15^th to 17^th June 2002

Six of us met up at Sharpes Angling tackle shop in West London for a trip to the Teifi, a famous Welsh sewin (sea-trout) river. Andy manages the shop and with his partner Hugh, also arranges fly-fishing trips for members of the West-End Fly Fishers club, based at the shop in 67, York St, Marylebone.

We drove down on Friday evening, stopping for a decent curry at a large curry-house in Carmarthen.

From there it is a short drive to Llandysul in Ceredigion (previously Dyfed) and the Porth Hotel.

The hotel is situated beside the Teifi and has a dining room overlooking the water. It's a good spot to have breakfast and gauge the height and colour of the river. They do a good and substantial breakfast here. Lunch or dinner is about as good as you will get locally, but that is not really a recommendation.

The first evening we spent getting reacquainted and sampling Tania's hot whisky toddies at the bar until 2am. Apart from Andy and myself, there was Ken from Melbourne, Pete, the fly-tying whizz-kid, Geoff, Mick, also known as Cocktail-cabinet Campbell with good reason and Mark who joined us at the Porth.

Saturday

Breakfast was not an early one and it looked like Geoff was suffering from a hangover. He was wearing his polaroids at the table, but the problem was worse than that. His eyes were unable to take the glare and he could barely see. They did get better during the day, so he was able to fish.

Andy, the hotel proprietor sold us our permits and provided maps and instructions.

We opted for the Dolgrogws area, which lies between steep hills and is a beautiful spot. The river is between 10 and 12 metres (30-40ft) across and has gravel banks and deep lies in abundance. Fishing is only allowed on one bank, but the opposite bank is generally too deep to wade and is overgrown at the waters edge. The weather was warm and overcast, but occasionally the sun shone through.

The Dolgrogws beat

We set up base on the Horse run, tackled up, and started fishing from there. Ken had just bought a replacement pair of wading boots from Andy and was complaining they were too tight. "I can't understand it, they are the same make and size as my old ones." Andy had obviously seen this one before and asked if he had removed the paper stuffing from the toes. A slightly embarrassed Ken discovered he hadn't. There is always someone providing the entertainment in this group.

There were plenty of small brownies in the gravel banks, but the best fish were lying in tiny runs of slack water or under the overhanging banks opposite. Ken demonstrated his trouting skills by taking two fish of 22.8cm and 30.48cm (9" and 12") from such spots. These are good specimens for the Teifi. There is not a lot of natural food for the trout as the river is quite acid, so there are lots of small fish.

Ken wading just before the Wall pool and Mark watching from left bank.

Many of the favourite flies for the sewin here seem to be based around a Black Pennell type body. The Teifi terror is a tandem pattern and has the same black body and silver wire, but has a dark furnace hackle and furnace tail on the rear hook. Andy favoured a large shrimp fly during the day for the salmon.

I tried Alexandra doubles for a couple of hours, but felt I was wasting my time, so switched to dry-fly for the brownies. I also wandered upstream to look over the other pools and runs and found a deep pool on a bend. I'm sure there were big fish in it's depths and switched back to big flies, but got no response to my double Silver Butcher, Black Pennell or Cats Whisker.

I went back to the dry-fly and caught a salmon parr and two brownies on one of Pete's Klinkhamer flies. I got many more takes, which I missed or the trout missed. The best fish was only about 6 inches in length.

The 1st brownie, bigger than average here.

Back at our base, Andy had got the BBQ going and we filled up on sausages and bacon in French sticks, washed down by some excellent campfire percolated coffee. No one had caught anything other than brown trout. After lunch, Ken and I walked back up the river looking for possible sea-trout lies. There were so many good lies, I would be surprised if we don't see any there when there is a good run of sewin later.

I went back to the pool and caught another parr and brownie before we packed up for the day around 5.30pm. The original idea was that we would stop soon after lunch and get a rest at the hotel before going for a night session.

Well, we had dinner and a load more drink, before setting off to Pontwelly just after dark. As we did not know the beat, Ken, Mark and I fished together for safety reasons. We did find a stretch which could accommodate us, but could hear nothing moving. We moved on to another spot where there was a broad island in the middle. I waded out to it gingerly in the fast side current and found it had deep water on three sides. The current on either side was too fast to fish easily, but the back water was slow moving and offered a few casts. The section in front was good too, but had a lot of turbulence which had the fly going in all directions.

All this time, there was heavy drizzle which seemed to get into any opening in our waterproofs. By 12.30am, the three of us had had enough and returned to the Porth for a beer and hot toddy. Andy and Mick joined us soon after, but Geoff and Pete stuck it out until 2.30am. Mick had a fish on around 1.8 - 2.25kg (4-5lb), but it broke him off. No one else had connected with a fish otherwise. About the time we got back, Bruce and his brother Peter arrived and joined us for hot toddies.

They were newcomers to fishing and had been sweet-talked into coming by the ever eloquent Hughie.

The conversation in the bar drifted on to the subject of local knowledge. Most of us concurred that we usually spend a couple of days getting to grips with a new water before making any headway. Mick interjected that he used to do that, but now he just brings two bottles of claret and lies down on the bank after finishing them. Actually, now I think about it, he did bring two bottles of claret on the first day.

Sunday

Ken and Mark got up early and fished Cwmmackwith, one of the restricted beats. Mark had a nice sewin of about .45kg (1lb) on a large Silver Butcher. This is one of a few beats which are fished on alternate days depending on whether your ticket number ends on an odd or even number. The idea is that if you have an even number you can only fish there on even days, but the day starts at 12pm and ends the next day at 12pm. This gives you the opportunity to fish a whole night there for sewin.

After breakfast, we headed back for Dolgrogws and exploited our better knowledge of the area. Well, that was the theory. I revisited the Wall pool and caught a few small fry. On a back cast I got hooked up on something on the bank. I turned round and was appalled to see the size 18 Klinkhamer fly lodged in the corner of a Jack Russell's mouth.

A few moments later his mistress arrived. Together we tried to get the hook out; she trying to assure him he could trust mummy and he completely unconvinced and snapping at my fingers. Getting nowhere she decided to take him to a vet, but met Andy and Peter further down river. They were able to control the agitated dog, cut the barb off the hook and extract it. Andy reckoned I was having trouble concentrating on the job because of the magnificent chest on the young lady. No comment.

We all met up at lunchtime again and Peter was hooked. He had caught his first brownie and did not want to stop for food. Bruce was enjoying himself too, but I think he was happy just to be there.

From L to R, Peter, myself and Bruce.   

The day was colder with a steady drizzle. It was hard to tell if our waterproofs were failing or if the air was just totally damp. A word of warning; two of the guys tore their breathable waders on barbed wire fences climbing over stiles. It's very easy to do.

Geoff had seen a 1.8 to 2.25kg (4 to 5lb) fish somewhere around the Bishop's run and Ken went off to try his luck. He wasn't able to spot or tempt the fish and returned. He, Mark, Geoff and Pete left around 3pm to head home. Peter meanwhile was continuing his success with the brownies.

I went back to the Wall pool as there were a lot of small brownies rising and taking freely. I still hadn't seen a decent fish rise there, but had seven fish and dropped or missed lots more.

The plan was that we would have dinner and try for a sewin at Cwmmackwith at dusk, but somehow dinner dragged on, the conversation was absorbing and no one wanted to drag their tired bones off their chairs. We repaired to the bar instead and drank and chatted until 11pm before hitting the sack.

Monday

Andy likes that Dolgrogws beat and he confided he had been given a tip that certain lies there frequently hold a good fish or two.

L to R. Bruce, Peter and Andy above Dolgrogws.

As we trudged down the hill, we passed two other anglers returning home from a morning session. One of them claimed he had taken a 4.5kg (10lb) sewin on a worm in the Wall pool that morning. Other anglers fished up to us and then stopped for a yarn. One chap was particularly knowledgeable and pointed out several good lies, some of which Andy and Ken had already tried. The Wall pool is also very good, but is so deep it takes a heavy fly or worm with shot to get down to the fish.

A Frenchman also joined us and obviously knew the area well. He lived in a small campervan whilst fishing and hit the river at every opportunity until he had to return home to Surrey. Like some others, he was spinning during the day; probably a better bet with the salmon.

We did not get much fishing in, but we had a very pleasant time relaxing on the bank, drinking some fine campfire percolated coffee and exchanging information with other anglers.

Eventually, I spotted a decent fish of around .67kg (1.5lb) rising just before the Rocky run. It was close into the opposite bank in a one metre stretch of slack water. I waded out near mid-stream and cast a short line to it. I still had a size 18 Klinkhamer on and it took at the second attempt. Joy everlasting; for half a second at any rate, because the hook came straight out. Life can be cruel and it usually is if you are an angler.

Trying the far bank for that bigger fish.

Andy fared no better, turning a good fish over 4lb by Paget's, but not connecting. I returned to the Wall pool and found a good fish rising below the trees opposite. I had to wade out about 3.5 metres to get close enough to drop the fly between the trees, but no matter what I offered, it was not interested. It kept rising at steady intervals and when Andy joined me he offered me a tiny Caenis pattern. This tempted a lot of small fry, but not this chap.

The tail of the Wall pool.

We decide to head back to the coffee pot and chill out before driving back home. Back at our base a herd of heifers had scattered some of our gear, but luckily had not damaged anything. They had discovered the coffee pot and knocked it over. Once they tried Andy's coffee, it was a free for all as they jostled each other out of the way to lap it up. So, if you get accosted by a bunch of heifers demanding coffee, blame Andy.

Andy's riverside BBQ.

We brewed up another pot and fended off those ladies long enough to drink it ourselves. About this time another angler came by with a magnificent young redhead in tow. That finished us off; how could we continue fishing in those circumstances? It was time to go.