Vyrnwy River

[dbl]

I live near Meifod, but somehow, I have never fished the Vyrnwy river. I have been told the river has a good grayling population, but I wonder if anyone on this forum has ever fished for grayling on this river? I have been looking at a lovely stretch of about a mile owned by a local farmer rather than a club, just below the confluence with the Banwy and it looks very fishy! In the summer it is a popular camping spot but it is deserted now though easily accessible. Supposedly, barbel and chub are also found hereabouts.
Attachment Deleted
Upstream view near access.

[custheyder]

Looks like a great spot to have a go if the farmer is amenable. If it is not heavily fished water you could be in for some terrific sport!

[orangeotter]

It is indeed a good grayling river but probably higher up, perhaps towards Pont Robert. I 've tried to fish it a couple of times but access has been almost physically impossible due to H/Balsam and general jungle. At this time of year possibly worth a shot. There are a couple of farms that issue day tickets near Meifod. Be interested to know how you get on.

[dbl]

Thanks, gentlemen, for your encouragement. I hope to get on it this weekend.

As you say, Orangeotter, farmers control most of the fishing near Meifod village. Day tickets seem to be about £3.00. This website gives some details of access here and elsewhere on the system. I don't think it is up to date, but it seems to be fairly recent:
www.vyrnwyaccommodation.co.uk/fishing.html

A large area of the river near Dolanog, very much the area you recommend, seems to be controlled by a (very) small club. The website for the club,
Glyndwr Fishery
gives quite a lot of detail about the fishing there. It is rather more expensive!

I believe some stretches of the river are controlled by the MAA, but their website seems to be inoperative so I'm not sure who to contact at the moment.

Where I was looking, the banks are fairly open, alongside level pasture land, and the stony river bed looks fairly flat and wadeable in most parts. The river meanders quite a lot so there are some deep pools on the bends.

By the way, the valley here is regarded as so beautiful that the National Grid have pre-emptively agreed to bury their proposed high voltage line from the proposed wind farms, despite the massive extra expense that must follow. The local view of all this is displayed by the colourful banners lining the main road!

[orangeotter]

I'll be very interested in your findings, maybe come with you one day if it works out. I'm aware of Glyndwr, expensive and exclusive.

Tight lines.

[dbl]

Ah well, my first outing drew a blank. I trundled first one then a pair of caddis type nymphs (black, dark olive, HE) down a couple of riffles and glides, but to no effect, despite the perfect weather. Dead leaves were a bit annoying though.

However, the real reason for this post is a health warning! I popped an old iPhone in my wader pocket alongside my car remote key. After an hour I went back to the car to get something and found the remote would no longer work. The engine was disabled and although the physical key opened the locks the alarm sounded whenever I opened the door. Luckily I was near home and I had a spare key there and someone to bring it. However, it would appear that the iPhone may have scrambled the Subaru remote. My usual old Nokia phone has never done this so be warned!

And I lost 2 hours of fishing time...

[orangeotter]

Bad luck with the key issue, I've heard of this before.

If you want a joint trip next time, I'll happily come along - just let me know.

Cheers.

[dbl]

Fantastic! If you'd like to bring yourself and maybe a couple of Wrexham stalwarts, please let the tickets be my treat. I'd love to get this river properly checked out! I've got lots of time, so please PM me with dates that might suit you.

[Dyfan]

Count me in! Thanks dbl.

[dbl]

Good to have you along!

[dbl]

I fished the glide shown in the photo above today. The river is at an ideal level and the dead leaves have mostly gone through. I noticed some rises there on arrival. I tried a cdc emerger pattern first, but that produced no rises so I switched to a copper coloured tungsten beaded nymph (after Louis' tying from the current - Dec 2013 - T&S page 110). This soon produced a feisty young grayling from just above me as I waded in the centre of the stream. I measured it at 11 inches. From the position it may have been one of the rises I saw earlier. Unfortunately, it was the only one, but they are there! Later, in the upper, deeper part of the glide, really a pool, I heard a very heavy sounding splash. I think some salmon may be waiting there to ascend further in the next spate.

[orangeotter]

The Vyrnwy grayling obviously have good taste !

[dbl]

Yesterday I was delighted to welcome Orangeotter and Dyfan to a day on this stretch. The weather was good, and the river at a good level. However, we struggled to find fish. Eventually, both my guests scored several grayling, though, sadly, I did not. However,we all agreed that the river here has great potential. I hope later to report on other farmer owned stretches in the valley. We also felt it would be a good idea to check out the Banwy above the confluence. We had an interesting meeting with local angler John Hicks who said that when sport on the Vyrnwy was bad, the day could be rescued by moving onto the Banwy.

[Dyfan]

Thanks for a very interesting and enjoyable day dbl! A lovely bit of water and good company!

[orangeotter]

This lovely trout of almost a pound was actually from the Tanat yesterday, a tributary of the Vyrnwy. I put in a short shift despite cold east winds and a raised level but not expecting to catch much as it's very early for this stream. I started with a hopeful dry but missed the only rise I had - moving to a deep pool and changing to a GRHE gold head s14 I was surprised to catch a 6" grayling, never had one there as there's not many this high up the river ( Llanrhaeadr - ym - Mochnant) - happy days.
Moving to a fast run near the end of my beat I was very surprised when this trout took the same nymph, what a great scrap on my Rhodo. This made the day worthwhile but I was disappointed not to have caught on a Sakasa Kebari which I used for most of the day. A good hatch of LDO at 1.30 but not a single rise did I see.

I did learn one salutary lesson however, choose the correct rod !. I've fished this beat before with my 12ft 9" Daiwa but decided to use the Rhodo - big mistake, just couldn't get the reach I needed to fish it properly.

Sadly, there's only two ticket stretches on the Tanat, my beat belongs to a friend who kindly allows me access. If you were interested in this super river, the Upper Tanat Flyfishing Club has membership available but pricey at £250 per season.

I look forward to more productive trips as the season progresses but who could complain about this super fish in March ??