WALES TROUTMASTERS REPORTS FOR WEEK-ENDING FEBRUARY 22ND, 2019
Bigwell Trout Fishery, Monmouthshire
The week kicked off to a good start when one of Bigwell’s tiger trout was caught by David Lloyd on a small Black Buzzer. David couldn’t believe the fight this 2lb feisty fish put up, it took him a merry dance around the Lower Lodge Pool, and he then went on to catch his bag limit of 10 fish. Fishing the latter part of the week was extremely challenging with anglers working their way through their fly boxes trying to tempt the fish. John Burton eventually caught his first fish of the day on a Green Damsel then went on to land 5 more fish. Jamie Gough caught 3 on an Epoxy Buzzer with gold holo cheeks. When all around him were failing to catch George Dickman brought 7 fish to the net and lost 7. He caught 2 on dry fly and the rest on an Olive Spider. On catch and kill this week were Philip Rees with 2 fish, Graham Jeremiah 2, Glyn Morgan 2, Emile Etheridge 3, Kirton Gourdie 3, Ossian Gourdie 2, Jim Bladen 1, Nigel Thomas 2, Dave Reaney 2, G. Jones 3, George Parfitt 4, and Tim May 6. On catch and release Adam Wharton caught 1 on a black grub and 1 on a Bloodworm, Tom Gibson 4, Mick Paine 4, Scot Payne 3, Robin Vale 5, Mark Fletcher 1, and Steve Gray landed 4 all on Apps’ Bloodworms fished static under a sight indicator. The two most popular flies catching really well this week have been Apps’ Bloodworms and Olive Spiders. Bigwell is open every day from 7.30am.
WALES TROUTMASTERS REPORTS FOR WEEK-ENDING FEBRUARY 15TH, 2019
Chris Laidlaw's beautiful wild brown trout from the Gin Pool at Bigwell fishery.
Bigwell Trout Fishery, Monmouthshire
Most days this week consisted of blue skies and a bit of sunshine accom-panied by colds winds, which has challenged anglers. Andrew Williams landed 3 fish and lost 4, all on a Cat’s Whisker from the Lower Lodge Pool. Hugo Perks had a good morning, catching 2 fish to take home for the freezer. Ricky Harrison landed 5 and Gary Harrison caught 3 on Squirmy Wormies and Cat’s Whiskers. On catch and release tickets were Colin Gooch who caught 5, Chris Laidlaw had his bag limit of 10 including a beautiful wild brown trout taken on a Bumble fly from the Gin Pool and 1 blue trout. Also catching their bag limit were Ben Andrews, John Burton, Lyndon Harris, Phil Roe and Mick Smith. Steve Gray caught his 10 fish limit, all on Apps’ Bloodworm, 4 from the Gin Pool with a fast retrieve and 6 from the Lower Lodge Pool fished static about 2 feet down. Steve tried a few other flies but was successful on just the Apps’ Bloodworm. On catch and kill Basil Freeman took his 3 fish, Harry Webb took 3, G. Rob-erts 3, Graham Jeremiah 3, S. Price 4, Alan Brunt 1, Gary Tucker 4, Ad-am Davis 1, Tom Johnson 3, D. Perrin 3, John Lyall 6. Popular flies this week have been Apps’ Bloodworm, Squirmy Wormies, Chamois fly, small Black Buzzers, Green Spiders and Klinkhamer. Bigwell is open every day from 7.30am.
WALES TROUTMASTERS REPORTS FOR WEEK-ENDING FEBRUARY 8TH, 2019
Dylan Thomas caught this 6lb rainbow at Bigwell fishery.
Bigwell Trout Fishery, Monmouthshire
A very cold week and some snow meant a quieter week with fewer anglers through the gates. But for those that ventured out there was much success as the fish were eager to take a variety of flies. Steve Gray fished only Bloodworms and landed 8 fish. Hughie Wilson caught 7 rainbows plus 1 blue trout on catch and release, mostly using Crunchers and small Black Buzzers. He found success with a very slow retrieve, allowing plenty of time for the flies to fish ‘on the drop’. Adam Price-Hunt caught his bag limit of 10 fish on catch and release at the weekend including a 5lb rainbow from the Lower Lodge pool with a floating line, 4lb leader and a Klinkhamer. The fish, which was released successfully, has been entered into Troutmasters. Dylan Daniels, Danny Pearce and Paul Legge all caught their bag limits of 10 fish on catch and release. Colin Gooch landed 7, Harry Webb 2, and Basil Freeman 2. Fishing with his home-tied Snake patterns with a figure-of-eight retrieve Graham Evans landed 6 fish from across all pools. Popular flies this week have been Boodworms, Buzzers, Crunchers, Green Spiders, Egg flies and Klinkhamers. Bigwell is open every day from 7.30am.
WALES TROUTMASTERS REPORTS FOR WEEK-ENDING FEBRUARY 1ST, 2019
Zach Williams had a successful day at Bigwell fishery.
Bigwell Trout Fishery, Monmouthshire
With cold winds at the start of the week, anglers were pleasantly surprised at how well the pools were fishing. The fish are still rising to the dry fly, always an exciting way to fish. For those who like fishing the float or dry fly on top with a dropper, Egg flies, Buzzers, Diawl Bachs etc were tempt-ing fish. For those of you who like to pull the lure, Damsels Montanas, Spiders, Chamois and Squirmy Wormies and Apps’ Bloodworm fished ei-ther fast, slow or static have been successful. Mike Bowen took 3 fish on his catch and kill ticket, while son Matt had 6 on his catch and release ticket. Andy Rawlings took 3 on catch and kill, Adam Meek 3 and Steve Meek 1. Lana Crump from Southampton, on her first fly-fishing trip, caught 3, Philip Drake 2, and George Parfitt 5. Catching their bag limits this week were Dave Glover, Fred Wood, Mike Shuttleworth, John Burton, Ricky Smith, Duane Shuttleworth 7, Tony Talbot landed 8 mostly using a Chamois fly, George Dickman caught 5, Graham Davies 3. Fish have been taking a variety of small flies all week including Crunchers, Black Gnats, Buzzers, dark Egg flies and Diawl Bachs. Adam Price Hunt landed 8 fish on catch and release including a 4lb 8oz rainbow which we have entered into Troutmasters. Zach Williams, aged 12, is new to fly-fishing and on his second trip to Bigwell caught and landed 2 beautiful rainbows. Fishery is open every day from 7.30am.
WALES TROUTMASTERS REPORTS FOR WEEK-ENDING JANUARY 25TH, 2019
Bigwell Trout Fishery, Monmouthshire
Despite the frosty starts this week there was a good turnout of early morning anglers and the pools have fished well. Lionel Davies caught 3 rainbows all putting up a good fight on small Black Buzzers and Green Damsels. Joe Meadows landed 4, Richard Morgan took home 3 rainbows all caught on a Black and Green Montana from the Gin Pool. Mick Paine took 3 fish, Ben Andrews 3, Hugo Picks 2, Chris Rogers from Newport landed 5 on his catch and kill ticket including a 6lb 4oz blue which he released. Chris had success on a variety of flies including a CDC Black Shipman’s Buzzer and a Black Gnat. David Brock landed a tiger trout on a Klinkhamer which put up an amazing fight then he went on to land 4 more rainbows from across all pools. Kas Leoviriyakit and son Wilbur caught their bag limit of 10 on their catch and release ticket from across all pools, and Lyndon Harris also caught his bag limit of 10. Heaviest fish this week was caught by Colin West from Bristol who landed a 13lb 9oz blue trout from the Gin Pool on a Blue-flash Damsel using a floating line and 6lb leader and released successfully. Popular flies this week have been Damsels, Buzzers, Black Gnats, Klinkhamer, Black Daddies, Green Spiders, CDC F-Fly and Squirmy Wormies. Bigwell is open every day from 7.30am.
WALES TROUTMASTERS REPORTS FOR WEEK-ENDING JANUARY 11TH, 2019
Bigwell Trout Fishery, Monmouthshire
Fishing has been challenging this week with very cold starts so the fish have been taking a while to kick into gear. But 2019 has started well with lots of regular anglers and plenty of newcomers coming through the gates. Neil Williams from Bristol caught one a blue trout of approximately 12lb from the Gin Pool on a Green and Black Montana. Paul Hickton kicked off the Troutmasters competition for 2019 with a beautiful 7lb 8oz rainbow caught on a Green Spider in the Middle Lodge Pool. Lloyd Jones caught 5 fish, Kevin Millard caught a 5lb 8oz rainbow from the Lower Lodge Pool on a Black Buzzer. This fish has been entered into the Troutmasters competition. James Harris had a good day when he caught 7 fish including a tiger trout from the Lower Lodge Pool on a Klinkhamer. Philip Evans from Cwmbran said the Lodge pools weren't interested in his flies, so he moved to the Gin Pool, where he caught 10 fish on Egg flies and Blue-flash Damsels. Three anglers from Bristol had a great day’s fishing: Mike Wright caught 5 rainbows and a blue from across all pools using small Black Buzzers on the drop; David Hemmings caught 3 rainbows from the Gin Pool on White Minkies; and Eddie Marshall caught his 4 rainbow trout from the Lower Lodge Pool on Egg flies and Bloodworms. Gary Tucker landed 3 rainbows, while father and son Kevin and Will Brooks had a good day catching 6 fish between them. John Burton caught 10 on his catch and release ticket. Popular flies this week have been Klinkhmmer, Black and Green Montana, Green Spider, Deer Hair Sedge, Egg flies, Black Buzzers and Squirmy Wormies. Fishery is open every day from 7.30am.
WALES TROUTMASTERS REPORTS FOR WEEK-ENDING JANUARY 4TH, 2019
Bigwell Trout Fishery, Monmouthshire
The Friday before Christmas saw the removal of the willow tree from the Lodge Pool which came down in the winds a few weeks ago, allow-ing anglers once again to cast their lines along the hedgerows where the fish like to lie. While lures and strike indicators still have their place, top of the water action is still very prolific, with fish rising to Hoppers, Deer Hair Sedge and Klinkhamers. The weather has thrown all it can at us this week with a sharp frost that saw the top rings freezing on an-glers rods and torrential rain that coloured the water, and while it was a small window there was also a little bit of sunshine. Jon Evans caught a beautiful 8lb 2oz rainbow trout from the Lower Lodge Pool on a Brown Daddy using a floating line and 6lb leader. The fish, which was re-leased successfully, has been entered into this month’s Troutmasters competition. Fred Wood caught 7 fish, Phil Roe 5, Mick and Jean Fahy caught 2 each. Ron Baker from Buckingham caught 10 rainbows, mostly on his favourite small perch fry lure, releasing 8 and taking 2 home to make his tasty trout pate. Gareth Neale took 6 on catch and kill, Mick Williams landed 6 including 1 tiger trout.
The Boxing Day Competition was a great success, the weather was kind and everyone was on good form. John Burton was the first to catch a fish 10 minutes into the competition, followed closely by Rich-ard Tremain. Trophies and prizes were awarded to Robin Vale for heaviest individual fish at 3lb 8oz, John Burton fastest fish caught, Ron Baker heaviest bag 6lb 12oz. Many thanks to all anglers who took part, Andrew Williams, Richard Tremain, Nathan Blake, Mark Beacham, Dale Tomlinson, Sheila Maynard, Craig Williams, Ron Baker, Robin Vale, John Burton, and Tony Bladen.
A busy week since Christmas on catch and release: Ryan Davies, Ad-am Price-Hunt, Keith Fenton, Ben Thomas, Steve Thomas, Jon Thom-as , Annie Hurds, Dennis Millward, Gavin Hodgkinson, Chris Priest, John Burton, Steve Randall, Dylan Stokes, Aron Beck, Nigel Davies, Dean Stanton, Josh Bowcutt, Richard Wakelam, Ross Jones, Jamie Webb. Heaviest fish this week was caught by Chris Morgan at 9lb 4oz taken on a Klinkhamer from the Lower Lodge Pool and released suc-cessfully. We would like to wish all our anglers a very happy and healthy 2019 and a huge thank you for all your support throughout 2018.
WALES TROUTMASTERS REPORTS FOR WEEK-ENDING DECEMBER 14TH, 2018
Bigwell Trout Fishery, Monmouthshire
Numbers of anglers through the gate were low at the weekend, even though the sun was shining with a slight wind now and again, but the quality of fish that were caught was exceptional. Zach Williams, aged 12, caught 2 lovely rainbows, one on a Blue-flash Damsel and one on a Brown Daddy. His largest fish at 3lb 2oz has been entered into Junior Troutmasters. Ethan Clarke caught a nice rainbow from the gin pool on a Goldhead Hare’s Ear. David Blackely landed 4 with his dry fly tactics using mainly a Grey Duster, from the gin pool including a 5lb 4oz blue trout. Garry Tucker took 4 fish, Colin Gooch caught his bag limit of 10, John Burton 10, Harry Webb 2, Basil Freeman landed his usual 2 from the top pool, Ron Baker from Buckingham took one for the table then released 10 on his perch fry imitation.
Water quality is high and well oxygenated meaning healthy active trout and with Bigwell’s policy of high stocking levels the fishing is very good. Indeed the last couple of weeks it has been exceptional, with some sizeable blues and rainbows being brought to the net as well as a few feisty tiger trout. Mike James was on his first visit to Bigwell with his very accomplished fishing grandad Bill James who passed on some of his 50 years of experience, although on this occasion Mike outfished his grandad with a score of 5 to 3. Paul Evans From Newport joined us for the first time with his father Andrew Evans. Paul took 2 very nice trout from the top pool while Andrew took 2 in quick succession from the lower pool, then went on to catch 2 blue trout from the gin pool plus a 5lb 2oz rainbow on Blue-flash Damsels and small Suspender Buzzers using a floating line and 6lb leader. Peter Gray from Bristol landed 3 fish on Green Damsels, Geoff Poultney caught 3 trout in the lower lodge pool including a 6lb 9oz rainbow. Bob Ash took 3 on Brown Daddies.
Bigwell is open every day from 7.30am.
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.