Fishing on our water is mostly for trout and salmon, there are sewin (sea trout) in the Usk but they are not as prolific as in the rivers of west Wales and are hardly fished for – most tend to be caught by trout anglers fishing until dark in the summer months.
Salmon
Sadly, salmon numbers have declined severely in the river over recent years, but some are caught in most seasons – typically on our lower beats.
Salmon fishing on most fisheries allow fly and spinning subject to NRW by-laws. Some fisheries restrict spinning under certain conditions. The lower stretches always have fish even during low water as they run off the exceptional high tides that the Usk is famous for.
It takes a good spate to bring fish into the river from April onwards. The middle reaches come into their own with small summer floods pushing fish in to the holding pools. The upper river fishes best in the autumn.Given water, the main salmon run will start in September through to the end of the season in mid October where sighting salmon running the numerous small streams is a joy in itself.
Brown trout
We are fortunate that the trout fishing remains exceptional, with lots of notable hatches for the dry fly fisher to enjoy. Every time you venture to the river there is the chance of catching a truly specimen trout – a fish of 3lbs or perhaps even bigger. Usk trout are hard fighting fish and you can be sure that if you hook a good one you will soon know about it.
Stealth for daytime fishing and perseverance for late-evening and night-time can bring the best rewards. 1½lb fish are not uncommon and fish of 3½lb plus exist in nearly all stretches though not easily caught.