Feedback & Reports

River 3ft up and holding. We fished the Cow field on the lower half of the beat as it looked the most promising and accessible stretch. We ended up with 5 barbel between 5lb and 7lb and 13 chub to 4lb 10oz. Most fish were caught on feeder fished halibut pellet, though a lot of the chub came to trotted luncheon meat.

Penpont - high water, running off, 14 fish between the four of us, biggest BT at about 14", would have been good next day!!
Great time had by all, cant wait for the next time.

7 Barbel on hallibut pellet. 1 Chub same bait.

After 19 blanks it was something of a relief to finally net fish number 2. It was a cock fish of about 10lbs and almost as coloured as an Autumn fish. Taken on a spinner. Whilst un-hooking, I noticed considerable damage to it’s mouth. In my opinion it had either been hooked and lost or landed and un-hooked/handled roughly. The river was about 2ft above summer level and quite clear.

I didn't catch anything or see a fish all day. I got the feeling that the beat is not terribly well looked after - the path down to the beat was overgrown and the walkway, which is referred to in the beat publicity, is in need of considerable repair. There was also very little detail on the beat map as to where to fish, where the lies and "hotspots" were etc. The other thing that did not please me was that there were a number of other people fishing the beat with their spinning rods!! I feel pretty confident they hadn't paid their £35.00 for the privilege!!All in all, not a great day.

WUF note - There has been an increase in poaching effort in this area recently so please ring the office immediately on seeing anything suspicious.

We arrived to a nearly unfishable river. There were only 2 very unsafe pegs right at the lower part but by 6pm, the river had droped and 2 or 3 more pegs opened up but still very muddy and not to safe in places. Despite all that MK had 1 Barbel 7lbs and lost 3 more and I had barbel to just over 8lbs. The walk from carpark to pegs is not for the hearth fainted. The steps down from car park to public path are a nightmare if you carry stuff, you need to be Young and fit or you will not make it. The top part of the fishery (first 250 yards plus) is totally unfishable even on lower water due to the undergrowth and trees. That is probably why it has not been fished in recent years. A lot of passing by walkers, nature lovers etc, as it has a nice footpath along the bank. Definitely not as good as the more popular beats we fish further up river. I would not want to fish it during holidays time, it will be full of passers by for sure. We prefer quieter venues and the access to pegs should be more clear on the description of this beat. Very hard stiff steps with mad incline to land on public foot path, then a long walk to first fishable peg. My advice if you want to fish it, travel as light as you can or be prepared to do few long hard trips to get all the gear. The river here is considerebly larger than further up on the more commercial well known beats.

Water .98m and good colour for spinning. My guest Dr John Lewis landed two cock fish between Chainbridge and the overhead cables 12lb and 10.5lb taken on a yellow and a black fc. Unfortunately, both fish took the lure down and could not be returned. Water should fish well for rest of week barring more rain.

After 36 hours of anxiously watching the river cams and EA gauges the river was still high but starting to fine down nicely. Fished the field above the lower entrance. Centre of river flowing very fast, calmer water nearer the bank and a nice crease between the two. Had my first ever barbel (3lb and 7lb) and a PB chub (3lb), on pellets behind a feeder.
Even a broken quiver tip on a brand new feeder rod couldn't dampen my spirits. Will come for longer next time.
Previous comments re steepness of bank are accurate but its negotiable with care (thanks for cutting in the steps) and a long handled landing net.
Many thanks again to the "few" at WUF from one of the many!

Did not fish ..............raging torrent of brown Windsor soup!

Decided not to fish due to weather/conditions.