Spate · Slate · West Wales / Carmarthenshire, GB-WLS

Towy (Tywi)

The River Towy flowing in broad meanders through the valley below Dinefwr Castle near Llandeilo.

Wales's premier sewin (sea trout) river and major salmon river.

Poor · Sea Trout
Black & Silver Tube · 1–2 inch
Closed season
Out of season. File this water for the right month.
Closed — confidence not applicable today.
What moved it
  • Level1.07 mLifting fast
  • Water temp7.0°C
  • ClarityUnfishableColouring up
Today's fly
BS
Black & Silver Tube1–2 inch
In deep pools and dark water, silhouette and contrast do the work colour cannot. A fly that reads as black against depth is enough. Fish it broadside, hold the swing, let it hang at the dangle — that is when the best fish take.
Conditions on the water · Tomorrow
Live gauge
Level
Rising
1.07 m
Lifting fast
Water temp7.0°C
ClarityUnfishable
Weather3°C
WindN 19 km/h
Pressure1014 hPa
Rain · recent4.6 mm
Rain · ahead9.1 mm

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

Water temperature for Sea Trout
Cool — slow
7°C est.ideal 8–15°C
0°14°28°
How to fish it · for Sea Trout
When
June through September; July into August prime. Night fishing from full dark when water rises above 13°C. NRW classifies the sewin stock 'At Risk' across Wales — fish carefully if at all, treat C&R as a default. The Tywi remains Wales's most productive sewin river despite the decline. Daytime fishing also works in coloured spate water — sewin take confidently when colour gives them confidence.
Where
Lower and middle Tywi pool tails through to the Carmarthen tidal limit. Walk pools in daylight before fishing them at night.
Method
Across-and-down on a floating line with small wets — Medicine, Teal Blue and Silver, Stoat's Tail. Steady swing through the tail-outs, never hurry.
Kit
10 ft #6/7, floating line, 8 to 10 lb fluoro tippet. Spare leader on a wrist spool. Headlamp sparingly; let your eyes adjust.
Likely species
Stoneflies
Gammarids
Hatch timeline · todayPeak at 11am

Hatch predictions

Today's headline hatch shown — see all 6 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 3 guilds as a supporter.

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Beyond the hatch · worth watchingambient prey(1)

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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 · November 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
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
Sea Trout fly box

Shrimp fly theme — fished swing, wet_fly_swing

BS
Black & Silver TubeTop
1–2 inch · Tube
In deep pools and dark water, silhouette and contrast do the work colour cannot. A fly that reads as black against depth is enough. Fish it broadside, hold the swing, let it hang at the dangle — that is when the best fish take.
Medicine Fly
Medicine Fly
8–12 · Streamer
Slim and mobile — fished sunk through the pool when surface work is not producing. Consistently takes fish that will not come to the surface.
Beats · 5 · 3 reaches
Main Towy — association water (Llandovery to Carmarthen)Access varies
The Towy (Tywi) is one of the finest sea trout — sewin — rivers in the British Isles, with a good run of salmon to autumn and brown trout throughout.
Visit official site ↗
Golden Grove & estate beatsAccess varies
Alongside the associations, several private estate beats on the lower and middle Towy — including a cluster around Golden Grove (Cilsane, Dryslwyn Castle, Glanyrafon, Upper and Lower Ro Fawr) — are let to visiting rods through the Fishing Passport.
Visit official site ↗
Towy tributaries · 3 beatsMixed
River Gwili — Carmarthen Amateur AA, River Gwili — Carmarthen & District AC, River Camddwr (Towy headwaters) — Tregaron AA
The 3 beats
River Gwili — Carmarthen Amateur AADay tickets
Carmarthen Amateur Angling Association
Two beats totalling 4.5 miles (Glangwili Bridge to Bronwydd, and Bronwydd Village to Dyffryn Gwili) on this Tywi tributary — sea trout (sewin) is the headline draw, alongside wild brown trout.
Day ticket £30, weekly £135 (2026 pricing).
Visit official site ↗
River Gwili — Carmarthen & District ACMembers
Carmarthen & District Angling Club
Two further Gwili stretches near the Gwili Railway and a Quarry stretch further out toward the A484 — a separate club from Carmarthen Amateur AA, est. 1953.
Members only via Clubmate — no day tickets, no published price.
Visit official site ↗
River Camddwr (Towy headwaters) — Tregaron AADay tickets
Tregaron Angling Association
Seven miles of remote wilderness fishing on a Towy tributary in the Cambrian Mountains near Llyn Brianne reservoir — small but plentiful wild brown trout. Note: there's a second, unrelated river also called Camddwr near Tregaron itself, a Teifi tributary through Cors Caron bog — this is not that river.
Tregaron AA also controls 17 miles of the Teifi itself, Llyn Berwyn and the Teifi Pools.
Visit official site ↗
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Other water nearby · 5
Irfon
16 km
Brown trout · Grayling · Salmon
Cothi
19 km
Brown trout · Salmon · Sea trout
Amman
22 km
Brown trout · Sea trout · Salmon
Afon Twrch
24 km
Brown trout
Wye
28 km
Brown trout · Salmon · Grayling
Gallery · 6
  1. The River Towy flowing in broad meanders through the valley below Dinefwr Castle near Llandeilo.
    River Towy below Dinefwr Castle
  2. The River Towy running through Llandovery, Carmarthenshire, with the valley beyond.
    River Towy at Llandovery
  3. A wide view of the River Towy flowing through the Llangunnor reach at Carmarthen.
    River Towy at Carmarthen
  4. The River Towy at Llandilo-yr-ynys near Nantgaredig, a wide shallow reach in Carmarthenshire.
    River Towy at Llandilo-yr-ynys, Nantgaredig
  5. The Afon Tywi winding through its flood plain near Llandovery, Carmarthenshire.
    Afon Tywi near Llandovery
  6. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
About this water

Night fishing for sewin from April through summer is legendary — large fish, aggressive takes. Salmon from February onwards. Fish sinking-tip line with medium tubes in spring for salmon; switch to smaller doubles and wet flies for daytime fishing. Sea trout take throughout spring and summer; night fishing (June–August, particularly July) is most productive. Flows through Llandeilo and Carmarthen. Slate and schist bedrock underlie this river. 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

  • Slate
Water quality (WFD)
  • Ecology: Good
  • Chemical: Unknown
What this classification means

NRW WFD Cycle 3 — Tywi (confluence with Cothi to spring tidal limit): Good ecological status; the association main-stem water (Llandovery–Carmarthen). Corrected 2026-06-18 from a Gwili-tributary tag (Crychiau), not the Towy main stem. Source: NRW DataMapWales WFD Cycle 3 classification layer.

NRW (Wales) · GB110060029290

The full read · show the working · for Sea Trout · confidence 75%
How the river scores — hydrology factors
Water heightMedium Ideal0.0
Recent riseNone0.0
Falling after liftNot Applicable0.0
Water temperatureCool To Moderate0.0
Time in seasonOpening Period0.0
ClarityClearing0.0
Hydrology base0.0
Legal gate: Unknown Check Local Rules
Can you trust it?
Water temperatureair-to-water estimateestimated
Level / flowon-river gaugeobserved
Directions
Apple MapsGoogle Maps
Seasons & zones
  • Salmon 1 April → 17 October
  • Trout 3 March → 30 September

Sea trout: Variable seasonal (2026) — NRW monitoring places 32 of 33 Welsh sea trout stocks in the 'At Risk' category. The Towy (Tywi) remains Wales's most productive sewin river and holds genuine runs, but stocks are materially below their 1970s–80s peak. Condition-sensitive: night fishing after rain is productive; low summer water is difficult. Catch-and-release is the conservation default on most beats.

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 Tywi was one of Wales's premier salmon rivers; catches have collapsed.

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Booking & contacts
Boards & regulators
At a glance

Towy (Tywi) is a spate river in West Wales / Carmarthenshire. The catchment geology is recorded as slate, and the water sits at about 50 m above sea level. The river is described as roughly 109 km long. Species listed for this water: brown trout, salmon and sea trout. It is classed as a salmon river. The salmon season is recorded as running from 1 April to 17 October. The trout season is recorded as running from 3 March to 30 September. Best window recorded for anglers: April–June (spring), August–October (autumn). Core methods listed: small double (salmon); upstream nymph; spate techniques. Level and flow data for this water is linked from 3 gauges. Its Water Framework Directive ecological status is recorded as good. Nearby waters in our listings include Irfon at 16 km, Cothi at 19 km and Amman at 22 km.