The Eastern Cleddau rises in the foothills of the Preseli hills and runs some twenty-two miles south-west through the Pembrokeshire countryside — the last four of them tidal — before it joins its western twin to form the great drowned valley of the Daugleddau. The name comes from the Welsh for sword, for the way the two rivers have cut their channels through west Wales. It is a fast, natural, fly-fisher's river: clear water tumbling over rock and gravel through wooded and farmed country, quick to rise and fall with the rain off the Preselis. The Cleddau is sewin water above all — a strong run of sea trout from mid-May, the larger fish early, with an autumn run of salmon behind them. A Special Area of Conservation along its length, it holds lamprey, otter and water-crowfoot. Wading is steady on rock and gravel beneath wooded banks.

Wading: Wooded banks over uneven rock

Summer-autumn runs (June–September), primarily nocturnal