Feedback & Reports

Having fished Holme Lacy the day before we know that finding the fish in the very low clear river would be the key to catching, and so it proved as in the first 4 hours we fished most of the pegs on the top half of the beat for 1 chub each, but in the afternoon my ( Ghille )
Neil found the fish in the bottom meadow and caught 10 barbel ,all 6-8lb fish while I caught 3 barbel and 5 chub.
All the fish again caught on Halibut pellet.
Once again a great days fishing but I feel that with a small amount of work more pegs could be made available in the wooded areas, which would make the beat even better. Many thanks W.U.F

River was low and clear as expected. Fished upstream of the orchard and remained biteless until 3.00pm when we had seven barbel between us in the next two hours. All on pellet. Then it died again. Best barbel was an estimated near double. All the others were beteen 5 - 8 lbs.
Must echo the previous comments regarding the difficult access to the limited number of swims available in this top stretch. We weren't able to explore the whole length but from what we could see there were only three accessible swims. Two of those had to be waded to and would be difficult to access when the river was carrying extra water. The area next to the parking area seemed better suited to mountain goats rather than anglers!
WUF directions etc were spot on. Thank you.

Fished 2.00pm - 9.00pm, I had a terrible experience, my complaints are as follows:

Barbel: As a Great Ouse regular, I'm not used to starting at 2.00pm in clear water and catching a Barbel within 30 seconds of casting out. I was pouring a cup of tea when an 8-pounder tried to take my rod to Hereford. Fortunately I was only disturbed by four Barbel throughout the course of the evening.

Chub: They fight too hard. Twice I hooked large Barbel and emitted yelps of joy, only for the fish to miraculously turn into a three-pound Chub.

Salmon: I was just nodding off when a large Salmon crashed out of the river and woke me up. Please remove them from the river.

Canoes: I was lead to believe that I would be entertained by parties of canoeists capsizing, having water fights etc. Only four or five passed and all were disappointingly courteous.

Despite the above, and because I am a selfless individual, for the appropriate remuneration I would be happy to fish this beat on my own every day until the end of my life, just to ensure that no other angler is forced to suffer in the way that I was.

Seventeen barbel and three chub caught throughout the afternoon with five fish lost. The river was very low and clear and access around the orchard had only two viable swims. With extra water these will not be fishable. Other fields are very open up and down stream but will not suit anglers not wishing to fish near to livestock. There are bulls in all meadows. Nice place though.

First time on this beat. Three of us fished together; two experienced Wye barbel anglers and an eel enthusiast. The upper section in the wood was very hard work - both getting there and the fishing. Just two small chub on the float for one of my friends. By late afternoon we’d all settled into the slightly deeper water in the bottom field occupied by the enormous bull! The eel expert showed his prowess taking one of about a pound on his first cast using pellet. He followed that up by taking a smallish barbel and then all three of us struggled for bites of any sort. Two of us packed up at about 9 pm leaving the eel man to have a final cast. In the event he actually had four casts in the next thirty minutes taking three barbel and a decent chub! That’s fishing for you - never predictable. We all agreed this is a stretch that will probably fish best when the river is carrying a bit of extra water.

Thanks as always to the WUF.

Fished the 2nd and 3rd. Water low and clear so could see barbel, fished lower part first day took 4 barbel all in the 6/7 lb range & 6 good chub in the morning and one chub later in day all on meat. Fished same swim erley next day and took 14 good size Barbel & 3 chub, fished middle part in the afternoon took one large barbel 12lb.

Another great days fishing on a cracking beat. Arrived midday and after an interesting scout around the top of the beat (very large cows and even larger bulls) I found a very fishy area and caught 12 barbel most over 7lbs to just under 9lbs and 1 good chub 4lb 11oz. Trip back to orchard again interesting (bulls) I think their name suits them very well!!! In truth they didnt seem bothered by me at all thanks again Wye & Usk.

Difficult access except middle fields beyond orchard. I ended with 4 barbel up to 6lb plus 6 chub to 4. Andy had 5 barbel plus some backing chub.

Arrived about 10am and walked the venue to decide where to fish. This resulted in an excellent days fishing with my son, between us we caught 20 barbel and 7 chub. The largest barbel was 9lbs 1 oz and all were in immaculate condition. The river was very low and clear but we caught throughout the day. Access to the river in the orchard area was difficult so we parked at the designated spot on the road and fished that meadow. All fish were caught on pellet.
It was a wonderful day in a beautiful setting and I would like to thank the Wye and Usk foundation for making this stretch of the river Wye available. We will definately return. There were cows in every meadow and a bull with each herd and although we were wary they gave us no problems!

Having booked the beat for two days on first arrival we walked the complete stretch and found that although large sections were not accessible the barbel, in low clear river conditions, were not hard to find. It also became clear that the one of us that had thought to bring chest waders and didn't have an illogical fear of cows was going to have the upper hand. I would say that we were expecting the fishing to be easier than it was and only through changing rigs, baits and swims did we manage to land the dozen or so barbel we had over the weekend. I would suggest traveling light to help over the styles and cover the large areas were there seems no access to the river.