New Season- Usk Town Water

My first freshwater fly session of the year found me unsurprisingly rusty but it was still a treat to be back on the banks of the town water at Usk after a winter dreaming of casting a fly again. In unseasonably warm temperatures and sunshine- high must have been around 17c- the water was low and clear but cool to the touch. A warm southerly breeze added to the out of kilter season feeling and aided turnover of my upstream casts with a long and fine leader. Despite reports of LDO hatches and even some March Browns I found little evidence of upwing fly life or rising trout. There did seem to be the very odd fish rising - oncers is a good name for them; but I couldn’t really latch on to what they were going for- buzzers perhaps. Perhaps rather unimaginatively I settled on a clink-and-dink approach with a size 14 Jean Williams tied gold head below an Olive pattern. Fishing in a searching pattern I was soon in to a strong 12 incher which managed to swim through the trailing fly line whilst I attempted to use a landing net rather too well tethered to its magnetic ‘quick’ release. More thought required as to how best to rig up this release system. What a lovely feeling to get in to a beautiful spotted brownie so soon in to the new season. As is my way with the first fish of a season and often my first fish on a new river the fish was returned after a little coaxing in some gentle current. This always feels like paying homage to the river and giving thanks for the beauty and sport still to come. I also encountered problems with twisting of my leader probably caused by a combination of a large-ish dry fly and fine 3lb leader. This still surprised me a bit as the fly was only a size 14- if quite a robust- Jean Williams pattern and I don’t normally get line twist issues with 3lb fluoro carbon leader. I’ve just started using Airflo fluoro rather than my normal Fulling Mill though this has not been down to any clear choice but rather owing to there being no 3lb Fulling Mill available at Veals.

A few further first session of new season gripes hampered me which I suppose is the kind of thing that happens when your kit has been stuck away forgotten for a while. The leaks in my expensive breathable chesties were much worse than I remembered them to be. I shall try to see if there are any definite holes or tears but I fear that it is either the seams or an overall loss of waterproofness. An inside out test in the shower will hopefully reveal all. Moving further up river I hooked another nice 12 incher which initially fought hard and deep making me think I had latched on to a real Usk heavyweight. The fish again came to the gold head nymph. Soon after this I thought I felt the weighted nymph hitting the blank as I cast. However on looking at the tip of the rod it was apparent that I had lost the tip ring from myself built Batson 4 weight. This made casting rather awkward and so the session was curtailed.
Great to be out on the river again and hopefully I’ll fit in a few more trips to this beautiful and bounteous river before my attentions get firmly diverted to my true love of SWFF.