Spring is springing in the urban edgelands, and Urbantrout correspondent Spencer Clayton has been celebrating May Day on Shrewsbury’s magical little Rea Brook…

I travelled light today, heading towards Shrewsbury by train from Wolverhampton station, reached Whitecroft Road at 11.30am and walked the banks, fishing upstream. 

It was chilly and rained until 2pm, so I did expect to see a few rising fish and some fly life, but there were hardly any bugs hatching, and no rising fish. 

So I fished an upstream Baetis nymph with 5 – 6ft of a used copolymer leader, extended with 2 – 3ft of 3.5lb fluorocarbon (Rio Fluoroflex Plus) tippet. This approach still didn’t bring me any trout, but I did catch a few out of season grayling, all quickly released, and some of a very good size. 

I finished off at Meole Brace Bridge, then walked back along the A5191 back into Shrewsbury, and crossed the English Bridge over the River Severn. There are plenty of great buildings to have a look at, and lots of old pubs to get a refreshment or two!

Stay safe out there, Spencer… we’ve been hearing some disturbing reports from the Rea Brook recently.

If you fish an urban river that’s featured in Trout in Dirty Places – or even if it’s not – why not send us your own fishing report to let us know how it’s getting on?

(All photos: Spencer Clayton)

Tags: Fly-fishing, Rea Brook, Shrewsbury, Trout, Urban fishing, Urban fly-fishing reports, Urban rivers