Feedback & Reports

First time on a new beat for us. Walked down to the river on arrival and decided to head upstream to try and find the first gully area. Found a swim which looked like it would hold a few fish in the searing sunshine and clear skies.
Had to wait till around mid afternoon for the first few fish, unfortunately I proceeded to loose 6 barbel to hook pulls early on (I don't think they were feeding properly at this stage) and later to a monstrous snag mid river and the rocks close in. The barbel were scrapping like demons and with a straight drop to 6-7 foot in the side, they were boring for the gaps in the rocks under our feet in the clear water. Worth noting for any anglers that braid hook-lengths and barbless hooks would be useful to avoid breaks and, if broken, avoid leaving barbed hooks in the fish. We eventually worked the swim out and the best way to play them which involved walking up the bank a little and getting out onto a submerged rock for a better angle.
Ended the day with a 9lb 6oz fish for me, and 2 7lbers for my fishing partner. The few that I saw close in before they cut me off were 7-8lbers.
Lovely beat, although I can imagine at weekends the opposite bank could get busy with other anglers. At the moment it's a must to stay until it gets dark, as we had pretty consistent action from around 6 o'clock onwards but very little before this as is usually the case on the Wye in summer on low levels.
As always, many thanks to WUF for letting the beat.

3 Barbel

Hot and sunny conditions, river level good, most fish caught from 6pm onwards. Limited number of swims. Anglers from opposite bank wading across to fish the bank we had paid good money to fish, we agreed this was not an ideal situation, we understand the fishing rights on the opposite bank are held by holiday cottages. However, good sport in a nice setting.
WUF Note: On single bank beats such as How Caple Court there is always a chance that people will be fishing opposite you. If this is of concern, please check the website before booking - there are many double bank beats to choose from.

11 Barbel

1 Barbel, 1 Chub

Well, what a difference a day makes. No discernible change in temperature, light wind, so back in the same swim. Same tactics, rig, bait. Just one barbel to 8lb taken in the morning, otherwise quiet. I will be back.

1 Barbel

An wonderful day's fishing. Barbel fed throughout the day resulting in 9 being landed, sizes from 5lb to 9.5lb and one beauty at 11lb. The bigger fish came on in the evening. All caught on pellet/meat. River had a bit of colour and levels whilst low, were not too bad. One problem however are the anglers fishing the opposite bank. A long gully on the WUF side holds the fish and the anglers on the opposite bank cast across the river right in to the swims cut by WUF making life a bit annoying from time to time. The opposite bank anglers have a very long stretch, can they be asked not to fish into the handful of swims cut out by WUF? Needs sorting out as shouting across the river is not very relaxing.
WUF note - Unfortunately anglers from the opposite bank cannot be stopped casting across to the near bank. General rules and angling courtesy dictate that should an angler be occupying a swim, other anglers on the opposite bank must chose a different location. Unfortunately this is not a written rule.

9 Barbel, 2 Chub

First trip on the Wye, 10 barbel caught, 3 lost fish and one chubb. Will defiantly be back. Great days fishing, 2 small fish, one double all others 6-8lb.

10 Barbel, 1 Chub

Pleasant day on the river although fishing a little slow.

4 Barbel

Another disappointing day on this beat. River looked great and we had high expectations. 1 Barbel was the only result, though 3 other fish were lost. Activity very localised with one swim producing the little action there was. Fishing here does seem to have tailed off noticeably since season start.
New swims being cut on opposite side of river, hope this does not lead to confrontation as the better water at the lower end of beat is on near side.

1 Barbel

A single 1 pound barbel - probably the smallest barbel I've seen!

Love fishing the Wye but alas, only two fish caught. A very sunny day with clear water and levels dropping during the day. Barbel and Chub both caught on pellet. Haven’t been to How Caple for some years, the reason being difficult access to the water. Still the same, I am glad there was only two rods that day as any more would have been tricky. There was about nine access points to the river. However, some of them were slightly difficult and although I did not look at them all, some of them had very little platform/fishing stage to fish from.
It may be that my expectation and comfort was unrealistic, but I have fished the Wye through the Foundation quite a bit over the years and I am comparing to beats like Foy bridge.
The best fishing point was the one closest to the pumping station.
I would also like to say that How Caple beat is a lovely beat and I would go again, but only if I knew that there were only two rods.

WUF note - There are 9 swims cut at How Caple Court. These swims were strimmed back 5 weeks ago so access should not be a problem to this water. The pegs are not wooden platforms as the owner likes to maintain the banks as naturally as possible. Please see the Beat Gallery on our website page for pictures.

1 Barbel, 1 Chub