Feedback & Reports

Slightly more difficult day at Wyebank as the water was exceptionally low and the venue has obviously been fished hard throughout the last few weeks. However we managed to have a great day spent in stunning surroundings yet again. The barbel were a little more elusive than my last trip but all the same Mat managed 14 barbel to 4lbs and I had 13 to 5lbs. Lots of juvenile fish provided sport throughout the day. Note to others fishing the venue: This is a great venue for smaller fish that provides action throughout the day regardless of boat traffic. Just enjoy it for what it is. If you want bigger barbel then try other venues, read the previous catch reports first before booking. For a day of quantity then this is a terrific venue. All our fish fell to small hookbaits, 6mm pellets and size 12/14 hooks. There are a few better fish present but you'll have to work through the smaller ones first. Not really a big hardship in my opinion. The only downside I can see to this venue is the path which I have commented on before. Yet again both myself and Mathew fell over at the end of the day and have the bruises to prove it. The path needs some work and a little strimming of undergrowth really wouldn't hurt. Some of the rocks positioned on the path are extremely unstable and I would suggest that some reinforcement is urgently required before someone badly hurts themselves!

23 Barbel, 4 Chub

An enjoyable day on the Wye, but unfortunately nothing to declare.

Another wonderful days fishing on the Wye. I caught 17 barbel and 12 chub in the wood on feeder tactics. The fish were in much better condition than my last visit a few weeks ago. My friend fished in the field near the hut but only had one chub, sadly a double hip replacement has meant a level bit of bank is more important these days. It was his first visit to the Wye and despite a lack of fish he really enjoyed his day.

17 Barbel, 13 Chub

Very good day for both of us. Many barbel and chub, but without specimen fish (chub average 3-4 lb, barbel 5-7).

26 Barbel, 24 Chub

Second time on this beat and it looked a little low but promising with some decent flow through the near bank gulley, but it was really hard going and the barbel were playing hard to get. A lovely spot to spend a day all the same, we probably missed the best of day as the attraction of a few pints of Wye valley ale drew us away.

1 Barbel, 5 Chub

A disappointing day, I was unable to contact Terry over the weekend prior to my visit on the Monday despite leaving a message & 4-5 calls, so I opted to fish beat 5 same as last year, the swims were difficult to access apart from where the cattle had entered the water: this posed a problem of it's own when the over confident young bulls decided they was thirsty, be warned if they are in the field go to a different beat they are dangerous, this would possibly have been avoided if I could have contacted Terry(maybe on holiday as he is usually very good).
8 cormorants & 1 mink visited during the day along with 4 eastern Europeans on opposite bank poaching with spinning rods who I reported immediately to WUF who then I believe was able to contact Terry. I didn't receive a call back to confirm whether they was apprehended or not.
WUF Note: Our thanks to AW for reporting the incident immediately to us. Terry visited the beat (and neighbouring fisheries) later that day but unfortunately could not find the poachers.

I caught 2no Perch approx l.1b in size. We also found a chap fishing one day with a spinning rod and asked him for his permit to fish this water. He could not so we told him to leave as this was private beat for us to fish under Wye & Usk Foundation.
We found the fishery fantastic place to fish. The water level was a bit low but the barbel were in deeper water. Not a lot of swims to choose from. Lots of salmon jumping 10.1b/15.1b in size.

10 Barbel, 1 Chub, 2 Other

River very low ... all the fish were taken in fast water, nymph suspended under an indicator ... hooked and lost a couple.

5 Trout

Only fished for an hour on the way up to fish Craig Llyn.
Just fished the Rock pool through, no joy.

Lovely Day on Craig Llyn. Started at the lower limit where I met the new owner. Nice to see someone who clearly will take care of the place. New styles and benches in place and bank clearances made to make life easier. My thanks to him for still allowing the WUF to use the beat, it's a personal favourite of mine.
The river still has the peaty tinge it has had for a few weeks, and the water temperature seemed cold for this time of the year, can only assume the dams have released some water. Level pretty low though.
No fish from the bottom section, which is normally such a good spot but picked up 4 four grayling in the pool below the island, all around 10-12 inches.
Moved upstream and waded right through the stretch up to the channel with limited success, only a couple of small fish in the pocket water. That was until I got to the section directly below the channel, where a lovely grayling measuring 19 inches took a weighted nymph in a foot of water and took off downstream. Took over 10 minutes to get in the net.
The channel, which is not somewhere I have had a lot of success before, also fished well, took 6 fish mainly from fish coming from depth to take my dry fly, and a couple on deep fished nymphs. The top section was a bit slow and the fish all seemed to be in broken water, where a took a few more up to 16 inches.
Lovely day in a lovely place!

2 Trout, 13 Grayling