Feedback & Reports

6 Barbel

Canoe traffic horrendous
I would never fish it on a weekend again

9 Barbel

Fished from mid afternoon until late but a couple of very small barbel and a few dace were the sum total of the efforts of the three of us. It's the first time we've fished here and the very hot and bright conditions didn't help and neither did the canoes on such a shallow stretch, there were hundreds of them. We've been fishing the Wye for a good number of years now and this was the highest concentration of canoes we've seen in any area.
A couple of points worth noting. The "blurb" tells you that access is good and, in Wye terms, it isn't too bad but it's still quite difficult particularly for anglers who may not be so spritely on their feet, the path is undulating and steep in places and there is plenty of rocky terrain to negotiate. Parking is good and close to the river but the info provided fails to tell you that the car parks are locked at 8pm so if you wish to fish late at this time of year you have to move your vehicle and alternative parking is not so plentiful.
Not a particularly good beat and definitely not worth the £25 each that we paid.

Fished evening session in bottom pool very low and weedy, one proper barbel of 5 lb. Lost another when hook pulled. Biggest chub 3 lb. Always pleasant fishing here.

8 Barbel, 6 Chub

Another hot day! Better flow here and all Barbel caught were under 4lbs in weight. True what they say about this stretch.....a nursery for the barbel. Great day, and great to see some of the younger barbel for a change......bodes very well for the future. All fish caught on pellet and feeder tactics. 1 Eel

10 Barbel, 4 Chub, 1 Other

Second of two days. Trotted for a couple of hours in the morning but gave up when canoe traffic increased. Returned to beat late afternoon to continue fishing but rather busy with canoeists and swimmers. Some individuals particularly ignorant and showed no consideration to myself trying to fish. The canoe hire companies must increase the awareness of the angling which takes place and educate the individuals that hire the canoes. Numerous canoeist asked to leave the bank of the fishery and swimmers asked not to swim in fishing areas. Managed to fish for a couple of undisturbed hours late afternoon and caught on pellets and boilies using feeder. Unfortunately session cut short by ignorant evening swimmers/canoeists. Still a very nice and productive stretch of beautiful river just need to be aware of the best times to take advantage.

5 Barbel, 3 Chub

Arrived later in the day and decided to trot a float through several areas. A very good stretch of river where I find trotting for chub very rewarding, had my pb chub of 5lb 6oz. Used corn throughout.

4 Chub

We arrived at 3.00pm to the normal Saturday afternoon events at Wyebank of swimmers, picnickers and canoeists. We expect this and so went to the bottom swim, baited up and then to the pub for some refreshment. At this point there was continual flow of canoes head to toe which even made baiting up difficult through fear of the canoeists thinking we were firing bait at them. We returned to the water at 6.00pm to find that there was still a continual flow of canoeists. As canoeists ourselves I can tell that these were mostly inexperienced paddlers. I can only presume that they had got in at the launch above Lower Lydbrook which leads me to believe that they are now running evening sessions as well as morning and afternoon. The river is there for all to use and I have no objection to this but the canoe hire companies seem to have no limit to the number of canoes they are prepared to put on the water. There is a distinct danger ( as you are aware) that the river will fall into decline if there are not limits set. How this is possible I admit I do not know.
Hypothetically, if every beat was to open its waters for one day to as many anglers as wanted to fish on both banks and there were lines coming from every direction canoeing would be extremely difficult, "would the canoeists and the hire companies complain" I think they would!
I would be interested to know what the foundations thoughts are?
Now to the fishing, by 7.30 it was just the odd canoe coming through and they were mainly non hire canoeists who know the river code and they were all fine. We caught steadily from 8.00pm and the biggest Barbel was a magnificent 10lb 7oz a new PB for Vaughan. I love this river, to fish and canoe and just hope some controls can be put in place so we can all continue to enjoy its beauty. If only the canoeing authorities would put as much effort into the preservation of this river as the Foundation.
Keep up the good work.
R

9 Barbel, 8 Chub

Another great day at Wyebank the river was running low and clear. The fish responded better to float fishing, my friend fished the feeder all day with only 3 Barbel for his efforts I took the rest all on the float. Thanks WUF.

19 Barbel, 20 Chub

River very low, but caught all day mainly on the feeder. Will be booking for next year.

32 Barbel, 19 Chub