After another wash-off on the Wye I decided to go through with my planned fishing weekend in Wales and instead fish one of the Wye’s main tributaries, the Irfon, well noted for the quality of its Grayling. With that in mind I set off slightly later than intended on Saturday morning. It took a while to get to the river and by the time I had gone through the formalities of purchasing a ticket and tackling up I only had a few hours left to fish. The conditions looked good but the clear water, gusting wind and masses of leaves made it a little tricky. I think I managed about 6 Grayling and 1 small WBT, nothing big but it was good to get a feel for the river and get used to the rather brutal wading.

Camped on Sat night and had an early start on another beat further up the Irfon the next day. As I walked to the river I was greeted by the glorious site of the Irfon valley in all its glory, the river snaking along the bottom of it and the welsh hills overlooking it, it was absolutely stunning.

Started in the most perfect ‘Short Nymphing’ run and had a small Grayling virtually first cast, a good start! Made my way upstream and as my flies started to rise over a likely looking deep hole it got taken by a significant fish. In the fast water I felt totally powerless and I was gutted when the hook pulled, good fish lost. Virtually next cast and it was deja vu, another big fish and this time dropper went, really dissapointed now! After all that commotion I wasn't expecting another fish but this time in exactly the same scenario I thought I detected the merest hint of a take and struck early to find some resistance. This one didn't feel as big as the others and after a good scrap I netted a very large Grayling (for me)! Quickly weighed in the net the scales were flickering between 2lb and 1lb15z so being conservative I called it 1lb15oz, a new pb, very happy! Hate to think how big the other two I lost were! After releasing that fish (actually it released itself as I tried to take a picture of it!) I had yet another go in the same spot and unbelievably hooked another big Grayling which much to my dismay also came off, oh well, one for next time!

As the day brightened the fishing got harder, final tally was 12 Grayling and 2 out of season WBT. I was also treated to the amazing sight of a large Otter right in front of me. Spotted it on the bank whilst I was standing mid river, it slipped into the water and proceeded to have a little swim in my pool before heading off downriver. I just stood and watched in awe, an amazing sight. Unsurprisingly I didn't catch anything in that pool though!