Spate · Mixed · South Wales / Cardiff

River Taff

Photo of River Taff
Contributor photo

River Taff

Martyn Harries / Wikimedia Commons

From Pen y Fan through Merthyr, Pontypridd, and Cardiff to the Bay — the Taff is the great urban recovery story of the South Wales coalfield.

Fair · Atlantic Salmon
Fairlive now
Decent — worth a look
Low and clear — careful approach country. Low water tactics — small singles, riffling hitch in the smooth glides.
50% confidence
What moved it
  • Level0.42 mLast reading 1d ago
  • Water temp16.8°C
  • ClarityClear
Conditions on the water
Live gauge
Level
Steady
0.42 m
Last reading 1d ago
Water temp16.8°C
ClarityClear
Weather15°C
WindN 4 km/h
Pressure1020 hPa
Rain · recent0.0 mm
Rain · ahead0.0 mm

Live readings — water temperature is an estimate where the gauge does not record it.

Water temperature for atlantic salmon
Warm — slow
17°C est.ideal 10–14°C
0°14°28°
How to fish it · for atlantic salmon
When
Autumn. Fish on the drop after rain — slow 6-hour response on this larger river. Numbers are small.
Where
Lower Taff pools above the tidal limit at Cardiff Bay.
Method
Small doubles 10 to 12 across-and-down on a floating line; small tubes on a sink-tip in spring water. Cover the pools methodically. Mandatory catch-and-release under NRW byelaw — every salmon goes back.
Kit
12 ft #7/8 double-hander or 11 ft switch. Floating line plus light sink-tip. 10 to 12 lb fluoro tippet.
Why this works
Fair — water clarity is working for you, but time of day is the limiting factor today.
Hatch timeline · todayQuiet day

Hatch predictions

Today's headline hatch shown — see all 7 active hatches hour by hour with Pro.

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Evidence
Survey-backed · regionalModerate confidence

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

Through the year
0–3 scale · July highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Salmon runRun
1
2
2
2
2
1
Sea trout runRun
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
Trout seasonSeason
1
2
2
2
2
2
1
Grayling seasonSeason
2
2
1
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
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.

Beats · 3
Fiddlers Elbow to Abercynon — day ticket via Fishing PassportAccess varies
Just over half a mile of double-bank Taff between the footbridge at Fiddler's Elbow and the Cynon confluence — wild brown trout and grayling.
Merthyr Tydfil Angling Alliance — day ticket via Fishing PassportAccess varies
Around ten miles of the upper Taff and Taf Fawr controlled by Merthyr AA — lightly stocked early in the season but supported by a strong head of natural, hard-fighting wild browns.
Taf Fechan — day ticket via Fishing Passport (Wild Stream)Access varies
Four and a half miles of Wild Stream fishing on the Taf Fechan — the eastern headwater of the Taff, controlled by Pontsticill Reservoir flow, running down to Cefn Coed where it joins the Taf Fawr to form the main Taff.
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Other water nearby · 5
Rhondda
5.0 km
Brown trout · Grayling · Salmon
Sirhowy
10 km
Brown trout · Salmon
River Rhymney
11 km
Brown trout · Sea trout
Afon Cynon
11 km
Brown trout
River Ely
14 km
Brown trout · Sea trout
Gallery · 2
  1. Photo of River Taff
    River Taff
  2. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
About this water

From Pen y Fan through Merthyr, Pontypridd, and Cardiff to the Bay — the Taff is the great urban recovery story of the South Wales coalfield. Within living memory the river was effectively dead through Cardiff; today wild brown trout and grayling hold through the city centre, and sewin and salmon work back up on the autumn lifts. Not a remote wilderness fishery — an urban river of much more interest than it has any right to be. Atlantic salmon are under serious conservation pressure — Natural Resources Wales mandates catch-and-release for salmon on all rivers, so all fish must be returned.

  • Mixed
Water quality (WFD)
  • Ecology: Moderate
  • Chemical: Unknown
What this classification means

NRW WFD Cycle 3 — Taff (conf Taf Fechan to conf R Cynon): Moderate ecological status; Merthyr/Abercynon wild-stream beats. Corrected 2026-06-18 from a Whitchurch-Brook tributary tag. Source: NRW DataMapWales WFD Cycle 3 classification layer.

EA (England) · GB109057033100

Why this score · for atlantic salmon
  • Temperature4230% weight
  • Flow6025% weight
  • Clarity9520% weight
  • Feeding Time1515% weight
  • Pressure8510% weight
Directions
Apple MapsGoogle Maps
Seasons & zones
  • Salmon1 May → 17 October
  • Sea trout3 March → 17 October
  • Trout3 March → 30 September
  • Grayling16 June → 14 March

Sea trout: Variable seasonal (2026) — Recovering urban river — sewin work back up on autumn lifts in modest numbers. The Taff's primary fishery is wild trout and grayling; sea trout are a seasonal bonus. All-Wales At Risk picture applies.

Related guides
Atlantic Salmonsalmon tacticsGrayling Playbookgrayling tacticsYorkshire & SpidersNorth Country methods
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