Spate · Mixed · South Wales / Powys / Swansea, GB-WLS

Tawe

The River Tawe flowing through a wooded valley near Ystradgynlais, Wales

Out of Bannau Brycheiniog past Ystradgynlais and down to Swansea Bay — a river of two halves.

Poor · Atlantic Salmon
Stoat's Tail · 12-14
Poorlive now
Slow going — better windows ahead
River steady at a fishable height. Little in your favour today. Fish the certain lies, or leave it for a better one.
85% confidence
What moved it
  • Level0.52 mLast reading 19 min ago
  • Water temp12.3°C
  • ClarityClear
Today's fly
Stoat's Tail
Stoat's Tail12-14
Conditions on the water
Live gauge
Level
Steady
0.52 m
Last reading 19 min ago
Water temp12.3°C
ClarityClear
Weather13°C
WindN 27 km/h
Pressure1016 hPa
Rain · recent1.4 mm
Rain · ahead10.5 mm

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

Water temperature for Atlantic Salmon
Ideal
12°C est.ideal 10–16°C
0°14°28°
How to fish it · for Atlantic Salmon
When
Summer through autumn. Fish on the drop after rain — small numbers throughout the season.
Where
Middle and lower Tawe pools. Tawe & Tributaries AA named beats.
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
Excellent — water temperature is right today, though river flow could be better.
Likely species
Stoneflies
Gammarids
Hatch timeline · todayPeak at 11am

Hatch predictions

Today's headline hatch shown — see all 12 active hatches hour by hour as a supporter.

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Sub-surface · on the nymphunder the surface

Hatch predictions

Top nymph shown — see all 5 guilds as a supporter.

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Beyond the hatch · worth watchingambient prey(1)

Hatch predictions

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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 · October 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
March BrownHatch
2
3
2
CapererHatch
2
3
3
2
Heather FlyHatch
2
2
Autumn DunHatch
2
3
2

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

Ranked for today
Atlantic Salmon fly box

Wild-river first principles. Early-season nymphs and practical searching, then dry flies, emergers and spiders as hatches and surface activity improve.

Beats · 4
Pontardawe & Swansea AA — day ticket via Fishing PassportAccess varies
Two and a half kilometres of lower Tawe — mostly single bank, with seven named salmon pools.
Visit official site ↗
Tawe Beat 1 — day ticket via Fishing PassportAccess varies
Two and a half miles on the headwaters of the Tawe, shadowed by Llyn-y-Fan and set in the Brecon Beacons National Park.
Visit official site ↗
Tawe Beat 2 — day ticket via Fishing PassportAccess varies
Just under two miles below Ystradgynlais — wild and stocked browns mixed (the club runs a triploid stocking programme to top up the wild head).
Visit official site ↗
River Clydach (Upper & Lower) — Pontardawe & Swansea ASMembers
Two short Tawe tributaries through Pontardawe and Clydach village — Upper Clydach (up through Cwmdu Glen) and Lower Clydach (up to Lon Bridge).
Visit official site ↗
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Fishing better nearby · 5
Amman
11 km
86
Brown trout · Sea trout · Salmon
Afon Llwchwr (Loughor)
13 km
86
Sea trout · Brown trout · Salmon
Afan
12 km
29
Brown trout · Salmon · Sea trout
Afon Twrch
11 km
Brown trout
Neath
16 km
Brown trout · Salmon · Sea trout
Gallery · 2
  1. The River Tawe flowing through a wooded valley near Ystradgynlais, Wales
    The River Tawe below Heol Giedd, near Ystradgynlais in the Swansea Valley
  2. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
About this water

Out of Bannau Brycheiniog past Ystradgynlais and down to Swansea Bay — a river of two halves. The upper Tawe holds healthy fly life and proper wild brown trout fishing; the middle and lower reaches take migratory fish after water. The Tawe & Tributaries AA ticket covers most of it. Don't read all of the Tawe as sewin beat — the upper river is trout country, and the migratory fishing is genuinely a lower-river story after rain. 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.

Sea trout here

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

  • Mixed
Water quality (WFD)
  • Ecology: Good
  • Chemical: Unknown

NRW (Wales) · UKGB110059032170

Why this score · for Atlantic Salmon
  • Temperature10030% weight
  • Flow6025% weight
  • Clarity9520% weight
  • Feeding Time9015% weight
  • Pressure8510% weight
Directions
Apple MapsGoogle Maps
Seasons & zones
  • Salmon 1 May → 17 October
  • Sea trout 3 March → 17 October
  • Trout 3 March → 30 September

Sea trout: Variable seasonal (2026) — Sewin run on the lower and middle Tawe is genuine but modest — the river's better-known story is its upper-river brown trout fishing. All-Wales At Risk picture applies.

Related guides
Fly Fishing Near Swanseafeatured in this city guideAtlantic Salmonsalmon tacticsYorkshire & SpidersNorth Country methods
Casting instructors near here
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