End of June 2025 Fishing Update – Game, Coarse and Sea

As we head into summer, anglers across Wales are enjoying a diverse range of fishing opportunities. While warmer river conditions have presented challenges for some game fishing, stillwaters are thriving, coastal sport is picking up, and coarse fishing is delivering some excellent results across the country.

Sea Fishing

May was surprisingly slow for bass anglers, given the generally fine and warm conditions, however June has brought encouraging signs for coastal anglers, with bass beginning to appear in better numbers along much of the Welsh coast.

Pembrokeshire and South Wales have reported early catches, and with steadily rising sea temperatures lure and bait anglers can expect increasing action throughout July. Anglesey is proving to be a bass hotspot, with plenty of schoolies and now bigger bass being caught at many locations on the island.

Baitfish are moving closer inshore, and the signs are positive as we head into July. Mackerel, too, are beginning to appear in numbers, especially around the deeper marks, with occasional catches of garfish, wrasse and pollack adding to the excitement for those fishing from piers and rocky outcrops in South West and North West Wales.

Below left: Kayak guide Joe Shaw with a Pembroke bass. Below right: Lloyd Thomas with another lure caught bass, Cardigan Bay coast.

Smooth-hound have arrived in good numbers all over the Welsh coasts. This species is quite obliging, with the Glamorganshire coast being a real hotspot. They fight hard and can show up in good numbers. some anglers have reported 15 or more in a session, ranging from 4lb to 12lb or more.

South Wales marks such as Sker at Porthcawl, Swansea West Pier, Bury Port North Channel, Aberthaw and Morfa at Port Talbot are good places to start. On the North Wales coast, try Talacre, Prestatyn and Benllech. Baits include crab, squid and sand eel. You will also run into plenty of rays at this time of year, including thornback, small eye and blondes, which run to double figures.

Below: Ian Copping with a nice starry smooth-hound from Swansea West Pier, part of a session with Reel Minds CIC.

Wales is now a leading destination for tope fishing. This hard fighting member of the shark family is locally common around Welsh waters, with a good number of captures being reported from the shore, as well as from charter boats, especially in Cardigan Bay.

Tope have been showing up all over the coast, with known hotspots around the Mumbles sea front at Swansea and Stackpole in Pembrokeshire. They have also shown up on various Glamorganshire coastal spots this year, for example at Monknash, and on several North Wales marks.

Below left: Blake James with a 34lb 6oz shore caught tope. Below right, fishing guide Gareth Griffiths with his new record shore caught tope from Pembrokeshire, weighing in at 86lb 12oz.

Game Fishing

Sea Trout & Salmon

After a very dry and disappointing spring from a migratory fish perspective, sea trout (sewin) are now making an appearance in Welsh rivers following the short lived intense rainfall in mid June.

While catches have been modest compared to years gone by, rivers such as the Teifi, Towy, Dyfi, Mawddach, Dee, Clywd, Conwy, Afan, Cleddau’s, Rheidol and Ogmore are all producing fish, mostly spinning off the back of the high water, but also during the hours of dusk and into the night, using flies.

The coming weeks could see a strong push of sewin if weather patterns shift toward rain and cooler evenings. The signs so far are encouraging, with some anglers saying there are more sewin about this year than the past few seasons.

Below left: River Teifi Sewin, caught by Dylan Jones. Below right: River Dyfi, Gaz Dixon.

The Dee has also produced some fantastic sewin recently, Paul Jones below with a cracker caught on a double hander, in the Corwen area.

River salmon fishing has improved despite challenging conditions. The River Wye, particularly around Wyesham and Bigsweir on the lower river has produced several good salmon since early June, off the back of the rain, with fish ranging from 11 to 17 pounds taken mostly on fly and spinners.

Abercothi and Golden Grove beats on the Towy have also seen their first catches of salmon, as have various angling club waters on the Towy. The Usk has also produced several salmon off the June spate. Below: Marco Orsi’s fly caught salmon from the river Usk, lower beat. He also caught another fish on a spinner the same day.

Following the mini heatwave last week, high water temperatures — regularly topping 19°C during the later part of June — have led to requests from Natural Resources Wales and angling associations to pause salmon fishing during hotter periods to avoid stressing fish. With thermal stress becoming severe above 20°C, anglers are urged to monitor river temperatures carefully and fish only when temperatures are suitable for C&R practice. Salmon should be kept in the water and carefully revived to give them the best chance of survival.

River Trout Fishing

Wild trout fishing remains consistent across many of Wales’s top rivers. The Usk, Ebbw, Rhymney, Taff, Severn, Tawe, and upper Wye continue to offer dry fly action, with sedges and blue winged olives drawing confident rises in the evenings. Fish over 4lb are possible on all of these named rivers.

The Tywi (Towy) in Carmarthenshire is proving to be a fantastic wild brown trout river, with many fish reported this spring from 2lb to 4lb, which in the past would have been quite a rarity. Club waters such as the Llandeilo AA and Llandovery AA stretches offer good value for money. Below Lee Nulty’s 20 inch trout, from Llandeilo water. Taken on a dry fly.

Below: The almost ‘average’ stamp of wild brown trout now found in many of our rivers. This fish from the Taff. Thanks to C&R good practice Welsh wild trout stocks are healthy.

Daytime river trout fishing has been slower due to bright sunshine and warm water, but anglers willing to time their outings for twilight are being rewarded.

Grayling are now in season and have also shown well in rivers such as the Taff, Dee, Severn and Wye system, where nymphing continues to produce steady results.

River temperatures have been an issue this month, anything over 20°C is potentially lethal to trout and grayling when practicing C&R – a safe temperature is generally under 18°C. Please keep an eye on the river temperature and keep the fish wet and well rested before release.

Stillwater Fly Fishing

Stillwater trout fishing on our larger upland venues is arguably the most consistent game option right now. The reservoirs are fishing especially well during the evenings or on overcast windy days, with buzzer and falls of Heather Fly (bibio) and Coch-y-Bonddu beetles drawing fish to the surface.

Llyn Brenig has continued its excellent form, with good bags taken on CDC dries, Hoppers, and traditional wets. Anglers boat fishing or drifting over open water are catching on lures, Diawl Bachs and crunchers. Below Sid Gough with a 2lb 10oz Brenig rainbow.

Llyn Clywedog, another top-performing reservoir, has seen some impressive bank and boat catches, particularly on the cloudy days with dries, or on sunny days with sinking lines. Coch-y-Bonddu beetles have provided great surface sport here over the past weeks. Anthony Mcarthy (below) caught this monster rainbow of 10lb 15oz during the Flyshop Llyn Clywedog League.

Upland wild fisheries, such as Nant-y-Moch and Claerwen have also produced great numbers of fish, which are often free rising. George Barron reports trout to 1.5lb on Nant-y-Moch recently, which for the water can be classed as a monster. These venues fish best with a bit of wind and cloud, or in the evenings. Below: 3/4lb Claerwen reservoir trout, taken on a wet coch beetle pattern.

Spring-fed and cooler-stocked fisheries are also still fishing well. Garnffrwd Trout Fishery in Carmarthenshire continues to produce quality rainbows and browns, particularly to stalking bugs, buzzers, and small dries.

Dare Valley, which is near Aberdare has also fished well in the warmer weather thanks to its significant depth. Evening sessions at the venue are proving popular. Below: A stunning Dare Valley tiger trout.

Some small stillwater fisheries have suffered due to the hot spell recently, so check that the fishery is open before visiting.

As an example, the upper Ynys-y-fro reservoir near Newport has recently closed due to high water temperatures with sightings of dead fish.

Early mornings and evenings are prime time in summer – this is when trout are most active, temperatures are cooler, and insect activity is at its peak.

Coarse & Carp Fishing

May and June have been a productive time for coarse and carp anglers across Wales, with warm weather driving feeding activity in both commercial and natural venues.

On the specimen carp scene, venues like White Springs, Hendre Lake, New Celtic Lakes, The Wharf, Caerphilly Moat lake and the Llyn Cae Ty Nant Syndicate are producing fish well into the 30s. Below: a great stamp of carp coming out of New Celtic Lakes Lampeter.

Smaller carp are feeding well in the commercial fisheries around Wales, Dyffryn Springs, Hazel Court, Eisteddfa, Yet-y-Gors, Canada Lake and many others offer surface fishing with dog biscuits or mixers. Margin fishing in the evenings has also accounted for a number of decent mirror and common carp.

Most of the carp venues have re-opened after spawning during the hot spell at the end of June, but always best to check.

Match anglers are reporting big nets of silverfish on pole and feeder tactics, particularly at White Springs, Pontsticill Reservoir, Trefaldu, and Red Hill Fishery. Crow Valley Anglers in Cwmbran also provides great coarse fishing for day ticket anglers at just £5. Look out for a video about the venue, coming soon.

Semtex fishery, run by Caerphilly anglers in Brynmawr, is producing a mix of species, including tench, bream and rudd pictured below:

The Monmouth & Brecon Canal and stretches of the River Wye offer excellent coarse fishing through the summer.

The River Wye coarse season reopened on June 16th, and anglers wasted no time returning to its famed waters. Barbel have been caught on the Passport Beats and club water, although not in huge numbers yet. Chub have been quite eager to come to the net. The lower river Taff and Ely on the Glamorgan angling club books are also good rivers to try for coarse fish in Wales.

Below: Young Blake James, with an early season Welsh river chub.

As we close out June and move into July, the outlook for Welsh angling remains strong. With cooler weather and some rain forecast, this summer could prove to be a vintage one for fishing in Wales.

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