April fishing report from the banks of the amazing Welsh Dee

Top Pool Brown trout April fishing report

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 12th 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 (12th 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).

Flies for september team of 3 wets
A team of wet flies used at BoD – April fishing report

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.

Trout from BoD - April fishing report
A brown trout caught at BoD on a black hopper – April fishing report

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).

grayling nymphs for the Welsh Dee April fishing report
The team of nymphs used on the Welsh Dee – April Fishing report

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.

Welsh dee grayling - April fishing report

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.

Brown trout cemetery pool april fishing report
April fishing report – brown trout caught nymphing the Cemetery Pool

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…

Yellow May Dun nymph

Nymph of the Yellow May Dun

Olive Upright nymph 450w

Nymph of the Olive Upright

A short video of a caddis larvae – April fishing report

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 16th 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).

grayling fly fishing welsh dee llangollen
April fishing report – fishing nymphs

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.

Top Pool Brown trout April fishing report
Brown trout caught at Llangollen – April fishing report

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).

grayling wet flies Welsh Dee
Team of wet flies/spdier – April fishing report

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.

Midland flyfishers beat April fishing report
MFF April Fishing report

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).

Nymphs used in April fishing report Midland fly
Nymph set-up used on Midland Flyfishers beat – April fishing report

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.

Black Pennell wet fly - tungsten bead thorax

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.

Trout from MF beat April fishing report
Brown trout caught on a TB Black Pennell on MF beat – April fishing report

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.

Trout caught in April

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

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James Welch
3 years ago

Great article Andrew and some belting fish , lovely to be on the river again is it ?

Andrewoverend1
3 years ago
Reply to  James Welch

Hi James,

It certainly is great to be fishing the Welsh Dee again. The current events really make you appreciate what’s improntant.

Cheers, Andrew

3 years ago

Amazing feature as always Andrew, a huge help to assist in me growing my skills in choosing the correct fly. Cheers, all the best Colin

Andrewoverend1
3 years ago
Reply to  Colin

Hi Colin,

Glad you found the article interesting and useful. I Will drop you a note the next time I’m fishing the MFF beat and maybe we can meet up?

Cheers, Andrew

colin reed
3 years ago

That is a great right up and well delivered
well done

Andrewoverend1
3 years ago
Reply to  colin reed

Hi Colin,

Great to hear you enjoyed the article and thanks for the feedback.

Cheers, Andrew

Tim R
3 years ago

Great report Andrew

Andrewoverend1
3 years ago
Reply to  Tim R

Cheers

Peter Jones
3 years ago

Very informative article Andrew. As a new member of BODSA It gives me much needed info as to fishing this new water.

Andrewoverend1
3 years ago
Reply to  Peter Jones

Hi Peter,
Great to hear you found the post useful and interesting.

I will be doing a lot more fishing down at BODSA beats this year. So you should get a few more tips etc.

Cheers, Andrew

Richard Taylor
3 years ago

Hi Andrew. Great update, I caught a couple of lovely healthy lively brown trout below the bridge at Bangor on Saturday with a brown dry spider, like you, I only really went-just to get out-
best wishes
Richard

Alan Burdett
3 years ago
Reply to  Richard Taylor

Hi, Andrew – many thanks for those comprehensive reports. Sad to say I’ve not yet wet a line as there have been too many other things going on! But, I think that the Dee should be in fine shape after the river fines down after all this recent rain so will try to get to either BoD or Llanderfyl next week. Wishing you (even more!)tight lines. Alan

Andrewoverend1
3 years ago
Reply to  Alan Burdett

Hi Alan,

Great to hear you’ve enjoyed this article. What with Covid and the recent wet weather, I’ve not fished the Dee as much as I would have liked. Hopefully, I will be able to make amends in the coming weeks.

Cheers, Andrew

Andrewoverend1
3 years ago
Reply to  Richard Taylor

Hi Richard,

Great to hear you’ve been out fishing and caught some lovely brownies at BoD. So far this year, I’ve only fished there but hope to spend more time at BoD during June and July in search of salmon.

Cheers, Andrew

Antony Ashton
3 years ago

Hi Andrew,
It was a pleasure to read your April report very informative and helpful on how to get the best out of the Dee.
I still haven’t had a chance to get out yet so it’s a joy to read about your trips as it’s the closest thing to fishing at the moment lol.
Looking forward to the next one !!
Many Thanks
Tony

Andrewoverend1
3 years ago
Reply to  Antony Ashton

Hi Tony,

Good to hear the posts are keeping you entertained. I hope you manage to get out fishing in May.

Cheers, Andrew

Alan Hine
3 years ago

nice report and some lovely photo’s with lots of info on fly selection and reasons for your choice of tactics, thanks Andrew

Andrewoverend1
3 years ago
Reply to  Alan Hine

Hi Alan,

Thanks for the comments.

Cheers, Andrew

Alan Beanland
3 years ago

Very good update on fishing the Dee, thanks. I am a member of Southport Fly Fishers (SFF) and we do have access to some water on the Dee around Corwen. Sad to say I have never fished it, however your article has given my the push so will make an effort to have a go.

Andrewoverend1
3 years ago
Reply to  Alan Beanland

Hi Alan,
The Welsh Dee around Corwen is beautiful and I’m sure you will enjoy a fishing trip to your club beat.
Thanks for the comments on the blog.
Cheers, Andrew

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