WALES TROUTMASTERS REPORTS FOR WEEK-ENDING DECEMBER 7TH, 2018
Bigwell Trout Fishery, Monmouthshire
Lodge pools have been coloured most of this week with a lot of water flowing down the stream. Also very windy at times which brought down one of the big trees into the Lower Lodge pool so we have the huge task of removing the tree. Work will be ongoing for the next few weeks. The pool can still be fished and anglers have had a lot of success despite the tree restricting part of the pool. Ron Thomas from Bristol had his 10 fish limit on catch and release from across all pools using a variety of flies. Most successful were size 12 Holographic Red Cruncher, size 12 Black Buzzer, and size 12 Bob’s Bits, retrieved slow or static. Oliver Birch also landed his bag limit, mostly from the Gin Pool using Pheasant Tail Nymphs and a Grey Duster fly off the top of the water. John Burton also caught his bag limit. Colin Gooch landed 7 fish including a 7lb 2oz blue trout from the Gin Pool on a small Black Buzzer. Bow Hurford from Brecon landed 4 fish on his catch and kill ticket using his old-time favourite Pink Minkie fly. Gary Tucker caught 6 rainbows on catch and kill. Basil Free-man took his usual 2, Harry Webb 2, David Hill 4, Alan Brunt 2, Graham Davies 5, and Lionel Davies 3. Mark Webster and son Luke Webster landed 3 each on Klinkhamers and Blue-flash Damsels. Bigwell will be holding their annual Boxing Day competition and if you would like to put your name down for this please call 01600 772904 for details. Fishery open every day from 7.30am.
WALES TROUTMASTERS REPORTS FOR WEEK-ENDING NOVEMBER 30TH, 2018
Bigwell Fly Fishery, Monmouthshire
Some frosty starts this week followed by lovely blues skies, low autumn sunshine, and a cold nip in the breeze which freshened things up. For the last 12 weeks or so the fish have given a constant performance of slow and steady in the mornings and a lot of top of the water action in the af-ternoon. However, the latest weather report suggests that storm Diana is going to change this with a bit of a bang, so the new larger fish just stocked will have quite a baptism! A great day’s fishing for Steve Taylor when he caught a beautiful brown trout from the middle lodge pool on an Invicta fly. The fish led Steve a merry dance around the pool before com-ing to the net, and was released successfully. Lionel Davies landed 3 trout using his home-tied fly. Paul Mason also had a great day’s fishing, catch-ing several fish including a beautiful 4lb rainbow trout on a Green Damsel, also from the middle lodge pool. Ron Baker caught 3 fish from across all pools with a total weight of 8lb 4oz. Largest fish reported this week was 7lb 10oz rainbow caught in the gin pool by Gary Welling from Bristol using a small Black Buzzer on the drop. The fish was released successfully. Popular flies this week have been Blue-flash Damsels, Green Spiders, Hoppers, Sedge, small Black Gnats, and Chamois Worms. Some larger trout between 3lb to 7lb have been stocked this week as well as the usual 2lb rainbow and blues. Bigwell is open every day from 7.30am.
WALES TROUTMASTERS REPORTS FOR WEEK-ENDING NOVEMBER 23RD, 2018
Bigwell Fly Fishery, Monmouthshire
Mixed weather this week with some overnight rain but mostly clearing for the daytime fishing, with a few frosty mornings thrown in. The Gin pool is looking and fishing really well and staying crystal clear with a good strong flow of spring-fed water. The Nursery pool, which is catch and kill only, is clear and well stocked. Ron Baker from Buckinghamshire was here at the start of the week and had a great day’s fishing using a Goldhead Daddy, Diawl Bach and a Squirmy Wormy fly. He caught 4 lovely rainbows to take home and 7 more on catch and release. Daniel Morgan caught a beautiful 7lb 10oz rainbow trout from the Lower Lodge pool on a Montana with a roly-poly retrieve. Friends Dave Pritchard caught 8, Nigel Baker 5, and Robert Williams 10. All had an excellent day on their catch and release tickets, moving around all pools, and having great success with Green Damsels, Orange Fritz, White Zonkers and Black Daddies. Paul Jones caught a beautiful blue trout from the Lower Lodge pool on a Black Dad-dy. Nigel Griffiths caught his bag limit of 10 fish including a 5lb 8oz rain-bow which took a Yellow Egg fly on a floating line and 6lb leader. The catch has been entered into Troutmasters. Basil Freeman, one of Big-well’s regular anglers, took his 3 rainbows from the top pool on a Blue-flash Damsel. Richard Williams landed 4, Ray Bradfield 2, George Parfitt 5, Alan Brunt 1, Mick Fahy 5, L. Priest 6, Les Young 3 including 1 tiger trout, Louis Millward 3, Hugo Perks 2, Mick Paine 2, and Gareth Neal 9. Bigwell is open every day from 7.30am.
WALES TROUTMASTERS REPORTS FOR WEEK-ENDING NOVEMBER 16TH, 2018
Bigwell Trout Fishery, Monmouthshire
Lodge pools have been slightly coloured all week from the fast moving stream but this has not affected the fishing. Top pool and Gin pool remain crystal clear as they are spring-fed only and have fished well. Ben and Shell Andrews were amazed when they caught simultaneously, both on Red Spiders from the Lower Lodge pool. Lionel Davies was delighted to catch a tag fish that won him £200. Hughie Wilson landed a beautiful 6lb 8oz rainbow taken on a White Minkie, also from the Lower Lodge pool. Mick Fahy took 4 and returned 6 from across all pools, mostly on Blue-flash Damsels and small Black Gnats. Rob Britten arrived at 7.15am ready for gates open at 7.30am and bagged up his 4 fish by 8.30am, all taken on a small black nymph. Phil Rees and Graham Jeremiah took 3 fish each on catch and kill, Andrew Williams took 3, Phil Roe landed 3, Basil Freeman 2, Hugo Evans 2, Andy Rawlings 4, David Payne caught 7 including a 10lb blue trout which he caught on a F-Fly which has been entered into Troutmasters competition. There is still some good dry fly activity at some point throughout the day with anglers catching on Sedge, Klinkhamer, Diawl Bachs and Hoppers. Other popular flies this week have been White Minkies, Red Spiders, Black Daddies, Squirmy Wormies, Blue-flash Damsels, small Black Gnats and Egg flies.
WALES TROUTMASTERS REPORTS FOR WEEK-ENDING NOVEMBER 9TH, 2018
Bigwell Trout Fishery, Monmouthshire
Fishing was a little hard going with the frosty starts, but for those that did catch there were some excellent returns. There has been plenty of insect activity during the afternoons so dry fly has been effective, espe-cially Klinkhamers, Deer Hair Sedge, Suspender Buzzer, small gnats and F-Fly. John Moore landed 9 trout including 3 blues; the blues seemed to favour John’s home-tied Green Damsel. His heaviest fish has been entered into this month’s Troutmasters competition. David Harris from Newport had success with his Daddy Longlegs pattern which, at this time of the year, is perfect for Bigwell, especially in the clear waters of the gin pool. David caught 6 fish on his catch and kill ticket including 2 blues and a tiger trout which was returned. On catch and kill this week Basil Freeman landed his 3 fish all on a Green Dam-sel. Keith Fenton had 6, Mike Dobson 3, Karl Williams 5, Steve Philips 3, Mark Lewis landed 4 including a tiger trout which was returned. Ste-ve Webb landed 7. Mark Beacham landed 9 fish, his heaviest a 10lb 4oz rainbow taken on a Damsel, and also entered into Troutmasters. He also had a blue around 7lb. David Challenger also had a nice blue around the same weight and landed 9 others. Stephen Webb caught 7 trout in the lower lodge pool. Nigel Garrett took 1 and released 3 on his catch, kill and release ticket, Mark Blackham took 1 and released 4, Scott Orritt 2, Keith Fenton 6, Lyndon Lillie 5, Chad McDonald 4, Phil Roe 5 on Black Tadpoles and F-Fly. Mick Paine 2, John Burton 10. Popular flies have been Green Damsels, Egg flies, Squirmy Wormies, GRHE and Buzzers. Open every day from 7.30am.
WALES TROUTMASTERS REPORTS FOR WEEK-ENDING NOVEMBER 2ND,, 2018
Bigwell Trout Fishery, Monmouthshire
Despite the frosty starts each morning it’s been a great week’s fishing es-pecially for Ben Andrews who caught another tagged fish on a Green Spi-der and won himself the £200 pot. This week it has been nice to see fa-thers and sons fishing together and even 3 generations of fly-fishers – Steven Harding, son Scott and grandson James. James landed 4 fish, grandad Steven caught 2 but much to the amusement of the others Scott managed to blank. Father and son David and Jordan Hill landed 3 each. Tomas-Jon Morgan, aged 7 from Merthyr Tydfil, fishing for the first time, caught his first fish on a Cat’s Whisker. Peter Baylis landed 3, Phil Roe 5, Colin Gooch 7, Harry Webb 2, Dennis Millward 5, Graham Jeremiah 2, Phil Rees 4, John Burton 10, Steven Jones 5, Dave Glover 5, Fred Wood 7, Brian Sisson 5, Paul Barnfield 10, Hughie Wilson 10, Rob Britten 3, Graham Alford 3, George Parfitt 5, Ed Hiscocks 1, John Godfrey 1. Popu-lar flies this week have been Cat’s Whiskers, Green Damsels, Green Spi-ders, Black Buzzers, Black Gnats, Klinkhamers and Deer Hair Sedge. Open every day at 7.30am.
WALES TROUTMASTERS REPORTS FOR WEEK-ENDING OCTOBER 26TH, 2018
Bigwell Trout Fishery, Monmouthshire
Over the last several weeks fishing has been quite stable and consistent. The fish were more challenging in the morning taking the usual popular lures, whereas in the afternoon they have taken very aggressively off the top of the water with dry flies. Steve Fletcher, a member of the Hook, Line and Sinker club, caught a 6lb 8oz rainbow on a Cat’s Whisker. On catch and release this week and catching their bag limits were Mick Smith, Carl Williams, Hughie Wilson, Nigel Salter, John Burton, Steven Palmer and Andrew Williams. On catch and kill tickets were John Howell with 4, Hugo Price 2, Andrew Millins 5, Tony Pritchard 3, Terry Hall 5, John Lyall 4, Dave Reaney 1. A great fishing day for Grant Challenger who landed 6 fish for a bag weight of 19lb 8oz and Ron Baker who took 4 weighing 9lb 4oz in total. All pools continue to fish well with our stock of blues, browns, rainbows and tigers ranging from 2lb up to 15lb.
WALES TROUTMASTERS REPORTS FOR WEEK-ENDING OCTOBER 5TH, 2018
86 year old Gordon Russel and friend Robert Byng from Bromsgrove enjoyed their day at Bigwell fishery.
Bigwell Trout Fishery, Monmouthshire
The past week has seen some very good fishing with lots full bags on catch and release (10 fish) and plenty taken for the table too. The weather has been not bad on the whole and there has been plenty of insect activity. Trout have been feeding at or near the surface or within the couple of feet of water. Dry flies have provided some excellent sport for those who like to target fish. Successful flies continue to be a mixed bag of wets, lures and dries, including nymphs, Buzzers, Egg flies, Chamois’, Spiders and Klinkhamers. Surprisingly not much show of daddies as yet. The pools are in very good form in terms of water clarity. While the flow of well water has been pretty slight at times, nevertheless the pools have remained clear, cool and eminently fishable. The Gin pool and lower Lodge pool have had much weed removed this past week and it is hoped that growth will be restricted with cooler conditions and more rain with autumn arriving. Footfall has seen 60 anglers this week taking 257 trout including tigers, giving a rod average of 4+ fish (all ticket types). Sunday saw a distinct lack of clients with the intrepid Dan Mosely having the entire 4 pools to himself! On Tuesday Paul Barnfield arrived with Brian Sissons for their weekly sport. First cast into lower Lodge pool for Paul brought him his first trout and a very nice fish of 4-5lb. Even better was the trout was a ‘tag’ fish which won Paul £200. Paul went on to take 5 fish in total while fishing buddy Brian had to make do with a very small perch!
WALES TROUTMASTERS REPORTS FOR WEEK-ENDING SEPTEMBER 28TH, 2018
Bigwell Trout Fishery, Monmouthshire
Some great fishing kick-started the week with Jack Forrer and James Harding catching 6 trout between them including 2 blues and a beautiful 12lb 6oz rainbow from the lodge pool which was taken on a fritz fly. Adam Price-Hunt caught one of our elusive tiger trout on a dry fly from the mid-dle lodge pool. It’s been an interesting week, with a drop in temperature and the evenings drawing in, the fish decided they were not going to oblige, so everyone fishing this week has had a challenge on their hands to outwit the fish. Trying a variety of flies and fishing methods, dry flies were more successful early mornings then onto lures during the after-noon. Good fun was had by husband and wife team Sue and Charlie Mor-ley who brought along Bob Rollings, Joan Rollings and Sylvia Rollings for their first experience at Bigwell. They caught 7 fish between them. Fishery open at 7.30am every day.
WALES TROUTMASTERS REPORTS FOR WEEK-ENDING SEPTEMBER 14TH, 2018
Bigwell Trout Fishery, Monmouthshire
With the onset of autumn hopefully the well water will replenish and we will get a good flow through of cool clear water. This will now enable us to thoroughly de-weed the pools. Dry flies have been very effective this week as the small bugs and beetles make their way down to the pools carried on the now falling leaves and anglers have had great success with Klinkhamers, Hoppers, Deer Hair Sedge and Parachute Buzzers. Traditionally, Daddy Longlegs would also be fished this month, but have not made an appearance yet. This week on catch and kill tickets were, Harry Webb with 2 fish, Basil Freeman 3, Gary Tucker 4, Lyndon Harris 5, Hugh Johns 6, Alan Brunt 2, Tony Brinkworth 3, George Parfitt 4, Glyn Morgan 3, and Terry Horrocks 2. On catch and release and catching their bag limit of 10 were Adam Price-Hunt, Peter Baylis, Colin Gooch, Carl Williams, and Mick Smith. The Hook, Line and Sinker fishing club for disabled anglers visited and Gary Cooper landed 3 fish and Roderick Kirton caught 2. Other popular flies this week have been Cat’s Whiskers, Yellow Buzzers, Yellow Egg flies and Blue-flash Damsels. Bigwell is open every day from 7.30am.
WALES TROUTMASTERS REPORTS FOR WEEK-ENDING SEPTEMBER 7TH, 2018
Bigwell Trout Fishery, Monmouthshire
All pools have been fishing really well this week. Paul Barnfield caught his bag limit of 10 on catch and release, 2 from the gin pool on a Black Gnat, 1 from middle lodge pool on Bloodworm and 3 from lower lodge pool on a Green Spider. Paul Evans landed 5 from across all pools. Hughie Wilson caught his bag limit including 1 tiger trout which he caught on a Black Buzzer. Keith Fenton took 9 on his catch and kill ticket from across all pools mostly on Egg flies. Louise Scott Fuller landed 5 fish on catch and kill. Neil Evans from Bristol decided stalking was the order of the day on the gin pool. Using a floating line with a black nymph on the point and a Green Diawl Bach on the dropper and with a slow figure-of-eight retrieve he caught a 6lb rainbow. Phil Roe caught 5 from the lower lodge pool on Cat’s Whiskers and Bloodworm and one off the top with a dry fly. Richard Stephenson took 4 fish, Mick Pain caught 4 fish including a blue, David Williams landed 9 fish on his catch and release ticket including a beautiful brown trout on a Deer Hair Sedge. Bigwell is open every day from 7.30am.
WALES TROUTMASTERS REPORTS FOR WEEK-ENDING AUGUST 31ST, 2018
Bigwell Trout Fishery, Monmouthshire
Better weather on Bank Holiday Monday saw a good turnout of anglers after Sunday’s total washout when it rained all day. Only Chris Laidlaw and son Stuart stuck it out in the rain and caught 7 fish between them. Their most successful fly was a Yellow Spider. Garry Wharton caught his 10 fish on catch and release including a lovely 5lb 2oz specimen taken on an Okey Dokey Buzzer, floating line and 5lb leader, left static. Richard Metters, with his family on holiday from Marlborough, caught his first fish on a Hare’s Ear dry fly. Young Joseph Vaughan came fly-fishing for the first time and after a few basics on casting caught a love-ly 2lb 6oz rainbow trout on a Yellow Dancer. Phil Roe was pleased to catch his first bag limit of 10 fish at Bigwell. John Burton also caught his bag limit this week catching on a variety of flies including Buzzers and dries. Paul Griffiths landed 8 fish including 1 brown trout which he landed using his size 12 Parachute Adams dry fly. Popular flies this week have been, Okey Dokeys, Deer Hair Sedge, Klinkhamer, Buzz-ers, Yellow Dancers, Olive and Yellow Spiders and Hoppers. Open every day from 7.30am.
WALES TROUTMASTERS REPORTS FOR WEEK-ENDING AUGUST 17TH, 2018
Bigwell Trout Fishery, Monmouth
Dave Schewitz had a satisfying day’s fishing with his catch of 5 rainbow trout from the lower lodge pool, mostly caught on a Sedge Daddy on the surface where the fish were attacking the fly, then turning away and coming back very aggressively to strike. Dave was fishing with a float-ing line and 3lb leader. Trevor Jones from Usk spent a few days at Bigwell, catching a total of 7 rainbows and 2 blues on Black Buzzers and Daddies from across all pools. Rob Britten took home 3 fish, Gra-ham Jeremiah 3, Phil Rees 4, Mick Fahy 3, John Burton 10, Keith Fen-ton 6, Nigel Davies 5 rainbows and 1 tiger trout, Carl Williams 10, Mick Smith 7, Andrew Thomas 4 rainbows plus a 7lb 2oz blue which he caught on a Green Egg Fly from the gin pool. Mike Wilkins and son James aged 9 had a great day with James catching his first trout and landing it on his own then going on to catch 2 more all on Egg Flies. His heaviest fish at 3lb 4oz has been entered for junior Troutmasters. Popular flies this week have been Buzzers, Daddies, small Black Gnats, Egg Flies, Blobs and Sedge. Dry flies have worked well for our anglers this week. Open every day from 7.30am.
WALES TROUTMASTERS REPORTS FOR WEEK-ENDING AUGUST 10TH, 2018
Bigwell Trout Fishery, Monmouth
Surprisingly, the fishing has been good during this hot weather. The pools have remained cool and clear thanks to fresh spring water that runs through. Lloyd Isgrove started his day well when he caught a 7lb rainbow on a Sedge dry fly. The fish put up a great fight and was released suc-cessfully. Lloyd also caught a wild brown trout on the same fly both from the lower lodge pool. Father and son team Paul and Andy Dursley landed 4 fish each from across all pools. Paul caught all of his using a FAB. John Burton caught his bag limit of 10 fish using small Black Buzzers from across all pools. Mike Higgs, who arrived at 7.30am, was bagged up and gone by 8.30am with his 4 fish. David Wright, on holiday from Chester, caught 15 fish over 2 days, including a 5lb blue, a wild brown and a 6lb 8oz rainbow. David’s most successful fly was a Tango Okey Dokey. The tiger trout are being very elusive this week, we can only assume the abundance of rudd and roach fry are keeping these aggressive fish occu-pied. Popular flies this week have been small Black Buzzers, Orange Blobs, Chamois Fly, Damsels and Sedge.
WALES TROUTMASTERS REPORTS FOR WEEK-ENDING JULY 20TH, 2018
Bigwell Trout Fishery, Monmouth
The Ray Manley Angling Memorial competition took place on Saturday, the 12th year this has been held in memory of and with respect to Ray Manley. A great day was had by all. Kieron Morgan won first place, Mike Boughtwood was second and Dave Harley third. Llwyd Johnson landed the biggest blue of the week at 6lb from the gin pool and Paul Barnfield landed the biggest rainbow at 15lb 3oz taken on a Green Spider, intermediate line and 4lb leader. His fish was released successfully. Peter Morgan took 5 fish and his father Richard Morgan took 4, Emrys Jones 5, Rod Neep 3, Basil Freeman 3, David Moran 3, Joseph Price 2, Graham Jeremiah 4, Philip Rees 4, Jeff Bunyan 4, Malcom Priestly 6 including a brown trout, Wilbur Leoviriyakit 3. Our waters remain cool and clear and are fishing extremely well. Popular flies this week have been Chamois Fly, Grenadier, Yellow Egg flies, Green Spider, Black Damsel, dry Wickham’s Dancy, Adams Gnat and Greenwell’s Glory. The fishery is open from 7.30am every day.
WALES TROUTMASTERS REPORTS FOR WEEK-ENDING JULY 13TH, 2018
Bigwell Trout Fishery, Monmouth
Trout Fisherman contributor Peter Cockwill and photographer Peter Gathercole paid Bigwell a visit. Peter Cockwill caught a 14lb rainbow and a 9lb blue, both from the gin pool as well as several rainbows from across all pools. Peter had success on his small Buzzers including his stalking bug, as well as dry flies and thoroughly enjoyed his day. Ryan Davies caught his bag limit of 10 fish mostly on a Yellow Egg fly. Paul Barnfield also caught his bag limit including a 7lb rainbow from the lower lodge pool taken on a Green Spider. Carl Williams landed 10 fish, Mick Smith 10, John Burton 10, Keith Fenton 10, Robin Vale 10, Hughie Wilson 5, Emrys Povey 5, Scot Roberts 4, Jack Wilson 3, Brent Johnson 4, and Jamie Pol-lard 3. Malcom Jones, on holiday from Edinburgh with his family, caught 16 fish over the course of 2 days, including 2 blue trout and a tiger trout using a variety of flies including Yellow Buzzers and a favourite Scottish fly a Yellow Dancer. Despite the warm weather the fish are still very interest-ed when presented with the right fly and several larger fish have been caught this week. They are fighting hard thanks to the cool water. Bigwell is open every day from7.30am.
WALES TROUTMASTERS REPORTS FOR WEEK-ENDING JULY 6TH, 2018
Wilbur Leoviriyakit's fish were all caught on a Coral Blob.
Tom Sandall caught the biggest blue of the week at 7lb 4oz on a small Black Buzzer.
Bigwell Trout Fishery, Monmouth
Despite this long spell of unusually hot weather the pools remain cool thanks to the spring water that runs through. There is some weed, as is to be expected at this time of year, but all pools remain fishable. Wilbur Leoviriyakit fished at the weekend with his dad Kas and landed 4 rainbow trout using his Coral Blob pulled fast through the water to get the fish chasing, then stopping completely at which point the fish took the fly. Tom Sandall caught a 7lb 4oz blue trout on a small Black Buzzer using a floating line and sight indicator from the lower lodge pool. John Burton had success catching several fish on a Chamois fly. Anthony Clark took home 5 rainbow trout from across all pools using an Egg fly.
Keith Fenton caught his bag limit of 10, Paul Ellesworthy also had his bag limit from across all pools and had great success with an Adams dry fly on the gin pool and Yellow Egg fly on the lodge pools. David Glover took 3 fish using an intermediate line and White Minkie, Fred Wood landed 5 mainly on nymphs, Colin Gooch 10, Paul Barnfield 10, George Dickman 6, John Lyall 15 fish over the course of 2 days including 3 blue trout and 1 tiger trout, on a variety of flies including GRHE, small Yellow Buzzer and Black Gnat. Bigwell is open every day from 7.30am.
WALES TROUTMASTERS REPORTS FOR WEEK-ENDING JUNE 29TH, 2018
Bigwell Trout Fishery, Monmouth
Tony Brinkworth had a great start to his fishing day when he caught his first rainbow in the gin pool on a small Yellow Buzzer. Husband and wife team Sue and Charlie Morley caught 2 fish each on GRHE and Egg flies. Bag limits were hard to reach this week with most catch and release anglers averaging 5 or 6 fish from across all pools. They included Tom Bungs, John Rigg, John Butterworth, John Parry, Paul Barnfield, Brian Sisson, Tim Mills, Bryan Olive, Glyn Thomas, Keith Fenton, Ron Harris, Phil Roe and Andy Melton. Gary Wharton caught his 10 fish limit mostly on a Yellow Quill Buzzer from across all pools. On catch and kill tickets were John Sherman with 6, Allan Gray 3, Daniel Gray 2, Ron Mason 5, Colin Bridges 2, Peter Morgan 4, Rob Britten 2, David Schultz 5, Steve Moss 1, Dave Reaney 2, M. Dobbs 2, Anthony Clark 3, Jonathan Goldsmith 2, Brian Goldsmith 2, James Evans 5 including a 5lb blue trout which was released successfully, Martin James 6 including a blue and a tiger trout. Heaviest fish this week was caught by Alan Greenaway from Bristol who caught an 8lb 10oz rainbow on a skinny Yellow Buzzer from the lower lodge pool. Popular flies this week have been Yellow Buzzers, GRHE, Grey Duster, Hoppers, Egg flies, Blue-flash Damsel and Olive Spiders. We are open every day from 7.30am.
Ynysfro Reservoirs, Monmouth
The mini heat wave has seen the water temperature in the Association's ponds increase to 23C, but the anglers who decided to don the factor 50 and brave the heat, found the fish more than responsive. On the bottom pond regular boat partners Keith Higgins and Shaun Cotterell caught 8 and 4 respectively with Bob Bradley also taking 4. The top pond continues to fish well, with Stephen Snape landing his limit fishing a team of Buzzers. Dave Woods and Gwyn Davies both netted 6 with Dave also recording 8 fish from two further visits. Stephen Maslam and Gareth West recorded 5 apiece, while Adrian Moyse used a Damsel and a Black Tadpole to catch his 9 fish from two visits and it was 3 each for Mark Roberts, Dave Arlotte and David Bull. Ivor Thomas landed 9 fish from three visits while Wynne Jones, John Belcher, Howell Woods and Keith Higgins recorded 2 apiece. The bottom pond has been more challenging but Dave Arlotte added 4 to his top pond total with Adrian Moyse also taking fish. With the high water temperatures expected to continue for some time imitative patterns such as Buzzers, Damsel Nymphs, Diawl Bachs and Corixa will continue to do well. A fall of ants is also possible so having a suitable pattern in your fly box would be advantageous.
WALES TROUTMASTERS REPORTS FOR WEEK-ENDING JUNE 22ND, 2018
Bigwell Trout Fishery, Monmouth
This week has seen a mixed bag of weather. One day the water is like a mill pond with every fish behaving spookily and hard to get, the next it’s gusty winds from all directions and a wonderful ripple on the pools. Youngster Wilbur Leoviriyakit took casting lessons from Gary Gray then landed 2 rainbow trout on his own. Paul Barnfield, who fishes mainly with Green Spiders, pulled in a 15lb rainbow from the newly de-weeded gin pool for a personal best. One of our best catches of the week was Ethan Clark, aged 13, who caught and released a beautiful 2lb 8oz brown trout in the middle lodge pool on a GRHE. George Watkins caught 2 rainbows to take home on a Mayfly. Robin Vale caught 7, Jonathon Mayer fishing with his dad David landed 4 fish each from across all pools on Black Gnats and Egg flies. Chris Danver from Bromsgrove caught his bag limit of 10 fish including 2 blues and a tiger trout from the gin pool and lower lodge pool. Open every day from 7.30am.
Ynys y fro Reservoirs, Gwent
Although the water temperatures are rising in both ponds due to the settled weather, it certainly hasn't had any impact on the fishing at Ynysyfro. On the boats Keith Higgins recorded 2 limits while regular partners Craig Bowles and Dave Smith also had a limit each. Also doing well were Shaun Cotterell with 6 and with Ken Pascoe 3. The bottom pond continues to provide excellent sport, especially for Ken Bowring who landed a very impressive limit of 8 on three separate days and 7 on another. Chris Daniels also landed 8 in his total of 12 from two visits while Hugh Davies and Dave Arlotte each landed 7, with Ian Hewitt and Getting Bowes both landing 6 and 3 on two visits. Martyn Williams landed 5, Luke Thomas 4 and it was 3 apiece for Wynne Jones, Keri Jones, John Burton and Martyn Rees. The top pond was more challenging but Luke Thomas added a limit to his bottom pond catch and Dave Howells also found the right method and landed 12 from two visits while Dave Arlotte added 5 and Hugh Davies 3 to their bottom pond totals, with Ivor Thomas and Peter Dent both netting 3 each.
WALES TROUTMASTERS REPORTS FOR WEEK-ENDING JUNE 15TH, 2018
Trevor Jones with this 7lb 6oz Bigwell rainbow.
Bigwell Fly Fishery, Monmouth
Great weather went hand in hand with some great fishing. Trevor Jones from Abergavenny caught a beautiful 6lb 7oz rainbow on an Egg fly from the lower lodge pool, a proud moment for Trevor as he has fought his way back from a severe stroke. Rob Britten had a good morning taking 4 fish on his catch and kill ticket, mostly on small nymphs. Dry flies have done very well this week, particularly early morning. John Davies caught his bag limit of 10 from across all pools using small Black Gnats on a floating line early morning, then John changed tactics for the afternoon, using an intermediate line with a Cat’s Whisker on point and a Pond Olive Nymph on the dropper, which landed him 2 big blue trout from the gin pool. Glyn Morgan took 5 fish, Tim May 6, Paul James 4, Alan Brunt 2, Dale Williams 6, Ian Shaw 5 including a 5lb 10oz blue, Ben Shaw 4 including a tiger trout which was released successfully. On catch and release were Carl Williams with 10, Mick Smith 8, N. Johnston 3, Mark McGimpsey 4, Dai Pullen 8, T. Compton 10, Daniel Holmes 10, Hughie Wilson 10, Phil Connor 9, Julie Evans 6, and Gavin Bailey 10. Bigwell is open every day from7.30am.