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NeilH
02-23-2010, 07:16 AM
I'm very conscious of the fact I vowed to post more on this forum, but also that fishing opportunities have been limited recently due to the weather so I thought I'd rip off one of my posts on a UK forum from last year.

I was fortunate enough to secure a day on a private beat of the River Monnow near the Wales-England Border. I set off from Birmingham (that's Birmingham, England ;) ) cursing the fact that I had to chose the one day when the weather was "wet and windy". The 'windy' bit turned out to be pretty accurate, but mostly the rain held off - there was even a brief period just after lunch when the sun shone. But, I'm getting ahead of myself. Prior to the event, I'd discussed tactics with a friend and devotee of the Monnow and he'd emphasised just how important the right pork pie (British delicacy) was to the success of the day and on his recommendation I stopped off at Mailes Butchers in a sleepy little Welsh village called Ewyas Harold. And, to paraphrase Agent Cooper (obscure reference to Twin Peaks), a 'damn fine pie' it was too. On t the fishing - most of the morning was taken with exploring the beat and casting into likely looking pools, with not a lot of success. I fished the duo and took one beautiful little wild brown trout on a small bead head nymph and one larger fish on a stimulator but it was pretty tough going, particularly in some of the more exposed parts of the beat. Around about lunchtime the sun came out briefly which was definitely a sign that lunch should be taken. Whilst sat by the river eating my lunch I noticed a few mayfly starting to come off and a few fish starting to rise, so I switched to dries (Grey Wulff and Cul de Canon) and had a pretty successful time of it, taking fish throughout the afternoon until about 6pm when the wind strengthened and it got noticeably cooler. After another couple of fish and 50+ Himalayan Balsam (evil invasive weed) pulled, I called it quits at around 8pm. All-in-all a great day - the Monnow is a fantastic river and a testament to the work put in by the Monnow Fisheries Association (http://www.monnow.org) to restore this river to it's former glory as a perfect wildlife habitat. I'm looking forward to returning there this year.

http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o45/Plot36/IMGP1691.jpg

http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o45/Plot36/IMGP1702.jpg

http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o45/Plot36/IMGP1694.jpg

http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o45/Plot36/IMGP1704.jpg

http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o45/Plot36/IMGP1714.jpg

http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o45/Plot36/IMGP1703.jpg

http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o45/Plot36/Slide1.jpg

Mostyn
02-23-2010, 11:00 AM
Nice Photos Neil, especially the "Pork Pie" there's some lovely beats on the Monnow association waters! Here's some more photos of the area.

http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/8958/p9290368.jpg (http://img52.imageshack.us/i/p9290368.jpg/)

http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/1582/p9290360.jpg (http://img716.imageshack.us/i/p9290360.jpg/)

http://img713.imageshack.us/img713/1322/p9290352ttuh.jpg (http://img713.imageshack.us/i/p9290352ttuh.jpg/)

http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/779/p9290359.jpg (http://img638.imageshack.us/i/p9290359.jpg/)

http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/4811/p9290364.jpg (http://img229.imageshack.us/i/p9290364.jpg/)

The Honddu Stream; A place to fish and capture your dreams!

Mostyn

palewatery
02-24-2010, 02:34 PM
Great post, I've heard so many good things about the Monnow and surrounding rivers I'm choking to visit.

And Pork Pies... high on the list for ideal fishing foods. :D

Jim

springwell
02-24-2010, 03:09 PM
Ohhhhhhhhhhhh No

Not another Monnow thread .

You can't escape from them :D

Bill :)

Mostyn
02-25-2010, 11:46 AM
Ohhhhhhhhhhhh No

Not another Monnow thread .

You can't escape from them :D

Bill :)

C'mon Bill, you love it there! See you soon; I hope.

Mostyn

garethl
03-05-2010, 10:28 AM
Great post Neil, and great photos from both yourself and Mostyn :) I love that system. The Honddu and the Dore....I'm fishing them lots more this year! :D

NeilH
03-06-2010, 10:47 AM
Cheers Gareth. A less successful day on Thursday - but great to be out and I could almost imagine Spring was on it's way.

http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o45/Plot36/IMGP3057.jpg

http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o45/Plot36/Longtown.jpg
another in the 'Pie by the Monnow' series :D

Chalkstream
03-07-2010, 10:24 AM
Great stuff - nice pies too ;)

Mostyn
03-07-2010, 03:46 PM
Them is Large Pies, suitable for "Small Streams" Yum-yum!