Feedback & Reports

Arrived to be greeted by low cloud and mist, water understandably low and clear. A great start, landing a small Barbel within a minute of the first cast hitting the water. Persevered with feeder and pellet for majority of the day but couldn't sustain the pace of the first few minutes.
Two further small Barbel (approx. 1.5lb) before resorting to free-lining meat later in the day, which duly accounted for two fine Chub of 3lb and 2lb.
Whilst I fully appreciate the river also belongs to canoeists, and I do expect Saturdays to be very busy at this time of year, I would say the constant traffic between 10am and 4pm (and I mean constant) was not conducive to worthwhile fishing. In particular, the slack water between the numerous croys at Wyebank seem to be the go-to areas for canoe-schools, with groups of 10-15 spending most of the day there, practicing their new skills, effectively rendering two thirds of the beat unfishable.
Lost 2 larger fish, definitely Barbel. One whilst free-lining, which sped approx 10 metres into a snag, unstoppable!, the other on pellet who's first run snapped a 10lb hook-link. Fished until 7pm, the conditions and the beat promised great things but in the circumstances, finished with a reasonable 3 Barbel and 2 Chub.
Fishermen will always want to catch bigger fish, but it's also great to see the next generation of Wye Barbel in such fine condition!
Despite the 'distractions', still an enjoyable day on the river. Great to see the Buzzards overhead, the wagtails and robins catching insects, and the kingfishers criss-crossing the river between the canoes. Fascinating to watch them waiting for a safe gap in traffic, just as we would, to cross the road. Thanks to all at WUF for all the hard work.

3 Barbel, 2 Chub

I started on the float between two croys without any luck. Swapped to the feeder and had a barbel 1st cast on pellet, then a 5.13lb chub on meat.
By now my son had 4 barbel. He went onto to finish with 11 and a chub, not bad for his first visit to the Wye. I had to settle for 3 barbel and 3 chub. All the barbel were small, not surprising given the depth of water we were fishing in. Had a nice chat as always with Don.

14 Barbel, 4 Chub

11 Barbel

Fished end pool, which was the only one available due to low conditions. Caught a few small barbel and chub in morning, then had an afternoon siesta (sunday lunch at the Wye Not Inn, Symonds Yat). Returned at 4.30 and had bigger barbel up to 8lb 14 oz. Method was blockend feeder hemp and pellets. Excellent fishing and good to see different sizes of barbel, some only 1lb!

23 Barbel, 10 Chub

A sunny sunday water level low fished cage feeders with a mixture of hook baits from pallet to sweet corn and meat on hair rigs. The barbel all came in the morning with some good chub to finish the day off.

3 Barbel, 9 Chub

First time on this beat. Caught barbel early and late, chub all day. Feeder and rolling meat. Nice stretch, lots of snags so lost a number of feeders. Caught in every swim, I kept catching throughout the day by moving around, had to work hard for the fish I caught. Lots of canoes as expected, dont mind them apart from the inconsiderate ones who think it's acceptable to moor up 10m away from you splash around, shout and scream. Didn't let it bother me though. Great day.

8 Barbel, 30 Chub

Arrived at around 7:30 and settled into the swim at the bottom of the beat. Conditions perfect, not as bright as yesterday but still warm enough. Had to wait until 09:15 for the first fish. At 11:45 I was hit by a Barbus freight train clearly en route to Monmouth, nothing I could do to stop it as it cut me off against the bedrock! Decided to take a nap after this and woke up 2 hours later. Waited for the second fish to arrive at 14:40 a nice little Barbel of around 2lb. From here in it was steady all the way to darkness. Thoroughly enjoyable day returning 10 Barbel to 7lb 7oz and 3 Chub to 5lb 4oz. Decided to try a different bait approach refusing to use Halibut pellets. All fish fell to Goose Pellets, Peperami or Corn all fished over feeders of crushed halibut pellet and hemp.
I did shed 10 full sets of end tackle during the day, so be aware!

10 Barbel, 3 Chub

Started fishing just after 10am, river looked low but had a nice peaty colour. Lost a barbel at the net, looked around the seven pound mark. Had three chub after. Don came down and we had a catch up walking back to the car. Had lunch and on went the waders. Fished out a bit further and caught seven barbel and eight more chub. Lost a few feeders but the reward of catching these hard fighting pristine fish is a very small loss.

7 Barbel, 11 Chub

Thanks to the advice from Kenny Parsons, our guide for the previous 2 days, we had a fantastic days fishing with barbel to 7lb 4oz. There was no sign of the larger chub and our best was 3lb 8oz. The river level was down a little from the previous day and we both fished the bottom pool using halibut pellets on hairs with 90 gram cage feeders and pellets. The weather was bright but overcast and we caught all day from 8:00am to 7:00pm and lost only one feeder each. Not too many canoeists and they were all considerate.
We stayed at Ferndale House B&B which is about 2 minutes drive from the beat and can highly recommend their packed breakfasts, lunches and evening meals.

24 Barbel, 5 Chub

What a difference. Yesterday G drew a blank because he wanted to use a rolling meat method. Today he listened to the my advice and used the pellet and feeder method. Right from the start he caught barbel after barbel. He had 18 in total to 8lbs 12oz.
He has just had the best fishing day of his life. However, he didn't catch too many chub which is what he wanted. I don't know you just can't please some people!

18 Barbel, 2 Chub