Spate · Mixed · South West Wales / Pembrokeshire, GB-WLS

Eastern Cleddau

The Eastern Cleddau river seen from Llawhaden Bridge, Pembrokeshire, Wales
Good · Brown Trout
CDC Emerger · 16-18
Goodlive now
A proper day on the water
River steady at a fishable height. A proper day for it. Work the seams with an upstream nymph, switch to the dry when they show.
75% confidence
What moved it
  • Level0.62 mLast reading 16h ago
  • Water temp17.2°C
  • ClarityClear
Today's fly
CDC Emerger
CDC Emerger16-18
Upstream dry, in the film
Conditions on the water
Live gauge
Level
Steady
0.62 m
Last reading 16h ago
Water temp17.2°C
ClarityClear
Weather16°C
WindN 18 km/h
Pressure1020 hPa
Rain · recent0.0 mm
Rain · ahead0.0 mm

The nearest gauge doesn't record temperatures, so we've estimated it — defer to the river keeper's advice.

Water temperature for Brown Trout
Warm — slow
17°C est.ideal 10–16°C
0°14°28°
How to fish it · for Brown Trout
When
Nymphing can work through most of the day.
Where
Cover mixed depths.
Method
Start with tight-line nymphs and adjust if fish rise or drift higher.
Kit
9 ft #4 rod, floating line, 12 ft tapered leader to 4–5 lb fluoro tippet.
Why this works
Good — water clarity is working for you, but time of day is the limiting factor today.
Hatch timeline · todayPeak at 6am

Hatch predictions

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Sub-surface · on the nymphunder the surface

Hatch predictions

Top nymph shown — see all 2 guilds with Pro.

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Beyond the hatch · worth watchingambient prey

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Evidence
Survey-backed · regionalHigh confidence

Backed by regional invertebrate surveys; no sampling on this exact reach yet.

Through the year
0–3 scale · August highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Salmon runRun
1
2
2
2
2
2
1
Trout seasonSeason
1
2
2
2
2
2
1
Daddy Long LegsHatch
2
3
2
March BrownHatch
2
3
2
GrannomHatch
2
2
Large StoneflyHatch
2
3
2

Numbers are intensity 0 (none) to 3 (peak) — a guide, not a guarantee.

Ranked for today
Brown Trout fly box
Beats · 2
Pembrokeshire AA — Eastern & Western Cleddau, day ticket via Fishing PassportAccess varies
Fifteen miles of prime fishing on the Western Cleddau and its tributaries, plus beats on the Eastern Cleddau — held by the long-established Pembrokeshire Anglers Association.
Visit official site ↗
The Bont — day ticket via Fishing PassportAccess varies
Three quarters of a mile on the Eastern Cleddau — single-bank fishing for sewin, salmon and brown trout, with twenty-two named lies and pools.
Visit official site ↗
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Other water nearby · 5
River Taf
12 km
Brown trout · Salmon · Sea trout
Nevern
22 km
71
Brown trout · Salmon · Sea trout
Teifi
41 km
34
Brown trout · Salmon · Sea trout
Cothi
53 km
21
Brown trout · Salmon · Sea trout
Afon Llwchwr (Loughor)
53 km
Sea trout · Brown trout · Salmon
Gallery · 2
  1. The Eastern Cleddau river seen from Llawhaden Bridge, Pembrokeshire, Wales
    Eastern Cleddau at Llawhaden
  2. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
Water quality (WFD)
  • Ecology: Moderate
  • Chemical: Unknown
What this classification means

NRW WFD Cycle 3 — Eastern Cleddau (conf with Syfynwy to tidal limit): Moderate ecological status; The Bont/Llawhaden beats. Corrected 2026-06-18 from a Western-Cleddau tributary tag (Cartlett Brook). NB the stored coordinates sit in the Western Cleddau cluster and should be moved to the Eastern Cleddau beats. Source: NRW DataMapWales WFD Cycle 3 classification layer.

NRW (Wales) · GB110061030670

The full read · show the working · for Brown Trout · confidence 75%
How the 73 is built — score × weight = contribution
Temperature72 × 28%20.2
Flow80 × 22%17.6
Clarity95 × 18%17.1
Feeding Time40 × 13%5.2
Pressure80 × 7%5.6
Insect activity61 × 12%7.3
Conditions total= 73
Can you trust it?
Water temperatureair-to-water estimateestimated
Level / flowon-river gaugeobserved
Prey activitysurvey-backed invertebrate datasurvey
What would change the calculation
The dawn and dusk windows score higher than the midday lull.
Directions
Apple MapsGoogle Maps
Seasons & zones
  • Salmon 1 April → 17 October
  • Trout 3 March → 30 September

Sea trout: Variable seasonal (2026) — NRW At Risk classification. Small Pembrokeshire spate river. Sea trout present in summer but stocks are marginal; classified At Risk. Night fishing after summer spates is the productive approach.

Salmon: Negligible (2026) — NRW / EA 2024 Salmon Stocks Assessment classifies this Welsh principal salmon river 'at risk' — egg deposition below Conservation Limit. All Wales byelaws (in force 2020-2030) make catch & release mandatory. Conservation priority; not a salmon fishing destination. The Cleddau (Eastern + Western) is at risk; salmon now scarce.

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