The Ghost Sewin of the Wye
Swan Pool, Redbrook: the Ghost Sewin of the Wye
Where the shadow swims
Swan Pool at Redbrook holds a 4-foot shadow that vanished one twilight in the 19th century. The hollow runs 6–8 feet deep at low water where the Wye carves a glassy seam 2–3 feet from shore. Anglers insist the sewin—sea‑trout, Salmo trutta—surges upstream from estuaries such as the Loughor and the Towy between May and July, fish pushed to 20 inches and four to six pounds after salty feeding. Evening rises line the riverbank seam under full moons; the seam's subtle ledge is where legends begin.
Gear, knotwork and the Ghost Sewin Special
The Ghost Sewin Special is tied on a #10 hook with a silver tinsel body, white bucktail wing and a jungle cock cheek, two inches overall. It is swung on a 9-foot #7 silk line from a 10-foot bamboo rod, cast to the seam at dusk and retrieved with short, erratic twitches to mimic a phantom dart. Llandeilo tiers still work by lamplight; jungle cock eyes get a ritual knot. Stories from Ammanford name nights after floods when the Loughor rose a foot and sewin flashed like coins in the run.
Places, plates and offerings
Hundred House on the Edw and Craig Llyn where grayling school with trout are regular settings for the tale. At Tintern Abbey the Devil’s Pulpit watches deeper runs; Monmouth banks keep older knots on the spool. Local cooks grill sewin over willow embers with Wye watercress, finishing to 140°F for flaky pink flesh; Towy potatoes roasted in foil accompany the plate. At Redbrook Fair ale is left by the Swan Pool for seam spirits; the offering is said to bring a five-fish bag of twenty-inch beauties. The Ghost Sewin still shapes hooks and haunts from Llandeilo to Llanelli and beyond to Solihull.
Recommended: silk fly line