Feedback & Reports

As a 65yr old life long smoker the much debated "Hill" made me puff and sweat but it's not exactly the north face of the Eiger! Worth the effort, some good swims in the wooded
area. All fish to meat or pellet both seemed equally effective as did static or float fished presentation. Good quality chub, the best of which = 2 x 4lb 4oz. 1 x 4lb 6oz.
1 x 4lb 12oz. several in the 3-4lb. range.
Barbel = 5lb 2oz., 6lb 8oz., 7lb 8oz., 7lb 12oz., and undoubtedly the catch of the day, the most perfect 8oz. little barbel, rarely seen at this size but a wonderful thing to behold! Other = small eel.
Tidy beat, very pleasant surroundings, all in all a very
enjoyable days fishing.

5 Barbel, 13 Chub, 1 Other

Lovely stretch of river. Level appeared low. Started off at bottom end before moving into wooded area and finding the fish. All caught on pellet. Wooded area appears to have dried out.

11 Barbel, 1 Chub

This was our last day of the week and what a way to end!! We arrived at lunchtime and walked the full stretch, eventually settling in the wooded area.
We fished a mixture of pellet and bomb and also groundbait feeder and had barbel up to 8lb + which all fought extremely well in the fast flow.
We lost a couple off to rocks and also missed out on our 100th barbel of the week to a snapped swivel!! 99 barbel in a week is an unbelievable figure though and just goes to show the quality of the Wye and Usk fishing. Back in Yorkshire that number would take about 5 good seasons to catch!!
This is a lovely beat, however the walk is not for the faint hearted due to the hills. The wooded area would be slippery in wet weather but we did not find it as bad as others have made it out to be.
One thing to note is the problem with the ducks here - they chased our loose feed down to the bottom of the river and at one point whilst rolling meat went down for the bait and came up with a baited hook in their mouth. A very close call!!
We will certainly try this beat in the future as we found it produced mid afternoon as well as the last hour before dusk.

19 Barbel, 6 Chub

What a smashing stretch of river, conditions were low and clear with bright sunshine but some nice chub to 4.5lb kept me occupied until the barbel got going in the evening. Had several nice barbel between 2.5 and 6.5 pounds and lost a couple in snags. Tried pellet and boillie but meat in paprika was the no 1 bait on the day. Saw quite a few salmon leaping which was nice to see. All in all a stunning stretch and a wonderful day out on the bank.

4 Barbel, 3 Chub

An excellent red letter day for both of us. 11 Barbel from 5 to 7lbs and 6 Chub up to 4lbs. Missed bites would probably double our total. A truly memorable day for us. The Long walk with all our tackle was worth every step. Halibut pellets and luncheon meat did the trick.

11 Barbel, 6 Chub

Fished 10.00 to 19.30.
Found the much discussed walk fine due to dry conditions, would be very treacherous if wet. Need a certain level of fitness but fine for two active middle aged blokes. Travelled light as advised and this is a must.
Fished in the wood as this looks most likely for barbel. The fish fed steadily all day from the very first cast and between the two of us we ended up with 20 barbel and 9 chub. Lost 2 or 3 too. Barbel went up to about 8.75lb and all were incredibly strong and fit. Chub up to 4ish, nothing of any real size. Some swims very snaggy, especially the swim with the biggest rock on the bank. Lost about 6 or 7 feeders so take plenty. The best swim was about 20 yards downstream of the huge rocks, and this produced 12 of the 20 barbel. All bar one of the chub came 20 yards downstream of there. Fish taken on various pellets, didnt seem to matter too much as they often seemed to respond to the sound of the feeder going in.
Packed up at 19.30 but the fishing had surprisingly been at it quietest during the last 2 or 3 hours.
Only 2 pairs of canoes which was a great bonus, and both were very respectful.
Overall we had a fantastic days fishing and I appreciated the contact from the Foundation offering to move our booking if we thought the terrain would be too much.
lovely stretch.

20 Barbel, 9 Chub

A lovely sunny day. Car parking excellent. A bit of a long walk for elderly carrying tackle but flat so not that bad. Steep banks but very good to find a place to sit and fish. Using halibut pellets we caught a barbel 6lbs and chub upto 4lbs.

1 Barbel, 5 Chub

River in high water and coloured so stayed with feeder tactics shallower water hard to fish without large tackle losses due to slipping under rocks etc so spent most of our time roving around the deeper water at both ends of the beat and had steady action all day. Finished very happy even though it rained on us all day for the second day running,. Fabulous just to be out on the beautiful river Wye thanks wuf, :-)

16 Barbel, 12 Chub

After weeks of reading catch reports talking about low river levels, I arrived on the bank after three days of rain and plenty of water pushing through and in good colour. The weather was fine sunshine and broken cloud. Arrived around 7.00am and fished until 6.00pm. Everything I had read about the walk from the car park to the bottom end of the copse was true. The hill is a challenge with your gear so travel light, I'm pleased I did. The footpath through the copse wasn't as overgrown as I had been led to believe it would be from the reports I'd read but it was treacherous after the rain. Getting down to the river required the use of a rope. There aren't many swims accessible in the copse so its not hard to work out which one produces the multiple catch reports. Not the most comfortable day's fishing perched on a rock but well worth it. Fished pellet and feeder in the crease between a pool created by the croy and the main flow. I only landed 6 fish but with the Barbel to 7lb 4oz and Chub to 4lb 8oz it was a satisfying day. I would definitely go back.

3 Barbel, 3 Chub

First time on this beat. Fished the woods and despite damp conditions didn't have too much trouble walking up the hill and round the woods although would recommend fishing light and taking only the essentials as I did. Fished pellet with feeder and caught 2 barbel to 7lb 3oz and 5 chub around 3 to 4lb. River was high and difficult to fish as I have not seen lower - so lost quite a bit of tackle on unseen rocks. Interesting beat and definately worth a return trip in better conditions! Thanks WUF!

2 Barbel, 5 Chub