Feedback & Reports

Arriving at first light we managed 3 Barbel from 6 to nearly 8lbs from towards the far end of the beat. By 10am, it was already pretty hot & obvious that the Barbel had gone for an early siesta so we packed up & made our way back for a well earned full english & a cold shower.

We returned at 5pm, & with the mercury touching 32C we made the sweat drenched trip back to the same area. As the sun started to drop, the Barbel came on the feed again & we managed another 5 of a similar size until the light started to fade & we reluctantly had to reel in & call it a day.

An enjoyable visit overall but limited somewhat by the the weather conditions, the low & clear water & the limited number of fisherable swims, particularly as our trio included a father & son meaning we needed to fish close together on the grounds that returning to a distraught mother to explain how we had sacrifed her precious teenager son to the river Wye might have been a bit tricky.

I note from a previous report that there is nothing to stop you from creating swims but the feasibility of this is a bit constrained by the level to which the vegetation has now grown on along much of the beat. Whilst accepting this may not be too much of a issue to anyone young & fit there is still the consideration of finding a spot that allows for access close enough to the water to allow fish to be safely landed & returned.

8 Barbel

Did an evening session here, 7-10pm and caught a couple as the light dropped. River was low & clear. Pellet caught as usual. A Polish couple turned up and were fishing from about 8pm. Told them to leave but when will the Wye & Usk Foundation start to clearly signpost their venues as private fishing. They claimed to "no understand it is private fishing" but having read previous reports am sure they know very well but as no comeback, turn up again!

WUF note - If situations like this arise outside of normal office hours please call the NRW Incident line on 0800 807060 as instructed on your booking confirmation email.

4 Barbel, 1 Chub

Arriving to see the thermometer registering 28 degrees meant we knew it was going to be a tough day with the river so painfully low!
After a very short walk down a pleasantly shaded footpath you're on the river, and despite fishing the Wye regularly for over 15 years we both commented on the beauty of this beat. Spent the first hour or so looking for any barbel daft enough to be out in the sun before settling down to fish at around half 2pm.
4 painful, sweat soaked, sundrenched hours later without a tap I went for another look around with the sun getting low and settled on a spot that earlier that day I hadn't liked the look of.
Got settled in at about half 7 and just as the renewed sweating outburst was ending and dehydration was starting to verge on serious and I was considering wringing a mouthful of sweat from my T shirt (all drinks having long been drunk) a big barbel belly-flopped not 15 feet in front of me. Dropping a bait on its head resulted in a bite in 5 minutes saving me from straining a drink from my shirt but unfortunately streamer weed intervened and the hook pulled.
The next 80 minutes went mad with a 7lb 3oz and an 8lb smack on landed, 3 lost and at least half a dozen missed before simply seeming to switch off again.
One of the easier beats on the Wye to fish regarding existing swims and places to make swims for Wye regulars, visiting anglers may not agree but there's nothing stopping you from fishing anywhere really except a few trees at the top end. Didn't get snagged once and we did the short hop up the hill to the car in the dark with no torches and no problems - I was expecting the north face of the Eiger based on previous reports but it's less than 50 yards with just the odd root and step. Lovely beat, many thanks to WUF.
Oh, and to the 'angler' who visited before me. It's ok, I picked up your used teabags and took them home to bin them.

2 Barbel

Very hot day. Had a couple of Chub in the morning, then three Barbel in the evening, all on pellets from the croy. Nice quiet beat.

3 Barbel, 2 Chub

2 barbel off the croy at the top of section. 3 chub out of middle field, all on meat.

2 Barbel, 3 Chub

Feeder at end swim off the croy with meat & pellets.

1 Barbel, 3 Chub

Very hot day, river very low but did have a touch of colour and weed seems to have grown rapidly recently. Fished various swims along the beat with the odd chub and Barbel being taken to Pellet on the feeder. We fished into the dark and ended up with two Chub and five Barbel between us ranging from six to nine pounds.
The stile into the top meadow is badly damaged and is dangerous if you are carrying your gear, especially in low light conditions so please be aware of this.
walking back down the beat we came across a big Polish guy fishing for Barbel so we had to explain that he was not permitted to fish the beat. I asked him to produce his rod license, which he did but he took some convincing that he was NOT allowed to fish the beat.
Apart from that little episode another lovely session on our favourite river, Many thanks to the Wye and Usk Foundation.

Windy, hot and sunny with river low and clear. Beautiful location and the hill going down to the fishery is not nearly as bad as previous reports suggest. The main problem is the lack of swims you can access. I'm quite happy to bash my way down the bank Jungle warfare style but I'm sure there are a lot of anglers that would prefer easier access and a greater choice of swims for their £15 a day. The Croy swim at the top of the fishery looked great but was too windy on the day so my Dad and I fished one of the slower deeper swims in the first meadow. I had one chub of about 3lb and a nice Barble of 8lb on cage feeder and pellet. Dad just had one small chub on trotted bread flake. During the day we spotted a Kite, Peregrine, kingfisher and Buzzards. Lovely spot with great potential just make sure you travel light!

3 chub & 2 barbel, hard going most fish taken on rolling meat at the end of the section off the croy.

2 Barbel, 3 Chub

All fish caught from the Croy casting to middle of the river.

4 Barbel, 2 Chub, 2 Other