A lovely few guiding days just recently. I must say, the long anticipated decent rain is now well and truly amongst us, particularly in mid Wales. They weren’t daft the Victorian’s you know, that’s why they built the dams here in the Elan Valley. With a higher than average rainfall across all of the U.K. Tis hardly surprising they are positioned exactly in the right place .
Sir Robert Rawlinson, who proposed the idea of the reservoirs, and the construction of the dams way back in 1870, should be suitably proud of his magnificent brain child …… An absolute engineering marvel. Strewth if they did it these days there would be a hundred hard hats wandering around not doing a great deal, having kittens about the whole health and safety of it all !!!
The brains behind it all, at the time, was James Mansergh, a renowned water engineer, and what a guy he must have been. These dams, each and every one of them are built to perfection ….. Superb engineering !!! And, to top it off, the pipes that lead to Birmingham are gravity fed. Just fantastic !!!!
The rain this morning has been enough to certainly give the rivers a good flush through. I’m a bit of a “spotter” with my rain gauge in the garden, and know exactly the amount that causes the Upper Wye to raise quickly, and her tributaries. Yes, the river gauge online system is good, if the locations you want to check, are working correctly, but you can’t beat an official rain gauge measuring cup. Ten millimetres this morning already, in three hours …… more on its way later today, and it seems more thunderstorm warnings, both on Friday and Saturday. Good job I’ve got reservoir and mountain Llyn days booked for clients, the rivers will be out of sorts, and washed out for a few days now …….
I did sneak in a very pleasant, and productive day on a local, favourite stream of mine yesterday. Sublime dry fly sport in fairness, and plenty of super aggressive hits to my well presented dry fly !!! In fact, sport was that good, my supply of Hunts Original Floatant was getting somewhat low !!!! Note to self ; Put new tub in fly fishing waistcoat sooooooooon !!!!!
The wild streams of the Wye and Usk will be grateful of the rainfall over the next few days. A dam good flush through is really what’s needed on all of them essentially….. From the Arrow and Lugg up near Leominster, through to the Senni, Honddu and Edw more over my way. All of them are full of character, and great fun to fish. They each have there own “personalities”, and some are over bedrock, whilst others are over more easy going river beds. The variety is what I enjoy most. A careful stalk upstream, wading like an astronaut on the moon !!!! Stealth, careful wading, and minimalising underwater noise are keys to success ……. All you have to do then is present your dry fly in the correct place !!!! And, you can bet your bottom dollar, it’ll be tight under that alder tree, with faster water between you and the target fish …….. Problems ????? Never, just a solution that’s fluid, just like the stream, and needs working out without really thinking about it. I’ve fished these streams for years and years, I know them like an old pair of gloves. Catching that first brownie on a balmy summers afternoon, is like kicking back and supping a coffee from your favourite mug ….. It’s calming, serene, and blissful, all rolled into one …….
Next week is a busy one for me to be honest. In fact, I lie, like a cheap Japanese watch, tommorrow onwards is in fairness busy, and, thankfully, the rain gods have come at a perfect time. Dank, dirty, rainy days are perfect for the mountain llyns and big wild waters of the Elan Valley . A good south westerly wave is just the business, to bring the brownies up and feisty in the wave. As yet, as I’m writing this, no Cochybonddu beetles have been seen up at the huge Claerwen reservoir ….. not yet !!! But, I should imagine, with warmer weather due next week, a heatwave again, so they say , the little beetles will be out in there hundreds . So, I’m on careful “shark watch” for when they do hatch out and become helpless meals for the trout population on the huge sea in the middle of Wales ……Awesome dry fly sport can be had then ….. Sport that’ll beat River Test mayfly fishing hands down …… Honestly, it’s that good !!!!
So, on that note, Tis time to refill my coffee mug, as I listen to the rainfall outside. It’s actually a refreshing thought, that the rivers will be revived. Ok, we’ve had a few days rain previously, but tis normally that fine drizzle. Today, was the pukka stuff, horror movie rain !!!! A dam good downpour, just what’s needed, and great for the garden too. I suppose I’m spoilt, cause in my “tool box”, I’ve not only got rivers and streams, but countless mountain llyns and large stillwaters to fish. There’s always somewhere to take clients if the weather gets absolutely foul !!!! All these locations contain stunning, buttery wild brown trout. What more could a nomadic fly fisher want ……….. Variety is the spice of life so they say !!!
