The River Angler

On days two and three of this trip we had access to a private stretch of the Irfon and had arranged for access on to another Wye tributary, the Ithon.  First up was the Ithon and you couldn’t imagine a wilder or more isolated river if you tried.  It looked for all intents and purposes completely unfished and untrodden by man.  It was more of a lowland river than the likes of the upper Wye or Irfon and as such cut through thick woods where access was, well, tricky.  The banks were heavily tree-lined and thick foliage choked the banks.  The margins appeared quite deep in most places and also thick silt meant that an unwary boot could quite easily disappear down to the knee.  However despite this there were plenty of areas where gravel was quite apparent and with some lovely shallow gravel runs and riffles plus a few long glides, things looked pretty good.

The Ithon

We thought we had found paradise to be honest.  As the river cut through the surrounding countryside, we marvelled at the unkempt look and a feeling of a true wilderness.  We were soon to realise we were not the only ones who thought this was untouched by man.  After fishing for a couple of hours and not a single bite between 4 of us we started to wonder what was wrong.  Then Kevin spotted 5 otters swimming together and almost immediately I spotted two more as they fizzed through my swim and then surfaced like nuclear submarines just downstream of me.  It is always a delight to see nature raw and in the flesh and that’s one of the great joys of angling.  You see so much incredible wildlife up close and personal.  However otters in this quantity on such a small river seems too much and almost unnatural.  I always thought otters had quite a big territory but obviously not.

Despite exploring most of the length of this 4 mile stretch we never had a single bite.  Still I thoroughly enjoyed the walk and the views.  At one point the land climbed sharply upwards and the track led me to a heavily wooded section.  I climbed over the fence and followed the path through the thick pine forest.  As I entered the dark gloom of the trees I could almost sense the darkness enveloping me, such was its aphotic nature. I was by now about 50 feet above the river on a very narrow path that had a sheer drop to the rapids below.  It was a scene reminiscent of something out of the movie Deliverance.  I just didn’t want to have to squeal like a pig!  The view was simply stunning and if the track hadn’t been so narrow I would have taken a few shots with the camera, however a fear of heights prevented me from even contemplating that.

Ithon

So yet again we returned to the cottage a tad disappointed and a little despondent.  We just hoped that the following day would prove better.  So we headed off the following morning to a private stretch of the Irfon.  It was in an area we had fished before however from the opposite bank and this beat ran further upstream by some distance to an area unexplored by any of us.

Once again the river looked spot on.  This part of the river runs through heavily treelined countryside and you get the feeling it is largely unfished and even uninhabited.   You really do feel like your the first person to walk these banks in years, which makes it all rather special.  As with much of the Irfon its a mixture of gravel and bedrock.  The bedrock is very awkward to wade on in places and the right foot wear is imperative.  Once again lots of gravel runs, pools, riffles and glides to choose from and once again the same result as yesterday; not a single bite between us.  I fished numerous gorgeous looking swims and just couldn’t muster a bite.

Nathan on the Irfon

It may be a coincidence but we found lots of otter tracks and even the partial remains of half eaten fish.  However as I have said before February can be a bit tricky, so this may be why we were struggling so much.  Nevertheless it was a stunning section and gave us the opportunity to explore even more of the glorious Welsh countryside.  Wildlife abounds of course and we saw Kites and Buzzards plus dippers which hurtle along the river’s course just above the water at breakneck speed, very much like the Kingfisher.  So far I have not seen any deer in Wales which really surprises me as it looks ideal due to the remoteness of many of these venues.  The only thing missing were the grayling!

The Ithon

Later on in the afternoon we took the decision to move onto the Wye and fish the town section.  We have found this can fish well during February and it seems this is one of the areas that the fish like to shoal up.  So we hedged our bets and made a move.  It turned out to be the right decision too.  Dan and I fished one side, whilst Geoff and Kevin opted for an area that had produced large numbers of grayling for us previously.

I fished down towards the town bridge and soon had a fish attached.  It was a miracle!  It turned out to be a nice grayling and I decided to move downstream and wade out a bit.  The river was a little shallower here and I fished in about 2’6″ of water.  Soon the float buried again and a nice grayling turned against the flow and fought like a tiger.  Eventually I landed it and weighed her in at 1lb 10oz.  Another of a similar size followed and I bumped a few off.

Dan was still biteless and by now the temperature had dropped even more and there was a raw easterly wind coming straight at us from the opposite bank, which cut straight through us.  We had just about had enough.  Both Dan and I decided to contact Geoff and say lets call it a day.  However both Geoff and Kevin were catching from the regular spot and both ended up with 17 or 18 grayling to upper 1s.  However they too were pretty chilly and so enough was enough and once again we headed back to the warm and comforting security of the cottage.  Dinner beckoned.

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