Welsh Dee – June fishing report:
With the Welsh travel restrictions still in place, I’ve continued to make the most of fishing the Welsh Dee where it runs through England in search of salmon and sea trout.
In June I hooked a big salmon on the Welsh Dee at Lower Hall but unfortunately lost it when it threw the hook. Hopefully, my luck will change in July!
I’ve spotted quite a few salmon coming in off the tide in the lower reaches of the Welsh Dee during June, which is a significant improvement over June 2019.
Salmon catches have improved this year and several salmon have been caught by a few lucky local anglers throughout the system and I’m sure there are more salmon I’m not aware of.
In addition, a few lovely sea trout have been caught on the Welsh Dee.
Local anglers have been enjoying some good brown trout fishing on the Welsh Dee. Mike sent me pictures of a couple of lovely brown trout he caught fishing at Bangor-On-Dee.
A few other anglers have also been enjoying good trout fishing at Llangollen.
If you have any catches that you would like to share then just send me a note via email and I will include them in my next Welsh Dee fishing report.
Fly fishing Lower Hall – 23 June:
I started fishing a fast run near the top of the beat, with my 11ft 7# Orvis switch rod loaded with a floating line tipped with a 10ft sink-tip, 6ft of 13lb fluorocarbon leader, and a size 10D Stoats Tail.
About halfway down the run, the loop of the line was ripped out of my hand and on lifting the rod, it bent into a fish that….
took-off downriver.
Once under control, I could tell it wasn’t a salmon but a lovely wild, brown trout.
I continued fishing down the beat for salmon for a couple of hours without another touch. Therefore, for the last hour, I switched over to fishing for grayling with a team of nymphs on 4lb fluorocarbon (point: #12 pheasant tail with 3.5 copper TB; middle dropper #14 Hare’s Ear with 2.5mm TB; top dropper #16 Quil nymph 2mm TB).
Fishing the gravel runs with the team of nymphs produced several lovely grayling and a couple of small chub. All of which fell for the Hare’s Ear nymph.
Salmon fly fishing at Lower Hall – 15 June:
A fishing friend, Buddy, joined me on my first salmon fishing trip to the Welsh Dee. We were hopeful that a few salmon would be running into the lower beats off the afternoon high tide.
Slowly, we fished our way downriver for 5 hrs making several fly and line changes but to no avail.
I decided to give salmon fishing a rest and target a few fish that were taking small flies at the surface. I set up my dry fly rod to fish the double dry (sight fly: Elk Hair caddis #14 and midge pattern #18).
It took a while but eventually, a fish was fooled by the midge, which turned out to be a small chub. After that, I caught a couple of grayling.
Buddy had continued fishing for salmon but hadn’t had any luck. So, went for a wander downriver to look at the rest of the beat.
In the absence of any feeding trout, I resumed salmon fishing at about 4 pm (set-up: Stoats tail (#12D) on a 10ft medium sink-tip line).
I started fishing the next pool by casting the fly under the overhanging willows on the far bank. I’d almost reached the end of the pool when…
‘BANG…’
The line shot sideways, my line loop disappeared, and on lifting into the take the rod bent into a salmon that took off for the tail.
After stopping its run, the salmon went deep, and I could feel it shaking its head on the bottom.
Moments later, the line went…
‘SLACK and the fly surfaced without a salmon on then end’
Gutted, I sat down to regain my composure.
I fished through the pool a couple of times in hope that there was another taking salmon but nothing. So, I went off downriver to find Buddy and share…
‘My loss’
On our way back to the pool, bright silver salmon jumped as it entered the pool.
Fishing through the pool for the next hour, however, didn’t result in any takes.
We fished a couple more places on our way back to the car but didn’t get any more action.
Sea trout fly fishing – 8 June
Sea trout usually start to enter the lower beats of the Welsh Dee in June. Hearing that a sea trout had been caught near Bangor On Dee, it was time to resume my quest for a…
‘double-figure Welsh Dee sea trout.’
I’ve not had much luck sea trout fishing on the lower beats of the Welsh Dee; 95% of my sea trout have been caught at Llangollen from July onwards.
Therefore, at the moment, my quest is more about learning where to catch them on the lower beats (all advice of this would be much appreciated).
On my initial visit to the river, I’d spotted a few likely sea trout holding pools (tree-lined far bank, deep, slow-flowing water) and this visit was to fish them at night for sea trout.
It was a cool windy evening, so I decided on fishing a slow-sinking line and a recently tied black & silver Al-tube fly.
When it was dark, I started fishing the most likely pools.
I’d fished halfway down without a touch. Then, out of the blue, there was a sharp pull on the line and when I stuck my…
Rod bent “DOUBLE’ into a fish.
When the fish didn’t take off, I knew it wasn’t a sea trout but what…?
Eventually, I guided the fish to the bank where I could see it was a…
big pike.
While struggling to net the pike it bit through the line, rolled on its side, and was gone.
After replacing the leader and tying on a new tube fly, I fished to the end of the pool but didn’t have any more takes.
The sky had cleared to reveal a bright full moon. Therefore, I called it a night and went off home to bed.
River Ribble – June fishing report:
To make up for not being able to fish in Wales, I’ve started exploring a new beat (to me) on River Ribble in Lancashire.
The much-needed rain at the weekend produced a small spate on the River Ribble. This was enough to tempt my son, George, out to salmon fishing.
He didn’t catch anything but saw a few salmon and sea trout making their way upriver.
On Tuesday evening, I had my first fishing trip to River Ribble in search of sea trout. The river had returned to its summer low, which was not ideal.
I caught a few brown trout and chub in the fast water but no sea trout. However, I did hear a couple of large fish splash, but they were not interested in my offerings.
During the second half of June, I’ve had a couple more evening sea trout fishing sessions on the River Ribble. I heard a few sea trout jump but unfortunately, I didn’t hook any. Just caught a few more small chub on the fly.
Overall the fishing for me during June has been hard work and the loss of a salmon hasn’t helped.
Hopefully, I will have better luck during July and be able to fish the upper reaches of the Welsh Dee.
Tight lines, Andrew
If you are interested in fly fishing on the Welsh Dee there is some excellent Day Ticket water at Llangollen and Bangor-On-Dee.