Llanthomas
Big Eddy
I travelled down to Herefordshire with the caravan in tow without incident and once camp was made in the pub car park I had a ride out to Geoff Maynard's recently aquired Llanthomas fishery, just above Hay on Wye, as I intended having at least one day on there and wanted to catch up with some of my fellow IAC'ers who'd been there since the season opened.
Unfortunately I'd just missed them as the high river levels had caused them to abort earlier than planned and return home, however I did meet up with Jim Hickey (who'd arrived a little earlier in the afternoon) and had a good look round the fishery and was very impressed.
Have a look at the website Llanthomas Fishery
Having visited Geoff's fishery on Sunday and met Jim Hickey for the first
time I was looking forward to trying my luck Monday and with the levels
dropping from 6ft above normal to perhaps 4ft I was optimistic. I woke Jim
when I arrived around 10am and decided to have a walk to the bottom end
armed with a quantity of pellet and hemp. I baited up 3 or 4 swims I fancied
then fought my way back to the car at the salmon hut through some rather long and
wet undergrowth.
After another chat with Jim I loaded myself up and proceeded to swim one
which was next to a tree in the water and below some rapids and a dirty
great big far bank eddy. The power of the current was amazing and the water
boiled first one way then the other. I fished one rod upstream next to the
tree a rod length out but despite using a 4oz feeder and loads of slack line
it didn't hold for long. The other rod was dropped out in front of me around
2 rod lengths out, again with a 4oz feeder but this was soon swept into the
bank, where the current underneath the surface was pushing. The level dropped
steadily throughout the day but the power of the current didn't lessen by
much. I also set up the trotting rod with a 5AA Avon but again the flow and
boily water made life difficult, sometimes the float would head out towards
the middle, other times would get swept into the bank and occasionally would
disappear beneath the surface when sucked down by an eddy. I did manage the
odd Dace and small Chub but it was a struggle. Geoff and Cliff arrived in
the afternoon which gave me an excuse to reel in and have a wander then
later Jim moved into a previously pre-baited swim round the bend at the very
bottom of the fishery.
Towards evening I'd had enough of squinting at my float and continually
recasting the feeder rods so reeled in went for a chat with Jim then back
towards the hut to find Geoff. When I eventually located him he was tossing
a Flying Condom to the far bank and reported a Shad on trotted worm .....The
Blaggard :)
Geoff and I retired to the hut for a cuppa, set the world to rights, sorted his caravan's lighting but failed to solve the fridge failing to ignite problem. It
was now around 7pm and threatening to rain so I returned to my tackle to
try and extract a Barbel. The level had dropped a bit more now but more
importantly a lot of the colour had dropped out and by wrapping a couple of
lead strips around my 4oz feeder (probably now loaded to 8oz with lead and
10oz with contents) I could hold a little further out for a while. Within
minutes the rod was nodding and I thought at first it was just shifting with
the current and bumping over the pebbles but when it happened again I knew
it was a fish. It held station for a while in the fast water but I soon got
it off the bottom and closer in. Then the problems started, the current was
so strong close in to the high bank that my landing net handle was bending more than the rod and
after numerous attempts to get a sizeable Barbel into the net I eventually
had to pass this rod under my other and get the fish close to the tree where
the surface current was a bit calmer and I could net the fish. It looked a
good size and I thought it might make 10lbs so rang Geoff whilst I left it
to recover in the now staked out landing net. On the scales it went 12lbs
4oz with net but not having zeroed the scales to the wet net I was unsure of
it's actual size. Photos taken the fish was taken to the next swim upstream
where it could be held in the water till ready to swim off. I was very
surprised when the net went to 2lb 8oz on the scales making the Barbel 9lb
12oz, later as I was packing up after a rain shower (so the net was wet
again) I decide to zero the scales to the net and now it weighed 2lb 2oz but
no matter 9lb 12oz it will have to be.
By now it was after 9pm so I packed away and called down to say bye to
Jim who had just had an Otter encounter, it was so close that when it
spotted him and dived under the water Jim got splashed in the face. I then
returned to the car, stowed my tackle and dug out a couple of Paracetomol
for Geoff that I had stashed. Unfortunately Geoff wasn't answering his phone
so I went to find him in the gathering gloom and shortly after I located him
he also had a Barbel, this one a fat fish that just went 10lbs.
All in all an enjoyable experience on a new to me fishery ..........
I'll be back !!!
I forgot to mention the trio of canoeists that came through, decided to
investigate the big eddy then one capsized and had to be rescued and
transported to the bank. I got some of it on video on my phone but the light
was fading so I'm not sure how good the footage will be.
12:48
I've been fishing since midday the river's about 1ft too high to get in my usual spot so I'm set up just above it. The good news is I've got a reasonable phone signal courtesy of the T-mobile Orange merger who's network Virginmobile use. Most of the far bank trees have gone so I'll have to find the new snags. No bites as yet but at least it's stopped raining :)
13:33
Bollocks ! Just lost one in a snag opposite me.:(
14:52
Just had a 4-11 Chub on the upstream rod and before I could get that back out a slightly smaller sample on the other.
18:16
Just had a mad 15 mins 3 Chub plus a baitrunner moment that came to nowt best 2 Chub went 4-8 and 4-15.
18:55
Having had a few more 4lb+ Chub but no sign of Barbel I thought I'd better pack up and trudge the half mile back to the car if I want to catch the footy (England game) on tv back at the caravan
I finished up with loads of 4lb+ Chub, only one below that weight but no
Barbel and I packed up just after 7pm to get back for the footy. I didn't
stand a chance of getting in my usual swim without waders so unless it dropped
another foot overnight I thought I might drive up to Geoff's bit again tomorrow quite
fancying a decent Trout on the float (or whatever else comes along)
I would be checking the weather forecast and levels before making a final decision
10:08
Yesterday at Letton was Barbelless and I couldn't get in the swim I wanted
due to the extra water. According to the river levels site it's not dropped
a great deal overnight so I'm thinking a trip back to Geoff's stretch is in
order, as much for the social as anything. I also fancy a bit of trotting to
see what I can get.
First off got to do a few caravan chores and get a shower so it will
probably be lunchtime when I get there..
21:23
Had a great days trotting in the sun at Geoff's fishery Dace (including a new pb at 6oz), Chub, Salmon Parr (later identified as Trout Parr by my picky fellow species race competitiors) and a solitary Trout. I may have has some bigger Dace but just assumed they were small Chub, I should have looked a bit closer ! Now it's started to rain and I'm sat under the brolly waiting for a last hour Barbel.
21:35
A 4-8 Chub not what I was hoping for.
I ended up packing up around 10pm, saying my goodbyes and driving the 9 miles or so back to the caravan in the Swan Inn car park
10:47
Looks like a (very) late start today as I've only just got up following 2
lateish nights. It's rained much of the night and is a bit of a misty start,
hopefully the level will be down enough to get in my favourite swim.
14:17
Finally set up and fishing in the mudbath, I got here just in time as it's pissing it down. Just got interrupted by a 4-15 Chub on the downstream rod. Ideally I'd like the level to be 6" lower as I can't get out far enough to clear the trees when casting and have had to resort to shorter hooklinks than I would normally use. Unfortunately The level is rising slowly.
14:38
Hurrah a Barbel at last a lively fish of 7lb 8oz
14:54
Just very nearly had a Geoff moment (earlier in the week Geoff had a Swan take out his rod and rod pod, the rod and reel were never seen again), in my case with a Heron, but it spotted me at the last second and veered off just missing the line.
15:16
Another Barbel, this time on the downstream rod, just a 5-14 baby. I'm getting into a rhythm now :)
15:47
And another 8-3 this time. I wish the river would stop rising I'll end up with a welly full soon :(
16:11
I'm losing count here 2 at once, they went 16lb for the pair. Bloody river's still rising.
18:00
It had to happen eventually, I've got a wet foot. I'm now attempting to sidecast which is problematic in this swim as accuracy is essential to avoid the underwater snags. I suspect the top rod is in one. :(
18:25
The river level has now passed the point where I can fish this swim effectively so time to pack up. Don't you just hate doing that in the rain :(
10:30
I'm in a bit of a quandary today. The level has continued to rise so no
chance of getting in my preferred swim and whilst I know a couple of swims
for 8ft+ I'm not sure about 4-7ft up swims.
What to do?
I could go pay a social call on Neil at Geoff's fishery or I could do some
exploration here but it wouldn't be pleasant with the high wind and rain.
I walked beats 1 and 2 here at Letton, chatted to a couple of Salmon anglers, who were
blanking of course, found one fishable swim but it was a long walk and I
would have had to share it with an enormous bull. The river wasn't high
enough for the swims close to the car (8-10ft required) but it was rising
quite quickly. In the end I decided to go Tench fishing on the small lake.
As I was leaving the river I met one of the regulars who fished in Hereford
yesterday and had 42 Barbel !!
The small lake was nice and sheltered so as I'd just been informed all the
large Carp had perished in the bad winter before last I resolved to fish the
whip. I sat there biteless till evening and as a last resort threw most of
my bait in and 30mins later the swim started to fizz. I had a couple of
false bites then hooked a rather manky no lips or tail Carp of 8lb 8oz which consequently didn't
fight at all. Despite fishing amongst the feeding bubbles till the light
started to fade nothing else was hooked, very frustrating but exciting in a
way.
I'm putting this together a few days after returning home to Leeds, Jim is still at Llanthomas and stopping till Wednesday, Yesterday he had 30 chub to over 5:8 - many on the float/pin - a 6lb barbel and one at 11lb 5oz. He's a very happy bunny !