April fishing report from the banks of the amazing Welsh Dee

After the long Covid lockdown, it was finally great to be allowed into Wales to go fishing on the River Dee and be able to write about my activities in the April fishing report.

Following a wet March, high pressure took charge during April, and the weather dried up. By the 12^th of April, the Welsh Dee had returned to its summer level (0.5 m Manley Hall gauge), ideal for trout fishing but less so for salmon fishing.

April fishing report – Bangor-On-Dee

Salmon fly fishing

With reports of a few spring salmon going through the trap at Chester Weir, I dusted off my salmon fly rod and spend a couple of hours salmon fishing. Not surprisingly, I didn’t connect or see any salmon, but I did get some much-needed casting practice.

A few other salmon anglers have been fishing on the Welsh Dee during April, but I haven’t heard of any salmon being caught. Hopefully, May will bring more salmon into the river, and the fishing will improve.

Trout fly fishing

On my first trout fishing trip to BoD (12^th of April), the river was close to its summer level and running clear. At mid-day, I noticed a few fish taking small olives. Therefore, I set my rod up to fish a size 14 Griffith’s Gnat dry fly on a 12ft 6x tapered leader.

The Griffith’s Gnat proved to be a good choice because it was taken as it drifted overhead. After a short struggle, a grayling surfaced, was netted, and quickly returned.

Over the next hour, I caught three more rising fish that all turned out to be grayling.

It didn’t seem any of the rising fish were trout. So, I switched to fishing the fast water glides with a team of wet flies/spiders (point: #14 black hopper, middle dropper: #14 March Brown spider, top dropper #14 pearl ribbed March Brown spider).

I hoped this different approach would produce some trout and it wasn’t long before my line tightened…

and a trout leapt into the air.

After a short aerobatic display, a beautiful brown trout was netted safely and returned; it had fallen for the trusty black hopper.

Fishing on through the remainder of the beat didn’t produce anything else.

Satisfied with my first trout of the season, I headed off home early because I was fishing with a friend, Buddy, the next day.

Fly fishing at Grove Farm

I met Buddy at Grove Farm, and after quick catch-up, we wandered upriver in search of brown trout. It was a mild, overcast day and it felt that we should able to catch a few fish.

Near the head of the second pool, a few fish were taking olives as they drifted downriver. They looked like grayling, which was confirmed when we caught a couple on the dry fly (Griffith’s Gnat).

Brown Trout were our target so, we moved upriver to the Cemetery Pool where trout are often found lying in the fast water at its head.

While tucking into refreshment, we studied the pool but didn’t spot any fish rising. Therefore, I decided to fish through the head of the pool with a team of nymphs on a short leader (point: #12 PTN with a 3mm copper TB; middle dropper: 14 Hare’s Ear nymph 2mm gold TB, top dropper:#14 quill nymph 2mm TB).

Starting in the riffle above the pool, I melodically fished my way across and downriver. Initially, I caught a few salmon parr on the Hare’s Ear nymph.

As I approached the drop-off zone, my line darted sideways, the rod bent into a fish, and it darted off downriver. Shortly afterward, the trout jumped, shook its head, and threw the hook.

After a few more drifts, the line tightened, and another fish made a B-line for the main flow. This time I gained the upper hand and guided lovely grayling into the net.

It had fallen for the Hare’s Ear nymph on the middle dropper.

Two more casts later, I was into another fish, which turned out to be a beautiful brown trout that had fallen for the quill nymph on the top dropper.

Fishing on through the remainder of the pool produced two small trout and another grayling. The fishing had slowed, so we stopped for lunch.

I’ve started a project to determine the types of invertebrates that live in the Welsh Dee. So after lunch, the next hour was spent sampling the river to see what nymphs I could find…

Nymph of the Yellow May Dun

Nymph of the Olive Upright

When it was time to recommence fishing, I took Buddy upriver to show him where best to fish the pool at the top beat.

Close to the far bank, we spotted several fish taking olives at the surface. A CDC olive dry pattern fooled many of these fish and, over the next hour, we caught several small trout and grayling.

April fishing report – Llangollen

By mid-April, high pressure was firmly in charge and was producing some lovely sunny weather. With Welsh Dee is running low and clear, bright sunshine meant it was going to be a tough day fishing for trout.

In such conditions, I find the best results are achieved fishing the fast water at the head of the pools, especially around the drop-off zone.

So, that was my plan for fishing the upper beat at Llangollen on the 16^th of April.

Fly Fishing on Llangollen-Maelor Upper Beat

Grannom Caddisflies were hatching at the Pipe Pool, but I didn’t see any fish taking them. Fishing up through the pool with a Grannom emerger pattern and then down through the pool with a team of wet flies drew a complete blank. This was surprising because even in difficult conditions, this pool often yields a few trout.

Next, I headed upriver to fish the fast riffle above the Glide Pool with a team of nymphs spaced 18″ apart on 4 lb fluorocarbon (point: #12 red collar PTN nymph with a 3.5mm TB; middle dropper: #16 olive quill nymph 2 mm TB; top dropper: #16 Hare’s Ear nymph with a 1.5mm gold TB).

Fishing through the riffle section produced a couple of takes on the quill nymph that turned out to be small grayling.

Time was quickly slipping away, and I hadn’t caught any trout. Therefore, I walked upriver to the Top Pool, where I hoped would yield some brown trout.

I began fishing the fast run at the head of the pool using the team of nymphs because I couldn’t see any fish rising. This proved to be an excellent choice because after a couple of drifts the line was nearly…

yanked out of my hand, as a brown trout took off downriver.

Carefully, I got things under control and guided my first brown trout of the day safely to the net, which had taken the PTN on the point.

A few cast later, I lost another trout in the fast water but managed to land two more brown trout and a few grayling in quick succession. Both the trout and grayling had taken the small quill nymph on the middle dropper.

The action slowed as I fished towards the large overhanging tree on the far bank, where I saw fish taking flies at the surface.

This was the cue to switch approach…

Therefore, I set up my 9ft 6# trout rod for wet fly fishing a wet flies/spiders (point: #14, black hopper; middle dropper: #14, pearly butt Waterhen Bloa; top dropper: #14, pearl ribbed March Brown spdier).

Covering the rising fish near the far bank with the wet flies produced a couple more brown trout and several grayling. The trout were caught on the black hopper while the grayling were caught on both the Waterhen Bloa and pearly butt March Brown spider.

Overall, the effort of walking through the woods to the Top Pool turned my fortunes around, and I went home very happy.

Trout fly fishing on Midland Flyfishers beat of the Welsh Dee

Towards the end of April, the weather turned cooler and unsettled, but the Welsh Dee remained at its summer level.

It had been over a year since I’d last fished Midland Flyfishers beat above Llangollen and therefore, this was the venue for my last fishing trip in April.

I was hoping to catch some wild brown trout but was unsure how the strong northerly breeze and the occasional heavy shower would affect the fishing.

There was no sign of flies hatching so, I decided to start fishing a team of nymphs spaced 18″ apart on 4 lb fluorocarbon (point: #10 streamer caddis with a 3.5 mm TB; middle dropper: #14 pheasant tail nymph with 3mm TB, top dropper: #16 gold ribbed Hare’s Ear).

The heavy streamer style caddis was added on the point to tempt trout that might be feeding on small fry and to drag the other nymphs towards the riverbed.

Fishing nymphs through the fast water was a good choice because I hooked a fish on the first drift through the run.

Instinctively, it took off into the fast water but after a couple of minutes, I guided what turned out to be a lovely grayling to the net that had taken the streamer caddis.

On fishing the remainder of the fast run I landed 4 and lost 2 grayling, most of which had fallen for the streamer on the point.

Next, I walked upriver in search of trout.

In the pool above, I noticed a few fish taking flies near the surface. Therefore, I switched to fishing a team of North Country spiders (point: #14 black spider; middle dropper: #14 March Brown Spider; top dropper: #14 pearly butt Waterhen Bloa), spaced 3ft apart on a copolymer leader.

Fishing the spiders up to the head of the pool produced several grayling but no trout. All the grayling fell for either the Bloa or the MBS.

Next, I moved upriver in search of shelter because it had started to rain heavily. Eventually, I found a pool that was sheltered by overhanging trees.

More importantly, however, it was full of submerged boulders and very little gravel, which I felt would hold trout rather than grayling.

I couldn’t see any fish taking flies at the surface so, I decided the best option was to cast wet flies across and allow them to swing around in the current.

To fish the team of wet flies I’d been using a little deeper, I switched the black spider on the point for a Black Pennell sporting a 2.5mm tungsten bead.

At the top of the pool, I cast the flies towards the far bank and place an upstream mended into the line. This caused the flies to sink while dead-drifting a couple of meters. I felt a tug on the line as the current caused the flies to swing around, which was missed…

but was a good sign.

The next take wasn’t missed and resulted in small wild brown trout that had taken the Black Pennell. Fishing onto the end of the pool produced a larger brown trout.

I’d started to feel cold so, I went back to the car and warmed up with some hot refreshment and decide where I might catch a few more trout while avoiding grayling.

Feeling refreshed and warmer, I went downriver to fish another rocky pool that was similar to the previous pool.

I switched the Black Pennell on the point to the lighter black hopper because the pool wasn’t as deep.

Starting at the top of the run, I slowly fished my way downriver.

It wasn’t long before I had a take that turned out to be a grayling, which had fallen for the March Brown spider. However, the next fish on the March Brown was a beautiful trout.

Fishing down to the end of the pool with the wet flies produced 4 trout, all of which fell to the black hopper. This was a fitting end to the day, and I went home feeling very happy.

In summary, after the long lockdown, it has been great to get out fishing on the Welsh Dee, even though the conditions for trout fishing have been tough.

I’m now looking forward to May on the Welsh Dee because this is when the trout and salmon fishing improves significantly.

Finally, there is good day ticket water at Llangollen and Bangor-On-Dee if you want to fish the Welsh Dee.

April fishing report