An amazing sunset at Halfway! This water is Cross Hands!
Saturday, May 15, 2021
Crewel Pool after the Winter floods!
Spent a lovely afternoon on Crewel Pool yesterday. The water was about 1.500m but still ok for the fly! I didn't have any luck but I enjoyed fishing in the sunshine and having a chat with an old friend! The pool looks better than ever I would say so I can't wait to have a go at night this season. Video LINK below!
Wednesday, May 05, 2021
Tuesday, May 04, 2021
Water at last?
Having fished a few times early this season I noticed a great deal of 'slimey' weed on the river bed. This is particularly annoying when wading in the shallows as it sometimes hooks itself around your line below your feet. With about a 1m rise in river level yesterday I'm hoping some if not all of that will have been washed away ready for my next fishing trip?
Sunday, May 02, 2021
Rain forecast?
According to the forecasts rain should be heavy on Monday 3rd May and Saturday 8th May? Lets hope it raises the river a foot or two?
Friday, April 30, 2021
Fished another night on the 29th April but with no luck!
The night was cloudy and relatively warm (about 8 or 10 deg I guess). The river is so different this season so I fished many different spots, some I was familiar with , others not. Our beat is more interesting this season I think. Lots of gravel movement has created new pools and different runs. I really like it. Sadly no fish appeared other than a brown trout of about 1.5lb and another much smaller. I fished till midnight at which point it was starting to get really cold. The river needs water so with rain forecast next Monday I'm hoping that the river will be good and free from weed in a weeks time when I return!
Wednesday, April 28, 2021
First sea trout of the 2021 Season!
At about 12.15am on 27th April 2021 I caught my first sea trout of the 2021 Season! The fish was about 3lb in weight and fought like buggery!
The river has changed so much over the winter, far more than I have ever seen before. There has been lots of gravel shifting. The overall effect I would say is positive. As soon as I get a suitable day I will put a drone over the river and load it up here.
So I’ve opened my account for the season and now I’m looking forward to many more to come!
Saturday, April 17, 2021
First visit of the 2021 Season!
On Monday 12th April I was able to travel legally to Wales because of easing of Pandemic Restrictions! I picked up my caravan from the Little Haven Retreat and took it to the Towy Valley Caravan Park at Half Way, Carmarthenshire right beside the River Towy!
We have had a hard winter in my view with regular frosts and the frosts are still with us so I wasn't very hopeful of getting any fishing in. Tuesday night went cold quickly but Wednesday seemed a bit more hopeful.
On Wednesday night I was sitting on the log waiting for the shadows to lengthen when a nice fish jumped virtually in front of me! Promising? I fished all the way down the flats with a 'fast sinking' polyleader on until I reached the end by which time most of my fingers were about to fall off! I walked back to the car at about 9.45pm and the temperature at the car was 2 degrees!
Saturday, April 10, 2021
Saturday, March 27, 2021
The Atlantic Salmon Trust
Are there any other anglers out there prepared to STAND UP AND BE COUNTED I wonder? From my experience probably not! I personally can't just stand by and see salmon and sea trout become extinct and the sport I love so much become one of the past!
I've just Donated my EA Licence Fee of £54 to the Atlantic Salmon Trust! Why? Because the EA have done fuck all for salmon and sea trout over my lifetime (70 fucking years) so I've decided to give the AST a go instead!!!!
I will carry this with me as MY LICENCE!
Thursday, March 18, 2021
Wednesday, March 10, 2021
Check out THE WYE AND USK FOUNDATION
Worth checking out especially if you are interested in fishing different waters! Very well thought out website I think!
Saturday, January 02, 2021
HAPPY NEW YEAR and TIGHT LINES for 2021!
Well it's only 3 months till the start of the 2021 fishing season.
I don't know about you but I've been tying flies lately, as it's been too cold for me to venture out for long periods because of my Asthma. For a year or too now I've been mostly fishing the same fly, with some variations. I call it Andy's Killer (although I don't kill fish anymore and haven't for quite some years). If there are fish around then I think this fly works very well (but I'm sure others of you think the same about the flies you fish and that's fine).
This simple fly consists of a stinger treble at the rear and a low water salmon hook as the main hook. I've introduced a bit of sparkle to it of late but I'm not sure if it's essential or not. The body is 3 turns of peacock and the wing is bucktail or similar.
I've had a number of double figure sea trout on this and the odd salmon.
Finally, just in case some of you are considering giving up on the sea trout fishing I would like to encourage you not to. Without you and me and our angling friends on the river day and night the river will deteriorate even further. Pollution will become the norm and the abuse of the river and it's surroundings will increase even more! We need to be on the river as much as possible so when April 1st comes along, dust off your fly rod, clean up your gear and get out on the river! Be optimistic for the future of our amazing rivers and fish - I know it's not been easy over recent seasons - but things are looking up a bit I think!
Also - think about COVID! At least if you're on the river fishing you won't catch it or much else for that matter!!! (JOKE)
Tight lines for the 2021 season everyone!
Friday, November 20, 2020
Thursday, November 19, 2020
The Missing Salmon Alliance!
I have just donated my NRW Licence Fee to the Missing Salmon Alliance and intend to do so every season from now on. If enough anglers do the same then we might get something done about the sad decline in salmon and sea trout stocks!
Monday, November 09, 2020
Stats for 2019?
75% of Welsh Rivers are classed as AT RISK!
What the fuck is the NRW going to do about it I wonder?
FUCK ALL probably like they always have!!!!!
Monday, November 02, 2020
England month long shut down!
Would you fucking believe it? The Government have just announced a 1 month Covid lock down! What then I wonder? Another one in the spring or sooner! There's no end to this bloody nightmare!
Thursday, October 29, 2020
Sinking Polyleaders?
Next season I'm going to try these. I think I'm limiting my chances by just always using a floating line. I've already had a couple delivered in the post yesterday ready for action! My only resistance to using them is based upon my experience a few years ago when they seemed to act like a 'hinge' at the end of my line, making it awkward to cast. Anyway I might take my rod down the park and see how they perform!
Monday, October 19, 2020
Wales shuts down again for 2 1/2 weeks!
Can someone please explain to me why shutting down and making everyone stay at home for 2 1/2 weeks will make things better? It's just 'kicking the can down the road' in my view! Why not PROTECT THE VULNERABLE PROPERLY and let everyone else get on with their lives? If everyone wore a mask and sanitized when entering and leaving shops etc it would probably help a great deal so make it compulsory? Tell the supermarkets and shops to enforce it just like Pub Landlords used to do with drunks or the underaged?
My local DIY store has a sign outside that says 'No Mask - No Entry'. And the girl on the till tells everyone to sanitise before entering. Simple but effective I think?
Sunday, October 18, 2020
Goodbye Towy till April 2021 - God willing?
Well after a gorgeous 7lb Salmon and an 8lb Sea Trout the Towy has managed to keep me interested!
But as the NRW couldn't give a fuck about the river or it's fish what will the 2021 Season be like I wonder? One thing I can be certain about is that like this season I won't be buying a fucking license and I URGE YOU ALL TO DO THE SAME! Then they might just wake up and small the roses?
Tight lines everyone and a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Saturday, October 17, 2020
The Last Day of the Season and I get a 7lb salmon?
Took a trip to the river today on the last day of the 2020 Season!
The water level was about 300mm above summer norm and falling when I looked at the guage before I left my caravan in Pembrokeshire. I wasn't sure if I would be able to cross the river to get to the best pools on the bottom of the Llangadog beat but I thought it was worth a try. On approaching the river I could see it had a fast pace to it - much faster than normal. I tried to cross in my normal place but the current was too powerful. Looking downstream I could see that the pace reduced greatly so I though I would try and wade down the middle of the river until I found a place to wade across to the other side. As a precaution I put my phone in my waterproof bag before I started. It's reasonably shallow at this place but gets deeper as you get further down on the opposite side. I waded down the middle and kept trying to cross but it was too deep. Eventually after quite a long wade I found a point where I could just about wade across to the shingle on the far side. At last I was on the other side with some lovely pools and runs to try for a salmon on my favorite beat.
After throwing a line in a number of different pools and runs I decided to go down to my favorite pool and try my luck there. With a large orange coloured Allies Shrimp Fly on a treble hook I soon had a good take just as the fly swung around near the place where only a few weeks ago I had hooked and landed an 8lb sea trout. This was definitely a salmon not a sea trout this time. Lots of head shaking going on but no acrobatics. Eventually I managed to get this powerful fish into the shallows. What a beautiful fish it was too! It was a cock fish in it's spawning colours of reds and oranges! I have never seen such a gorgeous looking salmon in all my 30 odd years of fishing! But alas - my phone was in my bag further upstream so I couldn't get a picture! Bollocks! I soon let it go and it swam off strongly!
Thank you River Towy for rewarding me on the last day of the season! You will always be my favourite river and the one I love the most!
On returning to the car a guy was mending the fence and I stopped to talk to him. He said that a couple of weeks ago a Dad took his 8 year old son fishing for the first time ever in Crewel Pool and the boy caught a 15lb salmon! The River Towy never fails to surprise!
Thursday, October 08, 2020
The best catch I have ever made!
I can't even begin to tell you how much joy this young lady has brought to me!
Jasmine is an exceptional person. She has special qualities that I have never seen before. She is loving, caring and has an amazing spirit. She can be horrible, lovely, annoying, troublesome, comical, caring, engaging, interesting, inspiring, joyous, intriguing .... the list goes on!
I love her and I know she loves me!
Thursday, September 17, 2020
Cracked it at last! 8lb sea trout!
Rod and I spent last night on the river! It was quite windy but I managed to find a nice sheltered spot. He blanked unfortunately but I got lucky with a 1 1/2 Ib sea trout early on and then a beautiful hen fish weighing approximately 8 lb at about 1.00 am! Both were returned safely! Needless to say I'm hooked again!!!
Sunday, September 13, 2020
2020 will go down as the 'Season' of 'No Seasons'!
OK not as bad as the 2001 'foot and mouth' season but still very weird!
I've only fished a handful of times this season so my catch rate is bound to be one of the lowest ever. In any case my enthusiasm for the sport has been waning of late having transferred my efforts since July to Sea Bass but I haven't even caught one of them either! So all in all I'm pretty well pissed off with fishing in general.
On my way back from Pembrokeshire on Friday I decided to call in to Llangadog for another go!
It was a fairly mild cloudy night with a slight breeze. The water was perfect. It gets dark early now so I started fishing about 8.30 I would think. There were no other anglers so I had the beat to myself. It wasn't long before I had a good but unexpected take on the dangle and I then felt the weight of a good fish but sadly it didn't stay on! Blast! I then started fishing with renewed enthusiasm, fishing down the same area. This time I was rewarded with a fine 2 lb sea trout which I safely unhooked and of course returned.
It wasn't long before the wind got up and casting became precarious. I packed up about 12.30am.
I do love his sport but ........it's really hard work these days.
Back again this forthcoming week!
Monday, July 20, 2020
3 nights and not a fish to be seen or heard!
The river seems dead! It's July - the best month of the season. Where are the fish? Over recent years every year gets worse! I've moved my caravan down to Pembrokeshire now but if the river picked up I'm only 1 hour or less from the river. On the other side of the coin I'm only 5 minutes from a potential Sea Bass!
Thursday, July 09, 2020
Water Level?
It's gone over 2m which is surely good news! A good flush out will do it the world of good and hopefully encourage a run of sea trout? I will be fishing next week that's for sure God willing!
Friday, May 22, 2020
When will my first fishing trip be this season?
Coronavirus has put us all in lockdown and Wales is closed to vistors! Hoping the border might open soon? Can't wait to cast a fly!
Friday, April 03, 2020
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