Feedback & Reports

Having fished this beat in the Winter for pike we were hoping that a Summer barbel trip would find the river in better trim with the wet weather gear left at home, we should have known better! Arriving late Saturday morning we found the river up 8ft and pushing through. We had a chat with the other angler booked on and we agreed we were going to struggle, and this is how it turned out as we fished through until late for half a dozen barbel to mid 6lb and a soaking in the evening down pour. Returning Sunday we were pleased to see the river had dropped around 3ft even after the over night rain and felt confident. Speaking to a very helpful angler on arrival only heightened this feeling as he had caught barbel to over 8lb and was happy to advise us on the beat. The fishing was slow to start with but come the end of the day it was hard to leave for home as it really picked up. Considering the conditions for the two days fishing we were happy with catching well over twenty barbel to just over 8lb between us, with K B taking the majority. Big thanks to Don as ever for great assistance.

Fished top of legg meadow b.h had two barbel 1 double and the other 6lb. I.w had 1 barbel 8lb. All fish taken on pellet feeders. Worth noting was told you can fish with 2 rods. Meet the owner don macer wright, very helpful and a pleasure to talk to him. Anglers need to take his advise and step up there mainlines and hook links in such high water conditions. Looking forward to returning in September.

CAUGHT 20 BARBEL OVER TWO DAY'S FISHING LEGS MEADOW AND THE STEP'S. BIGGEST 9LB 13 OZ. LOST A VERY BIG FISH ON PEG 1 LEGS MEADOW. THANK'S TO DON FOR HIS ADVICE VERY NICE CHAP.

The final day of our trip to the Wye, one of our party having gone home. The river had dropped to 3 foot above normal summer levels and fell a little more while we were fishing. We opted to fish the deeper slower water in Leggs Meadow and managed 13 barbel between us on a mixture of pellets, boilies and paste. As usual on this excellent fishery the fish were of a good average size, best being 9lb 1oz backed up by several 8's and 7's.

2nd Day on Courtfield and River dropped back from 8 foot above normal height to 5ft above normal during the day. Still only Legg Meadow swims really fishable and fished the 2nd and 3rd pegs again. 5 Barbel caught between the 2 of us (and pulled out of 1).... 4 during the morning between 10 - 13:00 and one around 16:30 Fish were 6lb 6oz, 6lb 6oz, 6lb 10oz, 7lb 2oz, 8lb 5oz and 9lb 4oz all on double Ellipse pellets. Tried various other baits. Nothing much in the way of activity apart from the fish. Lots of wildlife again.

Booked on Courtfield for 4 days only to find the river 8 feet above summer level, but with Don's help ended the week with a total of 9 chub to 4lbs and 47 barbel, most in the 5 to 8lbs range with the best one of 10lbs 40z. Can't wait to move up here.

River was 8 foot above normal height and rose another 6-12 inches through the day. Only Legg Meadow swims really fishable and fished the 2nd and 3rd pegs. 2 Barbel caught between the 2 of us .... 6lb 2oz at 10:10 and 6lb 3oz at 21:45 and one small eel. Both barbel were on double Ellipse pellets. We tried various other baits but there was nothing much in the way of activity apart from the fish. Lots of wildlife. Used feeders around 2-4oz and lost a few during the day!
Stayed at the Bunkhouse at Jovial Colliers Inn in Lydbrok which we can recommend as very good value for money, clean, friendly and got up early too cook us breakfast !
No phone signal on O2 :-(

Large fresh fish of 18lb plus (3ft) caught on blue and silver devon below Legg Meadow crib at 4.30pm - the first from this lie this year.

16.00-17.15 Looking out window and although lashing rain down river was clear but rising. 3rd cast a fresh looking salmon of around 8lb took a small pink/silver flying c close under bank of pool to left of steel steps. Later in willow pool hooked into fish that hit spinner very hard and shot upstream fast, turned out to be a large shad, not much smaller than the salmon so presumed to be an allis shad. Rain ceased for half hour and hatch of upwing type fly and entertained by a male hobby coursing the river catching them. Moved to Wyebank

Due to the appalling weather I decided to stick it out at the Legg Meadow crib, but no fish caught.
Some points:
Access to the waters edge on such steep banks requires better maintenance e.g, proper graduated steps down for safe and secure footing, clearance of vegetation so you can see where you are walking etc. (e.g. some wood and crushed hardcore for a solid footing would not be exoensive?)
I got to the waters edge at Legg Crib very fast when I slipped and slid some 5ft on my backside down what appeared to be the only access to the pool, a well worn steep mud slide! (Getting back up was fun too!!)
If you're running this as a business and want people to return or recommend a fishery then some effort on the part of the fishery to make some basic safety improvements is a definite requirement here. Also wooden posts indicating where the pools are would be another simple inexpensive idea?
On the whole most canoeists were obliging and paddled to the other bank when passing, however there were a small few who passed right in front of me!