A weekend of unsuccessful salmon fishing

I spent the second weekend of September trying to catch salmon on the river Usk on Saturday and the Wye on Sunday. I couldn't sleep on Friday night in anticipation of fishing on these classic salmon rivers, and amongst the best salmon rivers in Wales.

Nick and I fished for Salmon on the middle Usk at Llanover, the ghillie informed us that the height was perfect. Unfortunately the day's weather wasn't conducive to fishing, bright blue skies and glaring sunshine. We fished on regardless, covering the lovely pools and enjoying the wading on the gravelly river bed. Later in the day the Usk's trout managed to distract Nick and I, but with salmon on my mind I seemed incapable of casting a dry fly upstream. Nick looked on at what was “the worst display of casting” that he'd ever seen. I'm curious if anyone else is incapable of casting to trout when they should be salmon fishing? Needless to say I gave up, leaving the trout to Nick, and returned to the salmon fishing.

My tactics seemed rudimentary, and I'm not entirely sure how effective I was fishing the beat for salmon given the time of year and water conditions. As a novice salmon angler, lacking even a double handed rod, I am always quite unsure as to how to actually fish for salmon on the fly. I was casting a size 10/12 silver stoat double with a floating line to the far bank at an angle of around 45-90degress (depending on pace) and then simply allowing it to swing around whilst slowly retrieving using a figure of eight retrieve. I managed to get the hang of the single spey cast using my single handed rod (casting off of my right shoulder) and by the end of the day I was throwing a nice line. It was the first time I've ever been able to shoot a length of line with a roll cast. Even if the salmon weren't playing ball I was certainly enjoying the casting and wading enough to consider it a very good day's fishing! In the end I was lucky to catch two small trout on my silver stoat in a rather riffly glide of the river. No salmon were caught, or even seen by either of us. Nick managed to catch quite a few nice trout on a small nondescript terrestrial pattern during a hatch of flying ants.

We camped over night in a campsite right next to the upper Wye, a few miles upstream of where we'd spend our Sunday fishing. After some beer and a hearty camp dinner of sausage sandwiches and soup we turned in for the night, slept soundly and dreamt of huge silver fish leaping in the pools that flowed quietly beside us.

The Wye at Gromain was much wider than I'd imagined. I found covering the water with my 9ft 7# near enough impossible and my single handed spey casting off of my left shoulder wasn't at all good. I concentrated on fishing from the planks and concrete stands that jutted out into some of the pools. These enabled me enough of a back cast to throw out a decent line across the river and feel as if I was covering fish. At first I was using the silver stoat from yesterday, but soon switched to a heavier and larger williegun tube fly in order to fish a little deeper. I did this on advice from the owner that we saw fishing in the morning. I never felt the confidence on the Wye that I had on the Usk. I simply couldn't cover the water. I fished on, but towards afternoon I began to lose hope in catching a salmon.

I wondered off from the bank, up a track and to the Llanstephen suspension bridge in order to enjoy the view of the river and valley in the gentle light of the September sun. I peered Nick fishing in a glide below, upstream of the bridge. Suddenly Nick disappeared! He bobbed back up, a stumble and a wader full, perhaps the wading at Gromain really is living up to it's name, although it's not been atrocious so far. On the beat guide the wading on a section called heron's run is described as “Truly awful!”. Enough scenery, back to salmon fishing.

I stroll back down to the river filled with renewed confidence, changing tactics and opting to fish a big heavy tube as slowly and methodically as I could through the pools that offered a good back cast. I fished hard through the afternoon and into evening, but neither caught nor saw a salmon. I wonder will I ever catch a salmon. I must endeavour to try and fish for salmon more next season.

Nick had a dramatic end to the day whilst streamer fishing in a pool that allegedly held monster trout; a fish hit into his streamer and tore off with terrific force, he believed it a large trout, or a salmon! And then all went limp, up came a pair of rubbery lips and he landed a chub of around 3lbs. His first fish on a streamer and a great end to a day spent in fantastic surroundings.