Feedback & Reports

6am to 8am in the morning rain, Lower Courtfield. Wye up a bit last 2 days and freshwater passing through. Spinning a small Mepps hoping for grilse moving upstream before water colours from the heavy rain. No salmonids seen or caught but 1 large chub of around 3 to 4lb and a pike around 7 or 8lb that gave a very good account of itself. Writing this at 2pm, heavy rain all morning. Wye here now coloured and up 6inches in last 3 hours, barbel prospects look excellent for coming week!

1 Chub, 1 Pike

Easy to get to swims. Fish at first peg on pellets in coloured water.

5 Barbel, 7 Chub, 6 Other

18.30 to 21.20. In lower wood area. Not a touch until 20.45 then 4 chub in 2 to 3lb size on h pellet. Very tentative bites and had to up hook size to 8 to connect as suspect pellet covering original size 10 hook. Unusual evening, no canoes, ducks, swans or other wildlife moving but did have 3 mid sized barbel swimming at my feet picking up pellets fallen from swim feeder whilst preparing to cast!!

4 Chub

Was really looking forward to the trip as there had been rain during the previous days and the water level was just starting to rise (not by much) and normally this brings the barbel onto the feed. However something must have happened as they just didn't feed. There was a oil like shimmer on the river surface which I had not seen before.
Having fished this stretch many times over the last few years this was perplexing. It was not the fishery fault as we were getting line bites from fish swimming into the line. Towards the end of the day one 7lb 10oz barbel was landed together with a small chub. Some other anglers came along from another beat and they hadn't had a bite all day! So what was supposed to be perfect conditions didn't deliver. As I say it's not the fishery but something about the river condition!

1 Barbel, 1 Chub, 2 Other

We arrived bright eyed and bushy tailed the day started well had one barbel 7lb 5ozs in the first half hour no more activity in the morning. We left the water at 11am as the canoe traffic was high. After lunch we came back to the water at 2:30pm to find that all the rain in the morning had added colour to the water also the canoe traffic was worse than the morning so did not start fishing till 4pm when things eased somewhat. (I think some canoeist are oblivious to other users of the river as some decided to share there lunch right in front of my son's swim)
I love the stretch and know what it is capable of but will make a mental note to self not to fish at the weekends during the holidays.
The barbel was caught on pellet over loose fed pellet.

A hot day with a low river level. Unfortunately we didn't catch what we were after (Barbel) but were able to get some sport from small Chub (on maggot) and some fairly large eels on luncheon meat. Lovely spot. After our dawn start we decided that the day wouldn't get much better so retired to a pub rather than wait 'til dusk. May go back when conditions are move favourable.

4 Other

Following on from the previous day we were back on the river at dawn. I went back in the same swim I had fished the day before to try and get a fish or two under my belt before going off to investigate other areas and leave the swim to one of my colleagues so they could hopefully have a few (the barbel appeared to be holding up in one area). After a couple of hours I had achieved my aim with four barbel to 8lbs 8ozs. I went off and set up in Legg Meadow. My colleague then fished the holding area and had another six barbel to 8lbs 15ozs and an eel by dusk. I spent the day baiting the deepest part of the swim I had chosen in the meadow, then fished it for the evening. While it was not as prolific as the swim I had been in earlier, barbel were passing through and I managed to catch another three of 7lbs 6ozs, 8lbs 11ozs and my first Wye double of 10lbs 1oz, taken at last knockings just as I was gathering my bits together. The perfect end to the session of a lifetime. Over the two days I had 20 barbel. My other colleague unfortunately had to leave early without wetting a line. Back In September.

13 Barbel, 1 Other

19.30 to 21.30. Lower Courtfield by 40mph exit under trees, freelined luncheon meat. Nothing happening until 21.00 then 3 chub, first 2 around 4lb size then last cast in poor light what I thought was a barbel turned out to be weighed a 6lb 7oz chub, my first 6lb plus chub.
The fishing has been slow lately, one angler blanks while a few yards away on similar tactics his friend catches so perhaps a little roving may be required. Most fish caught sunrise and sunset, barbel are being caught in lower wooded area but river needs a flush through or lower temperatures.
Otters on beat (and family of mink!), kingfishers nest in bank by island and a few coloured salmon in Leggs meadow.

3 Chub

If anyone should question why I do a 300 mile round trip to the Wye a couple of times a year, this trip will answer them. We had two consecutive days booked for four of us but unfortunately only three of us could make it due to a family illness. We all set up in the wooded section. I made my first cast at about 5.30am and within a minute was playing a barbel of 8lbs 11ozs. Great start to what turned into a red letter day for me. By the time I reeled in at dusk I had landed a total of 13 barbel between 4lbs 15ozs and 9lbs 11ozs. All the fish came in the first two and last four hours of the day. The only down side to my day was that the fish were very localised and my colleagues didn't have the same quality of sport. One had two barbel (12ozs! and 6lbs 14ozs). The other half, a dozen small chub up to about 2lbs, five eels and a pike about 6lbs. Still we had another day. The river was very low and the weather warm and sunny so not ideal conditions really. We targeted the deeper runs as no fish were visible in the shallower areas.

15 Barbel, 6 Chub, 1 Pike, 5 Other

Tried a few swims but the barbel just didn't want to play. It was very hot again so the chub of maybe a pound was a lovely distraction on what, although not a great day for fishing, was a lovely day to just be out.

1 Chub