2013 Edition Over 180 miles of salmon, trout, coarse and grayling river fishing, along with some of the area’s best stillwaters The Wye & Usk Foundation Registered Charity No. 1080319 1 Tel: 01982 560 788 www.wyeuskfoundation.org THE FASTEST, EASIEST MOBILE SITE EVER! Scan here to view our new online site! Get your free QR code reader from your app store. For your FREE copy of the new Fishtec Fly, Coarse, Sea or Carp fi shing catalogues 2 Call our mail order hotline 0871 911 7001 or visit www.fi shtec.co.uk FISHTEC Unit 6 Industrial Estate, Brecon, Powys. LD3 8LA A5 Fishtec ad - wye and usk passport.indd 1 07/02/2013 12:21 CONTENTS Reservoirs .................................. 82-85 Advice, Regulations .............................4 The Hidden Lakes ....................... 86-89 Seasons .............................................5 Wild Streams ........................... 90-131 Salmon Fishing ............................... 6-7 Fly Fishing Small Rivers .............. 92-93 Coarse Fishing ................................ 8-9 Canoeing ................................ 132-133 Trout & Grayling Fishing .............. 10-11 About the Foundation .............. 134-136 Guiding and Instruction ............... 12-15 Biosecurity ......................................137 The Booking Office ..................... 16-89 Map of Fisheries...................... 138-139 Introduction ur first concern is to ensure you have all the financial support. Every pound we can persuade Onecessary information to get you to the river you to donate enables us to draw down at least and that the fisheries are maintained to a good ten pounds in project funding and even more if standard. We rely on your feedback to ensure you are eligible for gift aid. The form for this is on this. The second is continuing our work to ensure page 136. clean water, a healthy environment and that the best deal is struck between other users of the We have kept prices for fishing more or less the river and the needs of the fisheries and fishers. same, though there is a slight increase in booking charges. There were over 10,000 angler visits We also ensure that what we do is sustainable in 2012, showing that the Passport did exactly in every sense and financially viable, so we have what it “said on the tin”, yet we have avoided any made some changes for 2013. The operation of overcrowding by continuously expanding the the Booking Office remains the same, though number of beats: 167 this year. with some exciting additions. However, we have replaced the old Roving Voucher system with a So please enjoy the excellent coarse fishing on new ‘Wild Stream’ section. Essentially, a season the Wye: barbel, chub and pike or perhaps the ticket allows you to access these beats as many rather special wild brown trout fishing on the Usk, times as you like. The occasional visitor who Monnow, Arrow, Lugg and upper Wye and the might not want to take a full ticket can also book Wye grayling. Last year showed that salmon are in advance. Full details of the new scheme may making a very welcome return. The Usk had an be found on page 90. excellent season with fish taken up to Brecon and even beyond while the Wye produced some of In most years since we started the Passport, the the big, early spring fish that made it famous. spectre of a damaging drought such as in 1976 has hung over us..... not so in 2013 which follows Have a great season and please let us know how on from the second wettest year on record! you get on. Despite this, the Foundation is working hard to With our best wishes, ensure that abstraction levels are appropriate for both SAC Rivers but also that the disastrous consequences of high rainfall on adjacent farmland is minimised. We are continuing with our ambitious tributary restoration work plus several projects to reduce agricultural diffuse pollution. Full details of all our work to restore the fisheries Dr Stephen Marsh-Smith OBE may be found on Page 134. Keeping the Executive Director momentum going requires a lot of help and Wye & Usk Foundation Designed and Print Managed by Diamond Publications - 01271 860183 www.diamondpublications.co.uk 3 Advice and Regulations You will find more specific advice in the limited numbers are taken after June 15th. Salmon, Coarse and Trout & Grayling Our concern is that despite the spring fishing sections. byelaws, there is not sufficient escapement of earlier running fish. We ask anglers to Licences handle fish very carefully, to avoid lures For all types of fishing you will need an that damage them, to use double rather Environment Agency Rod Licence in than treble hooks and on no account to addition to your day/season permit. These hold them out of the water for photography. are obtainable from our Booking Office, Trout and Grayling: Some fisheries allow Post Offices and the EA website. They are you take a number of sizeable trout or daily, weekly or for a year from 1st April. grayling and this will be clearly marked in There are two categories: one that includes the beat details. migratory fish (salmon and sea trout), trout and coarse species, and one just for trout and coarse fish. Size & Number Limits Dogs Grayling: All the smaller streams pass through 2 per day between 30 - 38cm (12” - 15”) farmland so we regret that on most Wild Brown Trout: Stream beats dogs are not allowed. Dogs Minimum size 23cm (9”) are allowed on some of the Booking Office beats - please see the individual beat Coarse species: descriptions for details. Passport beats are full catch and release for all coarse fish. Fish Conservation - catch and release Keepnets Salmon: A byelaw requires there to be full Coarse anglers please note that keepnets catch and release of all salmon on the Wye. must not be used on any WUF waters. This On the Usk this applies from the season is a biosecurity measure to prevent the start (3rd March) until 15th June inclusive. spread of killer shrimp and other species In addition, we ask that all coloured and and diseases. gravid Usk fish are returned and that only Please Note: Whilst the Wye & Usk Foundation endeavours to ensure that the information provided in this booklet is accurate, we cannot be held liable for any errors or discrepancies that occur. Through the “Wye & Usk Passport”, the Foundation has opened up miles of wilderness fishing that would otherwise be inaccessible to visiting anglers. And with any fishing, there are risks involved. Whilst we endeavour to highlight any such risks, the Foundation cannot be held liable for any accidents, personal injury or damage to property. 4 Seasons and other important dates (all dates inclusive) Wye Salmon Season - 3rd March to 17th October* Fly and Spinning Only 3rd March to 31st August Mandatory Catch & Release All season Fly Fishing Only 1st September to end of season *Some water extends to 25th October: All tributaries and the main river above Llanwrthwl Bridge. Usk Salmon Season - 3rd March to 17th October Fly Fishing Only 3rd March to 31st May Mandatory Catch & Release 3rd March to 15th June Fly and Spinning Only 1st June to 15th June Fly, Spinning and permitted baits 16th June to 15th September Fly and Spinning Only 16th September to end of season Sea Trout (Usk) 20th March to 17th October Sea Trout (Aeron, Arth and Teifi) 1st April to 17th October Brown Trout Wye & Usk - 3rd March to 30th September Severn - 1st March to 7th October Grayling (Wye and Severn) 16th June to 14th March Coarse 16th June to 14th March (rivers only) Stillwaters Reservoirs and other stillwaters vary in season dates, methods, catch limits etc. Please see each fishery’s details (pages 82 to 89) To report pollution and poaching incidents please ring the Environment Agency’s 24 hour incident hotline immediately on 0800 80 70 60 Freephone 24 hour service. You should not use email to report an incident, as this could delay their response. Calls from mobile phones are not free and will be charged at normal network operator’s call rate. 5 Salmon Fishing he Passport brings you access to two to enter the river from late May onwards. Tof the best salmon rivers in the England There is nothing better for the Usk than and Wales. Although the Wye and Usk are a good downpour and any rise in the next to each other and flow from mid Wales summer will bring fish up from the estuary. to the Severn estuary, they are strikingly However, the bulk of Usk fish are caught in different in size and the timing of their runs. September and October when grilse add Crucially, both have excellent opportunities to the catch. for catching salmon on the fly, and flow through spectacular scenery. The Booking Office The Booking Office has a wide selection The Wye’s spring run is recovering following of beats on the upper, middle and lower a decade of our work in the headwaters. reaches of both rivers that can be booked March is the most improved month and the online or over the phone. large spring fish – average weight 21lbs – may be caught from the start of the season Weekly E-newsletters advise of prospects (3rd March). This run is followed by spring (www.wyeuskfoundation.org/fishing/ and summer fish that have spent 2 years at reports) and our real time gauges on sea and are typically 10 – 12lbs. Average webcams (www.wyeuskfoundation.org/ rainfall will spread them throughout the conditions) keep you up to date with river catchment and June invariably is the best flows. Some fisheries offer opportunities month. Summer fishing is often confined to to book three days for the price of two or the lower beats but is equally productive three rods for the price of two (“342”).