Feedback & Reports

I have fished here before with good results , but decided to try out areas I had not previously tried. Not with any success unfortunately and one chub to show for it. However the weather was not ideal with steady drizzle/rain pretty much all day , strong winds and quite a lot of debris coming down the river and hitting the line making bait presentation, roaming and casting a bit tricky. Will try again before the season's out when hopefully the weather will be a bit more benign.

1 Chub

Another great day in the Wye Valley. 6lb 4oz Barbel first cast, and 8lb 4oz Barbel last cast bookended 8 others from 3lb 14oz to 6lb 2oz with most around the 5lb mark. With a couple of good chub thrown in.
Fished mainly pellet (everything caught on this) in a variety of swims, caught 5 Barbel in the morning up until about 11ish when I took a break to let a couple of Salmon anglers do their stuff. I know some complain about having to give way to Salmon fishermen but those are the rules, so don't moan, have a word with them, they often know the water better than you. The break gave me time to have a cup of tea, and make up some bait/rigs followed by a good conversation with the Salmon Anglers and it was great to watch an "expert Caster" in action!!
Couple of chub during the afternoon, with the Barbel starting to feed again around 6pm, and five more graced my net, before the long drive home via the roadworks on the M5 (when will they finish!!!).
The only downside of the day was that I lost my Oakley Polarised Sunglasses which would add another £120 to the days costs. However when I got back to the car there were my Sunnies hanging from the car door handle. Thanks guys, you know who you are.

10 Barbel, 2 Chub

Superb day despite very mixed weather. River up due to rain over previous two days (2ft on the gauge). The swim near the mouth of the Lugg produced all the fish, 2 in the late morning and the rest in the evening. All to pellet/feeder tactics. Chub a touch under 4lbs, Barbel from 4 to 6 and a half. A beautiful beat.

8 Barbel, 1 Chub

4 Barbel, 5 Chub

Having spent two sessions broiling on the preceding two days elsewhere and with only one half pound Barbel to show for my efforts I was really looking forward to today. I followed the advice of an earlier visitor and given the very low and clear conditions headed for the bottom of the beat where the river channels into a fast flowing bend before meeting the River Lugg. The action was slow but steady and I ended up with 5 Barbel - the best just shy of 9lb and 5 Chub averaging 2lb. Very challenging but rewarding session in a very, very snaggy swim. O lost four Barbel - I suspect there are some very sharp rocks as the hooklength came back sheared straight through. Midway through the morning I was enjoying the lack of traffic noise - seems to be an inescapable feature of many spots in the Wye Valley - when the farmer came and started up his generator in the field opposite. If visiting best pack some earplugs and make sure you carry your rod license - I had a visit from a pair of EA Bailiffs who were very friendly once they had checked my licenses. We had a good chat and they took my picture for their Twitter feed! Finally praise for the pristine condition of the fishery - the banks were immaculate. Whoever does this deserves a pat on the back.

5 Barbel, 5 Chub

Decided to fish a little later than I usually do and turned up at midday. The river looked wonderful however the amount of streamer weed coming down was unbelievable and didn't stop all day. It was all through the water column and I fished at least 8 different swims in an attempt to avoid it but to no avail. Lines didn't stay in the water longer than 10mins before being carried down stream and I was using up to 6oz.... This is the second time in 3 trips that this has happened and ruined the last of my three sessions. Appeared as though someone upstream was clearing swims as the weed looked cleanly cut.

Managed to somehow land 1 barbel at around 7lb and 2 chub of 3lb each. Not sure if I'll be returning!

1 Barbel, 2 Chub

Baking hot day and the fishing was very hard!

2 Barbel, 5 Chub

6 Barbel

2 Barbel, 5 Chub