Spate · Mixed · South Wales / Neath Port Talbot

Afan

A rocky river winding through a wooded valley with a walker and dogs on the shingle bank.

Small spate river down the Afan Valley to the Severn at Port Talbot — a recovery story as much as a fishery.

Poor · Atlantic Salmon
Cascade · 10-14
Poorlive now
Slow going — better windows ahead
Low and clear — careful approach country. Stale fish in low clear water spook easily — pick your hour.
90% confidence
What moved it
  • Level0.14 mLast reading 6h ago
  • Water temp21.8°C
  • ClarityClear
Today's fly
Cascade
Cascade10-14
Regional salmon default — river-specific evidence is thin.
Conditions on the water
Live gauge
Level
Falling
0.14 m
Last reading 6h ago
Water temp21.8°C
ClarityClear
Weather26°C
WindSW 13 km/h
Pressure1021 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
22°C est.ideal 1014°C
0°14°28°
How to fish it · for Atlantic Salmon
When
Mainly autumn, in very small numbers. The Afan is not a salmon destination — a fresh fish here is a notable event.
Where
Lower river pools above the tidal limit at Port Talbot.
Method
Small doubles 10 to 12 across-and-down on a floating line; small tubes on a sink-tip in spring or coloured water. Fish the named lies in each pool, working systematically before moving on. Mandatory catch-and-release under NRW byelaw — every salmon goes back.
Kit
10 ft #7/8 single-hander or 11 ft switch — small spate scale; double-handers are wasted on these rivers. Floating line plus light sink-tip. 10 to 12 lb fluoro tippet.
Why this works
Water at 21.8°C. This is the line where catch-and-release kills atlantic salmon. Do not fish for them today.
Hatch timeline · todayPeak at 6am

Hatch predictions

Today's headline hatch shown — see all 8 active hatches hour by hour with Pro.

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Beyond the hatch · worth watchingambient prey

Hatch predictions

Top prey shown — see all 2 with Pro.

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Evidence
Survey-backed · regionalHigh confidence

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

Updated 22 hours ago

Through the year
0–3 scale · August 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
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.

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.

What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Water here around 22°C. Nothing cooler within range — carry a thermometer.
Gallery · 2
  1. A rocky river winding through a wooded valley with a walker and dogs on the shingle bank.
    River Afan
  2. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
About this water

Small spate river down the Afan Valley to the Severn at Port Talbot — a recovery story as much as a fishery. A century of coal and industry left the river largely barren; reclamation work has brought brown trout, sewin, and the beginnings of a salmon run back to water that was effectively dead within living memory. Condition-driven fishing — falling water, colour, temperature — and a conservation-sensitive context. Treat it as a place to fish carefully rather than to fill the bag. 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)
  • EcologyModerate
  • ChemicalUnknown

NRW (Wales) · UKGB110058026130

Why this score · for Atlantic Salmon
  • Temperature030% weight
  • Flow8525% weight
  • Clarity9520% weight
  • Feeding Time10015% weight
  • Pressure8510% weight
Directions
Seasons & zones
  • Salmon 1 May17 October
  • Sea trout 3 March17 October
  • Trout 3 March30 September

Sea trout: Variable seasonal (2026) — Recovering industrial valley river. Sewin run modest but consistent enough through summer to warrant a sea-trout designation. All-Wales At Risk picture applies; treat as a low-density conservation fishery.

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