lb and a 1.5lb fish both of which were silver and both returned safely. That brings my tally to 4 so far! There are a few fish about now and I saw a couple of big fish jump but didn't want to know my flies. Funnily I met a fellow angler who works for the NRW and when I mentioned to him about the gravel extraction which could ultimately destroy the bottom half of our beat all he could say was 'nobody's got the stomach to do anything about it'! Great - so what does the NRW do? Fuck all it seems to me! Best thing we could all do is to refuse to buy a licence again in my view!

Where have all the fish gone?

Having fished hard for 3 nights this week I could only manage 1 small sea trout of 1.5 lb and a small brown trout! Is it that there aren't any fish around or is it that they are there but don't want to know? Even more disturbing that despite the weather being generally mild and overcast I didn't see a single fish jump or hear any surface activity in a total of 15 or more hours on the river! From my records July is the best month for sea trout by far but this season is looking very doubtful on that score. I feel that I fished very well. I threw long straight lines and fished very carefully all the way down the flats; below the hedge and in my pool but to no avail. Is this unusual? My memory is terrible but probably not! I'm just hoping and praying that fish start running very soon so that we can all enjoy a little sport on the river this season!

3 nights on the river and 2 double figure fish + a 3 lber!

Rod and I spent 3 nights fishing this week. Thursday night was lovely and warm and I kicked things off with a 10 lb sea trout and then later Rod caught a similar size fish! Friday was cold but Saturday not quite so bad and Rod got a 3 lb sea trout for his efforts!

2 nights fishing but no fish!

I spent 2 nights fishing over the weekend. Sunday night was a perfect night for fishing. It was mild, still and fairly dark. I worked very hard for about 5 hours in the hope of picking up a running fish but I didn't see any fish or hear anything that would lead me to believe that there were any running fish. Sunday morning I bumped into Lance who was fishing the Car Park Pool. He told me he had lost a double figure fish on the fly in the pool at about 10.00 am! Sandy believed that he had seen a group of large fish near the Cattle Drink a few days earlier. My theory is that these reported fish were probably salmon. It would not surprise me if we see a significant increase in salmon runs as a result of the stocking programme that ended a few years ago!

One disappointing feature of our river this season is the reduction in width of my pool and the hedge pool around the corner on the bend at the bottom of our water! The pool has reduced in width this season by a couple of yards and could be as a result of the 2nd river flow which must impact on the volume of water flowing down the main river. The 3rd river once it starts operating will destroy my and other peoples favourite pools all because of the actions of one farmer!

Hanging on to the wrong end?

How many of you have done this I wonder?

Wading up to my waist last night my reel spool seemed to get jammed for some strange reason? I removed it and inspected it with my torch on red but couldn't see anything wrong. I put it back on but still it wouldn't turn. The second time I took it off I dropped it! Shit! There was no way I could reach down in 4ft of water and I was stood in a very wide section of the river so the bank was a long way away. To retrieve it I had to painstakingly draw all the line and backing off the reel before I could get the spool to the surface! Good job no one was watching!

Water perfect but no luck on my first night of this trip!

Last night was looking hopeful especially as Sandy had told me earlier that he had seen 4 fish near the Cattle Drink and a 5lb fish jump in Crewel! I fished till 2.00am and the temperature had dropped to 6 deg. The water was clear and at a good level but I didn't get any offers or see any fish. With heavy showers this morning I'm hoping that the river remains clear for tonight!

Rise in water level?

A smallish rise in water level may get the fishing off to a start? It may be worth checking the water level regularly by using the link on the right side bar of this page!

My first trip of 2017 reinforces my passion for the sport!

It been a long long winter but now it seems summer is coming and my attention is turning to allotments and sea trout fishing! They are both hard work and frequently end in disappointment but I guess it's the challenge that spurs me on.

I've been fishing the Towy at Llangadog for over 30 years I think? I say 'I think' because following a quadruple heart by-pass 10 years ago I was left with a very poor long term memory! I can remember many of the exciting and funny experiences that I had with my pals John and Rod over the years but I can't remember the dates or times. One thing for sure though is that I will never forget the pleasure that I have had fly fishing for sea trout at night on the River Towy at Llangadog!

Having completed the required maintenance and cleaning of my fishing tackle over recent weeks I thought I was ready for my first trip. Little did I know that the felt sole on one of my wader boots was about to come free from the toe to the arch of my foot and start flapping about as I walked! It's not easy to walk through long grass with a flapping sole believe me! Having arrived on the river my attention turned to how I might remove this offending sole. I tried an elastic band first to hold it in place but that only worked for about 2 minutes! There seemed only one solution! It had to be cut off! It took some hacking off with my blunt knife ( I must remember to sharpen it) but eventually I succeeded.

The night was mild and dry and was free from the blustery wind that had plagued us for many days. I met up with Tim Wilkinson who I hadn't seen for a few seasons so it was nice to catch up with him on everything while we were tackling up and waiting for dark. I put on a floating line and a shortish leader of about 6ft. Fly choice was my usual one - Secret Weapon / flying treble style with black and peacock wing and silver body. The water was running clear and despite being quite low the fly still came round at a reasonable pace! During every cast I felt that I would get a pull. The conditions just seemed right. My fishing method is to keep moving so I will fish through a pool and then go off to another one but then keep returning to each pool in rotation. The reason I do this is because the lower beat of the Llangadog water, below Crewel Pool, in my view doesn't hold fish for any great length of time so it's best to keep moving from pool to pool in the hope of picking up a running fish.

I fished for about 3 hours - I would have stayed longer but I had to return home for a family Sunday lunch. I didn't get any pulls or see any fish but I found the trip enjoyable and worthwhile in that it was useful to see the river and the changes that have taken place over the winter. I can't wait till my next trip which will follow a flood hopefully fairly soon!

One thing that I find very annoying is the way that humans abuse their natural environment! The piece of polystyrene is lilo size and about 100mm thick! I would love to know which arshole chucked that in the river! Also and I've mentioned this many times before and so as fellow angler Rodney Byles but no one seems prepared to do anything about it, I am now convinced that we will soon loose some of the best pools on the lower beat of the Llangadog water due to the actions of one farmer! We already have 2 rivers at normal water levels but it's only a matter of time before we have 3 but neither the Club or the EA appear to want to do anything about it. Surely the Club officials could speak to the offending farmer and convince him of the error of his ways? Once we loose this section of the beat I and many other anglers will probably leave the Club leaving it in an even more precarious position! Sad!

The New Season is almost here!

I'm getting my gear ready this weekend for my first trip to the Towy! Sorting out all those flies and cleaning my lines. Also giving my reels a good clean and lubrication. New torch batteries. New wader studs. That's about it I think! If the water is down and it's mild then I'm hoping to go next week! Can't wait!

CFF News

All the latest new from the reformed Carmarthen Fishermans Federation CFF:

Please SHARE to increase support

March 2017 – CFF Update of activities.

Since our last update the Carmarthenshire Fishermen’s Federation has been busy engaging with the main stakeholders in pursuit of our main objectives. These are better water quality, improved habitat and reduced predation. We feel not only do these factors play a significant part in maintaining fish stocks but they are matters that are not beyond our reach and that we can actually do something about.

1. River Pollution

The CFF has asked to meet with NRW officials to see what can be done to protect the water quality of our rivers in the light of recent pollution incidents. A meeting has been arranged with NRW, to take place on the 14th March, 2017.
If you have any particular observations that you would like us to consider as part of our representations to NRW, please convey them to the Chairman on the following e-mail: lluestybryn@tiscali.co.uk"

2. Himalayan balsam

CFF is developing a county-wide strategy for dealing with Himalayan balsam in Carmarthenshire and aims to work closely with NRW, farmers, angling clubs, riparian owners and individual anglers.

It is our intention, through a programme of pulling, cutting, strimming and spraying to eventually eradicate the plant from our river valleys. We will carefully map the incidence of the plant in the county and then organise a coordinated eradication programme from the top of the river catchments down to the lower limits of infestation.

To achieve this we will be encouraging each angling club to “Adopt-a-river bank project” and help us with the project – an alliance that will not only benefit wildlife and water quality, but also free-up the available land for agricultural purposes.

We are appealing to anglers to get involved and help identify the extent of the problem along our rivers and particularly in the upper reaches. Please record the presence of the balsam when out fishing by utilizing a free mobile phone application called “Plant Tracker” specifically designed to record invasive plant species. Recorded sightings are automatically sent to the overarching National Biodiversity Network.
www.planttracker.org.uk/

Our earlier post on this topic received almost 200 “hits” on the CFF section of this Forum. Can you please confirm whether you are going to assist with the mapping through the free mobile download map - confirm by e-mailing mike@myddfai.com.

We are also appealing to all anglers to “pick 50” plants every time you fish.

3. Fish-Eating birds

CFF have been granted a license by NRW to shoot a limited number of fish eating birds (cormorants and goosanders). The terms of the license to shoot and proposed subsequent measures include shooting as an aid to scaring. The license requires scaring to
continue after shooting.

CFF is also fully supporting and involved in a coordinated smolt shepherding programme along the lower river during April and May when the smolts are preparing for their journey out to sea. This is an exercise in scaring away birds that would otherwise attack the smolts. Volunteers for this would be appreciated.

4. Management Plan 2017.

To ensure that we keep on top of all our goals and all activities related to their attainment, the CFF management team has drawn up a management plan which focuses on water quality, bird predation, illegal netting and access issues.

This will be presented at the next CFF meeting at Carmarthen Football club on the 9th May, 2017. Do please come along and help us with our efforts.

http://seatrout.proboards.com/thread/…/cff-march-2017-update

The new season is fast approaching!

I'm starting to think fishing again! I can't wait till April to have a go at those big spring sewin that everyone says are around? One thing that I do need though is a new reel spool and a sinking line! Better start looking on Ebay?

Tight lines everyone for the 2017 Season! I feel it's going to be great!

AGM Llangadog Angling Limited

The AGM is on the 27th January this year and I'm going because I would like to know what the state of the nation is and also I'm going to be using it as an excuse to go down to Pembrokeshire for a couple of days!

I think that the way that LAL communicates with it's Members is rubbish so I will be asking if that can be improved. Also the pathway through the woods needs improving too.