End of Season Update – October 2025

As autumn colours spread across the valleys and the first frosts begin to glisten on the riverbanks, it’s the perfect moment to look back on the fishing season gone by in Wales.

From salmon and sewin to trout, grayling, sea and coarse species, 2025 has been a year of contrasts — moments of brilliance interspersed with tough stretches, brought on by the warmest summer weather on record.

Here’s our reflection on how things unfolded, and what prospects lie ahead as we move into the colder months.

Salmon and Sea Trout

It has been another challenging year for migratory game fish in Wales. A dry, warm spring held back early runs, and for much of the hot summer, river levels remained stubbornly low.

When the long-awaited end of summer rains finally arrived, they brought with them a pulse of salmon through September and early October, especially on rivers such as the Rheidol, Loughor and the Conwy, where late-season sport lifted spirits.

The Towy seems to be having a late run of salmon. For the month of September, the Golden Grove / Abercothi Beats reported 40 salmon, with many of the other Towy angling clubs also seeing salmon caught throughout the system.

Below: September River Cothi Salmon

Sadly the Wye and Usk suffered greatly, with high water temperatures and low flows for much of 2025 season. This led to many fishing clubs and fisheries closing the fishing down for welfare reasons.

On the Wye, after 2.5 months of no salmon being caught, some fish began moving through at the end of September, with the Wyesham beat seeing action, plus a capture reported far upriver at Builth Wells Town.

On the Usk, a few were caught on the lower beats ‘shrimping’ in September, during the brief window where it is permitted there.

Despite a chronic lack of water, sea trout, or sewin, provided some encouraging moments. Though runs were patchy and often delayed by water levels, anglers who timed their trips after fresh water were rewarded with quality fish, from rivers such as the Wnion, Mawddach, Ogmore and Teifi.

Below: Rob Redman with a double figure sewin from a North Wales river

Night fishing for sea trout under summer skies still delivered that uniquely Welsh magic, for some of those anglers who persevered.

Below: Colton Kelly with a Tywi sewin

With autumn spates still possible up until October 17th, there remains hope for a final surge of migratory fish before the season closes, with care needing to be taken to return these often coloured fish to the water safely.

Trout Fishing – River & Stillwater

For many anglers, the trout season provided a more balanced story. The early months of March, April and May offered some good river fishing before the mid-summer heat and lack of water slowed things down.

In the summer evenings hatches of blue winged olives kept dry-fly enthusiasts busy, while those venturing out after what little rain we had found good sport Euro nymphing. Although for long stretches of time, most of our trout rivers were simply too warm for consistent sport.

Below: Trout fishing on the Taff.

September was a completely different story to the summer – rain fell for several weeks, which saw our trout and grayling rivers rise rapidly. In between the deluges, some great fishing was to be had, on falling rivers.

Stillwater venues, particularly the deeper reservoirs in the uplands, fared well throughout the season, with cooler conditions and healthy oxygen levels supporting good fishing, even through the warmer spells. Trawsfynyd Reservoir for example fished well in August. Although sinking lines were often required during the heatwaves on places like Llyn Clywedog. These reservoirs should fish well for the next month at least.

Below: Brown trout from Talybont Angling Club.

Unfortunately, most lowland fisheries and reservoirs suffered during the heat, with many venues closing during the peak of the warmth.

With cooler water temperatures now here, these venues are now in full swing and will provide great fishing as we head towards Christmas – venues such as Ynys Y Fro, Foxhill, Dare Valley and Garnffrwdd fishery (which is now under new ownership!) will be well worth a visit. Llyngwyn in Mid Wales has also opened for fishing again, with a season ticket available for 9 months.

Grayling

As we move deeper into autumn, the focus for river anglers naturally turns to grayling. These graceful fish are now coming into their prime as river temperatures cool.

Welsh rivers such as the Dee, Upper Wye, and Taff offer some of the finest grayling fishing in the UK, and the coming months should see plenty of activity for those willing to brave cooler waters.

Many anglers are looking forward to taking part in the Hanak grayling festival on the Dee in early December.

Below: River Rhymney grayling fishing

Winter grayling fly fishing – or trotting – are among the season’s great pleasures — and fishing for them is an excellent way to stay connected to the water through the darker months.

Coarse and Carp Fishing

Carp anglers have enjoyed a solid season overall. The summer heat encouraged plenty of feeding activity across stillwaters and fisheries, and Welsh venues such as White Springs, New Celtic Lakes, Hendre Lake and The Wharf once again producing some impressive carp, including several fish topping the 30-pound mark.

Below: Blake James with a September carp from the Birch Syndicate

That said, a few carp waters did suffer with some oxygen issues. Thankfully in Wales we have some incredible clubs managing our venues, for example Lliswerry pond in Newport, where the club worked hard to save the fishery from a summer Oxygen crash. Liswerry are currently taking votes for a ‘Green Flag Community Award‘.

Below: Llyn Cae Ty Nant Syndicate potential unofficial record carp.

On the river Wye, the June opening weeks saw catches of chub and barbel, although low flows and warm temperatures made for very tricky conditions later in the summer. With fresh, coloured water, September saw a vast increase in catches of barbel and chub on the Wye.

The lower Taff did not fish well for coarse fish, with few barbel being caught and no chub of note. The Cardiff Bay barrage lake however did produce some excellent perch, and it does hold some great stocks of carp too.

As we head into autumn, coarse anglers can look forward to a rewarding period. With rain and elevated levels, chub and barbel fishing will continue to be good on the Wye. Grayling also should offer obliging sport.

Cooler water temperatures and improved oxygen levels tend to bring fish back onto the feed, and with less angling pressure, now is often the time for those memorable, hard-earned catches. Carp, bream and silver fish in particular will be actively feeding in preparation for winter, offering one last window of opportunity before the colder conditions slow things down.

Fishing for pike will now be coming into its own, with our large reservoir venues and lakes promising fantastic action, for lure and dead bait anglers alike.

Sea and Estuary Fishing

Wales’ coastline has also provided some fine sport this year, with summer producing good numbers of smooth-hound, tope, rays, pollack and wrasse.

Mackerel were quite hard to come by and bass fishing was patchy to say the least, especially for shore anglers. It seems that the bass came in quite late, with late summer and now autumn seeing better catches.

It has been a bumper year for Tope, especially off the shore, with some great catches being made. Guide Gareth Griffiths excelling with a new Welsh shore record of 86lb 13oz from Stackpole.

Below: The guys at Reel Minds with a fantastic October Tope, taken on a trip with GG

Mullet provided great sport in our estuaries in the hot weather, for anglers fishing bread and worm, and also increasingly on the fly rod, with many freshwater anglers turning to the salt when the rivers were on their bones.

Below: Luke Gator with a cracking thin lip mullet, caught on the fly

As the weather turns, sea anglers will still find many opportunities. Autumn tides and stormy spells often stir up feeding activity, and those who pick their windows carefully can enjoy excellent late-season sessions.

Although cod have been rare the last couple of years, a couple of ones have been caught recently. Bass fishing should continue and with the calmer weather window forecast in October, tuna fishing off the Celtic Deeps should prove to be viable.

Llinellau Tynn – Tight Lines 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 🎣