Guest Report on a Fishing Break at Gliffaes

This piece and the photographs has been supplied by Jonathan & Peter Steeds.


To celebrate our fiftieth birthdays my twin brother Peter and I thought we would treat ourselves to the three day fishing package offered at Gliffaes - what a treat it was!

Although we have done a fair bit of still water trout fishing over the years, we are both pretty new to river fishing so arranged to meet up with hotel ghillie Jim Devoy on day one who took us over to the adjacent Llandetty water and very expertly showed us the ropes. I was delighted with a fish of about a pound after the first ten minutes even though this turned out to be the only fish of the day other than a couple of salmon parr. Of course Jim managed to catch a trout just to show how it should be done.

On the second day we were back at Llandetty and in the cold and blowy weather we struggled a bit and although Peter got stuck into the salmon parr again we couldn't’t interest the trout. Jim’s 50 years of experience of fishing this water rewarded him with three trout to about a pound and on a hard day showed what a master he is.

On the third day we parted company with Jim and went on to the top beat of the hotel water starting with a couple of idyllic hours in brilliant sunshine before breakfast. By the end of day we had six trout between us on a mix of nymphs and dries including a cracking one and a half pounder and another salmon parr. We were both drenched from the late afternoon downpour but could not have been happier. Back to the hotel for a celebratory drink in its cosy bar followed by yet another delicious dinner before rounding off the evening with an embarrassingly slow couple of frames of snooker.

The renowned Gliffaes hospitality is evident in everything – the wonderful atmosphere, the friendly staff, the great food and drink and the marvellous attention to detail shown by the whole team led by delightful owners James and Susie Suter. Add an exquisite stretch of the Usk to all that and we couldn't have dreamt up a better place to celebrate our half centuries. If you could design your own perfect fishing hotel you would struggle to come up with one as complete and as lovely as Gliffaes. We’ll be back before we’re much older!
Jonathan Steeds.