Feedback & Reports

Warm bright day, water predictably low but Cregrina is blessed with some deep pools so enough promising water to fish. Bit of a hike to the bottom of the beat but some good water to fish, so worth the effort. Very little fly life and barely any rising fish. Persisted with dry fly (sedge patterns) and managed 8 wbt to hand / returned. 4 were plump 9"-12" the other 4 feisty little 6"-8". Lovely day to be out and to forget about the mess we've got ourselves into.

8 Trout

I like to fish this beat in lower levels so as to gain good access to the upper pools. However the flow was so low that there was barely enough to work the nymphs on a long leader properly. I did manage a couple and lost a couple more. Latter on in one of the lower pools fish started showing themselves, cruising around picking at a variety of pale wateries, needle flies, caddis, the odd olive and terrestrials blown from the trees.Out came the dry fly rod and a size 18 'F' Fly or a Griffiths gnat worked but presentation had to be spot on. Nothing of any great size, up to 14" with a larger fish pricked and lost, but great fun.

10 Trout

We had a cracking day, the weather was really hot for the time of year and the river was very low and clear. Tremendous conditions for a picnic but maybe not for catching barbel. Truly delightful stretch with such promising swims. Access is the best I have ever experienced on the Wye, we were able to drive to the beat and there were steps to the river in places and footing was comparatively even. I would thoroughly recommend the beat to the more mature and/or less athletic angler, I am waiting for a knee replacement and with care, I managed. Only caught one chub, the barbel didn't 'come on' even with the evening rise which we attributed to the extreme conditions.

1 Chub

Difficult day on one of my favourite Wye beats. Very hot, bright sunshine & low, clear water levels.
Only had 2 bites all day but a big chub and a Wye pb 11-01 barbel in the evening made it all worth while.
One thing that can be very frustrating here is the cattle. The herd were blocking the gate to the lower part of the fishery for most of the day and having young calves with them meant that we couldn't risk trying to move them on. Therefore we couldn't access 90% of the fishery, which when you've paid £45 per person is disappointing. I perfectly understand that it is a working farm, one of the things that I love about fishing Wye & Usk stretches and realise that there's no easy answer but it's something to bear in mind if you're considering fishing here.

1 Barbel, 1 Chub

Very warm sunny conditions and a low clear river meant all the action was early and late in the day with no fish to either rod between 9.00am and 4.00pm. Availability of swims is limited by the presence of anglers fishing from the far Bank in most of the better looking swims. Not quite the exclusive use we were hoping for. Vehicle access is good with parking behind pegs and a small car park at the entrance to the wood. The weather brought out a lot of canoeists - the most I've ever seen midweek in September - but this coincided with the dead period for bites so not really an issue.
small hooks and lighter rigs were needed with all fish falling to single 8mm pellet hook baits with spicy pellet fed through block end feeders.

Booking Office Note: To ensure exclusivity, we always advise booking a double-bank fishery. On single bank fisheries, there is always the chance someone could be fishing opposite.

IMPORTANT NOTE : Although anglers can drive along the bank at Thomas Wood and drop off their gear at the swims, vehicles MUST be parked in the designated parking spots.

8 Barbel, 3 Chub

Always a delight to visit this beautiful beat but we arrived with zero expectations for any decent fishing.We visited here in similar conditions last year in July and blanked then so were not too surprised to endure a similar experience.The fishing was bleak and so were the "other" fish too apart from a couple of 8oz Chub which put in a welcome appearance.But at least it was not too long a trek back to the car after a peaceful day.

20 Other

Conditions were pretty poor - very low water, no flow whatsoever in the pools, late summer canopy and growth, bright sunshine and not a fly to be seen. Caught 3 wbt to 8" but fell out of love with the beat pretty quickly!

3 Trout

Never done before but pushed onto the top of beat over 6 hours. Most fish caught before the farm house before lunch. 2 or 3 more fish caught in the increasingly difficult water above the farm house. Poor access, jungle undergrowth and low water made afternoon very tricky.

11 Trout

2 barbel caught and 1 lost, with the low levels and bright conditions during the day all actiity occurred in the evening

2 Barbel

Bit of a tough one really.......bright sunshine and a low and clear river. Only one Barbel banked and one lost. There is only really one viable swim on this beat and it didn’t seem to contain many fish today. Canoes were few but around 9,000 swans decided to sit in front of us. We fished for a couple of hours and sensibly retreated.

1 Barbel