Fly fishing in May for trout on 3 beautiful rivers

Fly fishing in May on the Welsh Dee has been challenging because it’s been in flood for a large part of the month. Therefore, when the Dee has been unfishable, I’ve ventured further north in search of wild brown trout on the River Eden and River Eamont.

So, how as the fishing been on each river…

Fly fishing in May on the Welsh Dee

After an unusually dry April in North Wales, May was a very wet month, with the river level rarely dropping below 0.8 m (Manley Hall gauge). However, I did manage to squeeze in a couple of good fishing trips between spates.

Fishing at Bangor-On-Dee – 5th May

Just as the first spate of the month had started to run off, I went fishing at Grove Farm. My primary target was to catch a spring salmon, but failing that, I would settle for a few brown trout.

At the start of the day, the river was a little too colored for fishing the fly, but that didn’t deter my enthusiasm.

After setting up my 14ft salmon fly rod to fish a 2″ black and yellow copper tube fly on a sink-tip line, I fished the full length of the beat without a sniff at the fly.

Also, I didn’t notice any salmon moving upriver.

The colour had started to clear by mid-day. Therefore, I switched to Czech nymphing for trout with my new Vision 11ft 3# Nymphamanic fly rod. Using a team of three nymphs spaced 18″ apart on 4 lb fluorocarbon (point: #12 PTN 3.5mm copper TB, middle: #14 Hare’s Ear with 3mm gold TB; top #14 quill nymph 2.4mm TB).

After walking up to the head of the Cemetery Pool, I slowly fished the slacker water towards the body of the pool.

It wasn’t long before my line tightened into a trout that went airborne and made a dash for the main flow. Carefully I got things under control and guide a lovely brownie safely to the net, which had taken the Hare’s ear nymph.

Fishing on through the remainder of the pool produces a few small trout and a lovely OOS grayling. All of which were taken on the Hare’s Ear nymph.

Fishing the Welsh Dee at Llandderfel – 17th May

The Welsh Dee below Corwen was unfishable because torrential rain over Corwen flooded the River Alwen and turned the Dee a horrible brown colour. Therefore, I went upriver to fish the Dee at Llandderfel, where the river was running clear and fishable.

Initially, I fished the left bank of the Bridge Pool with a #16 olive dry fly, but this didn’t elicit any interest.

So, I moved downriver and fished the pool below the dyke with a team of nymphs (point: #12 black nymph with a 4mm TB, middle: #16 quill nymph with a 2mm TB, top: #16 claret nymph with a 1.5 mm TB).

Carefully, I got down the bank and into the river below the dyke and fished the nymphs in the main channel about a rod-length out.

Initially, I caught a couple of small grayling on the claret nymph. Next, the line was ripped out of my hand about halfway down the pool, and…

An energetic brown trout jumped and took-off downriver…

Putting my new Vision Nymphmaniac rod to the test.

After several bursts of energy, it was eventually subdued and guided safely to the net. It had taken the quill nymph on the middle dropper.

Fishing onto the end of the pool produced a few smaller brown trout and a…

Thumping Grayling

That took the red nymph.

Next, I walked upriver and crossed over to the right bank to fish the riffle at the head of the pool. Fishing the right bank of the pool with the team of nymphs produced several small grayling and a couple of brown trout.

Overall, I had a great day out fishing the upper beat of the Welsh Dee at Llandderfel, which is a good choice when the lower beats are unfishable. Information on fishing this beat and where to get day tickets can be found on Bala & District Angling Association website.

Fly fishing in May on the River Eamont

Last year, I spotted some large brown trout in the River Eamont while salmon fishing. This led me to set a target of catching at least one of these beauties, and in the process learning how to fly fish this river for brown trout.

Unlike the Welsh Dee, the River Eamont wasn’t in flood but running close to its summer level, which was ideal for chasing brown trout.

However, the bright sunny conditions were going to make this challenging.

The sun was already beaming onto the river when I arrived. Therefore, I started by fishing a team of nymphs through the fast broken water because no flies were hatching (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).

While fishing the nymphs down through the main channel, I noticed a patch of slack water alongside some weed near the far bank.

It had the hallmark of a trout lie and when the nymphs drifted passed…

BANG – my line tightened and a trout tore off downriver.

In a split second, the reel screamed down to its backing…

After a frantic minute of scrambling down the rocky bank, I gained control and carefully played a beautiful Eamont brown trout to the net, which had taken the pheasant tail nymph.

It’s was a great feeling to land such a beautiful trout. So, I sat down for a while and enjoyed the moment before moving upriver to fish the next pool.

On approaching the tail of the next pool, there was a lonesome trout picking off olives opposite a sandstone cliff. Therefore, I set up my 9ft #5 rod to fish an olive upright dry fly on a 6x tapered leader.

Keeping a low profile against the high bank, I slowly waded into a good casting position. I was only going to get one, or two shots at the prize because the water was crystal clear.

I decided on a reach cast and the second cast perfectly covered the fish and …

The fishing went dead after landing the second brown trout. So, I retired to the car for refreshment and a rest before heading upriver to fish the pool at the top of the beat at 5 pm.

Previously, I’d seen a few large brown trout in this top pool, and I could see they were still there.

From the tail of the pool, it looked like they were taking olive uprights. So, I started with the dry fly set-up that caught the last brown trout. However, the rising trout just ignored my offering.

On closer inspection, it seemed the trout were taking the emerging flies just under the surface. Therefore, I switched to fish a CDC emerger pattern. Unfortunately, it also failed to produce a take.

After several dry/emerger fly pattern changes fail to elicit a take, I tied on a March Brown wet fly.

I cast the wet fly above the next rise, and after a short drift, there was a swirl, and the line darted upriver.

On lifting the rod…

BINGO – it strained into a trout and the fun and games began.

It darted around the pool and made several leaps for freedom but eventually, the beautiful brown trout was safely netted and subsequently released to fight another day.

I continued fishing with the wet fly but didn’t tempt any more trout because they’d all been spooked. So, I called an end to a great day fishing for trout on the River Eamont.

Fly fishing in May on the River Eden

Reports of salmon being caught on the lower beats of the River Eden had me heading north to Carlisle for my last trip fly fishing in May. The river had risen by about a foot and had started to drop and clear.

Conditions were ideal, and I spent most of the day fly fishing for salmon but with no luck.

I switched from fishing for salmon to trout in the afternoon because I’d started to catch brown trout on the 3″ monkey salmon fly.

I hadn’t noticed any trout rising, so I decided to spend a couple of hours nymphing with my new Vision Nymphmaniac 11ft 3wt fly rod.

The rod was set up to fish 3 nymphs, spaced 18″ apart, on a 4 lb fluorocarbon leader (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).

This proved to be an excellent choice because…

I’d only made one drift through a fast run when the line tightened, a trout jumped, and the reel screamed as it stripped the line off.

Once under control, I guided a wonderful Eden brownie to the net, which had taken the Hare’s Ear on the middle dropper.

Fishing on with the nymphs for the next hour produced two more lovely brown trout and a couple of OOS grayling. All of which fell for the TB Hare’s Ear nymph.

I ended the day with a big smile on my face because these beautiful Eden brown trout more than made up for the lack of activity on the salmon fly fishing front.

Overall, I’ve had a great time fly fishing in May for brown trout on three beautiful rivers, and I hope June brings more with a sprinkling of sea trout and salmon.

Finally, I hope you have enjoyed this fishing report and please share it with your friends.