Wye Tenkara
Esceley Brook
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Species present: Brown Trout
Season: 3rd March to 30th September
Permits from: Wye and Usk Foundation www.wyeuskfoundation.org
Equipment: Either 8' Tenkara rod or 2# 6' standard fly rod
Flies: Early season weighted nymphs or spiders, Mid-season Mayflies or other appropriate dry flies, Late season sedge flies
This is a small stream that is a tributary of the River Monnow which it joins close to the village of Longtown in Herefordshire. There are four beats available throug the Wye and Usk Foundation. Directions and beat limates please see maps provided by Wye and Usk Foundation.
The Esceley brook is such a small stream it can suffer from low flows in the summer and later in the year. This makes fishing tricky especially late in the season when there is a lot of bankside vegetation. The brook will also colour up after significant rain. Fishing the Esceley Brook can be a delight because there is an abundance of wildlife including kingfishers and dippers.
I have found that this brook can be successfully fished with an 8’ Tenkara rod in normal conditions. When the stream gets very low a more effective set up would be to use a 2# 6’ fly rod with a 3 metre long light furled leader. This setup gives you just a bit more distance between you and the fish. As for flies early in the season spiders and nymphs can be successful, at the end of May and early June there are mayflies and later in the season sedge flies can be effective.
One final point it is important that proper biosecurity measures are employed because this stream has some rare wildlife in it and surrounding it.