Feedback & Reports

Caught in the shallows bottom end. Caster hemp on feeder. Heavy canoe traffic but was a weekend!

5 Barbel, 9 Chub

Having fished Boys Rocks previously I was confident of success there despite the low water and blazing temperatures. However, the first thing that I noticed on arrival was the absence of the large Willow tree that used to overhang the water on the opposite bank which gave morning shade and cover to the shoal of Barbel that lived there. Three hours later without a bite confirmed that they were no longer resident. My blank was saved at 8.30am with a 6lb barbel from the faster water. I moved down to the cattle drink for few hours with only an eel showing any interest. I could not stay for the evening which would probably have been more productive.

1 Barbel

Mainly fished the Boys Rocks and a couple of hours on other swims on the beat. I must've picked an off day as totally blanked. A pleasant day spent by the river though.

Early start at first light gave a chub first cast and a further three barbel between 3lb & 6lb by 7.15am. All fell to pellet feeder over hemp. I thought the brighter conditions, coupled with low and clear levels would see bites tailing off but the best of the day, weighing 8lb 13oz came at 11am. Early afternoon saw more canoeists (all were very polite & considerate), but fewer bites so walked the beat trying alternative spots, but no joy. Waited until the shade covered the early morning swim and first cast again. Kicked off with 5lb 5oz chub! Another four barbel came between 7pm & 9.45pm and with a last cast capture ending a most pleasant day. Plenty of other fish showing too, with a large salmon breeching giving the highlight to a memorable day
Many thanks to all concerned at WUF, The upstream stretch is easily accessible and well maintained.

8 Barbel, 2 Chub

This was a short notice booking on a beat I have never fished to give my brother a day out on the Wye. It was hot and sultry with low water levels and I thought we might struggle but he had a good catch of 5 barbel to 7.4lbs, a nice chub and an eel. The Rocks swim lived up to its reputation of being very snaggy and a feeder graveyard so we put our efforts in further downstream where I was grateful for one fine barbel to save face and my blank.

6 Barbel, 1 Chub, 1 Other

Had a great day fishing this beat. 10 barbel 6lb 4ozs to 8lb 5ozs, one of the chub weighed 3lb 5ozs.
Most came to halibut pellet on a straight lead over loose feed pellet.
Will definitely be back.

10 Barbel, 2 Chub

Arrived bright eyed and bushy tailed and headed for the rocks. We set up and had a quick chat, feeder method and pellets. JT cast in and sat down but before he'd added weight to his chair, the rod accelerated towards the river, his first barbel about 8lb.
Before I cast in, he was into his second, about the same size. We both fished there for a few hours, a few bites and lost fish on the rocks, JT lost a very big fish!
Decided to head down to the shallows by the cattle drink, a great move, I caught a nice barbel about 7lb and JT continued catching, his best 10lb. This is a great swim but hard difficult with all the weed near side.
Later in the afternoon we headed back to the Rocks. JT sat down and literally while he was saying "Well it is not the same as last time his rod bent over and he was into his 7th barbel.
After an hour, he moved down stream to an adjacent peg, I adjusted my position and straight away hooked into a very big fish, unfortunately the fish powered towards me and my line snapped, 10lb line, powerful barbel rod, I was gutted.
Then ...... 20 mins later I had another bite just as JT had called asking how I was getting on. It was a very big fish, it powered to the centre of the river to my relief, I adjusted the drag to allow it to gently fight me, after about 10 minutes it showed itself, it was by far the biggest barbel I have seen, probably not for a lot of other fisherman, but it weighed in at just over 14lb. I had a photo taken. It was spectacular. I called JT back to fish the spot wanting him to catch a river monster, I moved and changed bait and cast out, laid my rod against the rod rest and turned to speak to JT, Then he said "Your Rod!" I caught it in midair, another 10lb Barbel.
A fantastic beat that you have to wander about on. It fishes well in low water conditions and there are some big fish in this beat!
Thank you to the WUF a great section of the River, vibrant with Salmon and big Pike but some really beautiful Barbel. Can't wait till we return

10 Barbel

First time on this beat which I booked last minute after finding myself with some free afternoon. It was a sunny afternoon as I started off in the first downstream meadow where the river had a bit of flow but the fish weren't showing any interest. Moved up to Boys rocks for the last part of the evening. A nice looking stretch of water, but after constantly losing tackle and no bites I decided it wasn't going to be my day and headed home. Hope to come back when the weather and water levels are more favourable.

Despite being one of the best looking barbel swims in the country and, crucially, closest to the parking, Boy's Rocks has never quite lived up to its promise for me in the past, so after an hour of inactivity I was glad to head downstream to pastures new. The shallows looked good but were occupied from the far bank and the pool between the two far bank Croys in the field section was too hard to fish from our bank, so by 4pm I was back at the Rocks after all. OB in The Wires swim had taken chub to 5 pounds but no barbel and that, it transpires, was because they were queuing up for my return. By 8 o'clock I'd had 4 barbel and broken my meagre pb 3 times, with fish of 7lbs, 7.08lbs and a stunner of 10.11lbs, the best looking fish I've ever seen! OB eventually got a little one of 7 pounds or so after scrounging some of my irresistible spicy sausage pellets, so we could finally leave and get home in time to 'boo' the Argies in the world cup final. I couldn't have been happier if I'd just lifted the trophy myself! What an awesome day, we can't wait to be back.

5 Barbel, 5 Chub, 1 Other

Hard fishing in the morning for 2 anglers not used to river fishing. Few places to fish from. Improved in the afternoon and barbel about 7lbs and 3 good chub and eels.

1 Barbel, 3 Chub, 2 Other