Usk Reservoir sits amid forest and moorland in the Brecon Beacons National Park, close to the small village of Trecastle, and it’s widely regarded as one of the best stillwater trout fisheries in Wales – a genuinely upland, remote-feeling water despite being a well-managed, actively stocked fishery.
Flexible Fishing Methods
Usk stands out among the reservoirs in this series for permitting a genuinely broad range of methods: fly fishing, spinning, and worm fishing are all allowed across most of the reservoir, with the western end reserved for fly fishing only. This makes it a good option if you want to fish more than one method across a session, or if you’re bringing a mixed group with different preferences.
The reservoir holds a wild brown trout population (which must be returned) supplemented by stocked rainbow trout available to take. Day tickets are bookable online through The Fishing Passport, which manages access to Usk and several other Welsh Water reservoirs.
Practical Notes
Boat fishing has been affected by maintenance works near the dam in recent periods – check current availability before planning a boat session specifically, though this doesn’t generally affect bank fishing away from the immediate work area. Opening hours typically run from 8am to around 7-9pm depending on season (roughly half an hour after sunset or 9pm, whichever comes first).
If you’re fishing worm or spinning tackle here rather than fly, our guides on spinning for trout and best bait for trout fishing cover both approaches in detail.
Brecon Beacons Trout Fishing
Usk Reservoir sits close to Talybont Reservoir, the other major Brecon Beacons trout water covered in this series, and the two make a natural pairing for a South Wales upland trout fishing trip.
Sarah Marsh came to fly fishing through her father, who kept a rod on a small syndicate water in Devon. She spent her teens fishing stocked reservoirs and gradually worked her way toward wild fish on moving water – first on rain-fed freestone rivers in Wales, then on the Hampshire chalk streams she now considers home water.
She holds a level 2 APGAI fly casting qualification and guides informally on the River Test and, from June to September, on a private beat on the River Tay for Atlantic salmon. Her personal best brown trout came from the Itchen at 4lb 1oz; she’d sooner not talk about the salmon that came off at the net last August.
At The River Bend, Sarah writes the game fish species guides, fly fishing technique articles, and the legal content covering trout and salmon regulations.
Covers: Brown trout, rainbow trout, sea trout, Atlantic salmon, fly fishing, chalk streams, Scottish rivers, close season and regulation articles