Feedback & Reports

Results probably didn't reward the effort made. 450 mile round trip and a 20 hour day for 4 chub. But I will be back!
Do Not Underestimate the walk from the car park to the top end of the beat, it is a killer. Wanted to try the top end pools as I've fished Courtfield (opposite bank) before. Disappointed that two anglers from the next beat were already fishing in the top pools. They had walked down from the next beat but with nothing to indicate where one finishes and another starts what can you do?
Caught two chub in available pool, then worked my way back down to pumping station with no further action until last knockings when I caught two more. Good sized fish that were enthusiastic.
Beautiful location but probably due to early season swims had to be "manufactured." No sign of Mr Barbel.

4 Chub

Lovely section of the Wye. Really enjoyed ourselves. 2 barbel and 5 chub between us. Will be back soon.

2 Barbel, 5 Chub

Fished for a couple of hours, hot evening, one decent fish on then off!! Klinkhammer off the surface.

Low conditions, but once fish are found, they could be caught steadily throughout the afternoon.

3 Barbel, 6 Chub

Having read the recent catch returns for this beat I felt mixed emotions prior to fishing it....sheer excitement at the potential quality of the fishing I was about to experience and a slight hint of anxiety about bumping into the "ogre".
As expected the setting was perfect with stunning scenery and very peaceful. The banks are getting seriously overgrown now which not only added to the experience of fishing a wild stream but also helped provide some cover for me. At times it felt like I was engaged in some form of commando exercise as I made my way upstream as stealthily as possible without being detected. At one point I could hear the sound of a quad bike getting closer and closer and this truly got the adrenaline going.
Fortunately I managed to avoid being spotted by the farmer but sadly despite my best efforts I couldn't avoid spooking the fish. The water was very low and very clear so it was difficult to get into a decent position. I got the impression that the fish were very wary and as I occasionally placed a foot in someone else's print it made me wonder how many of these fish have recently felt a hook point or two. Saying that there were a fair few fish rising and I managed land three between 10 and 12 inches and lost/pricked a great deal more. All on a grey wulff. These fish are in stunning condition, fit and seriously well fed which is of no surprise considering the amount of insect life that was present including a few mayflies. Sadly I was only able to fish for four hours so didn't even manage to cover half the beat.
I seriously enjoyed my first time on this impressive little stream, it has a huge amount of variety to it and a seriously impressive head of decent sized, hard fighting trout.

3 Trout

The barbel are still spawning (I observed this one evening on the camp site I was staying at) so I think they are two to three weeks behind due to the low Spring/early Summer temperatures.
This was my first time at this fishery and so spent some time walking all the banks. I say walking the banks but the upper section is more like deep jungle and impossible to fish from the bank for trees. Fished the upper section long trotting with bread flake for five nice chub.

5 Chub

Fished what I thought was Henry's pool.
Nice glide about 3 rod lenghts out, about 8 foot deep.
Had 4 chub on a specci waggler setup with sweetcorn and had 4 on pellets on a feeder or lead.

No Barbel, tried big/small baits and various lengths of hooklink.

Biggest chub which was caught on the float was 5lb 1oz.

Be careful of the track down to the Youth Hostel.

7 Chub

A tough days fishing, few accessible swims and relatively cold water temp for time of year of 12c. Anglers on the far bank wern't catching much either. only 2 medium sized barbel and 1 chub caught. Charging 3 anglers £60 for a length with 7 pegs is a bit steep, luckily no one had booked the 4th rod. More work needed on this one WUF.

WUF note - The booking of 2 rods on this beat achieves exclusivity and therefore we would only add 2 rods by telephone to the initial anglers booking and not 'overbook' them.

2 Barbel, 1 Chub

A long walk from the car park led to a very beautiful stretch of the Wye valley. I would recommend travelling light as it is a further walk to cover the whole stretch available. Access to the river is difficult because of steep sided banks and lots of willow growth - there are few swims accessible without alot of cutting back and use of a machete (which I did not do). I fished the Island swim which is fast and turbulent. This proved productive in the evening after 5pm( I fished another swim further up river but there were no bites). My intended fishing partner for the day was not able to come so I fished alone. Ledgered and hair rigged pellets delivered lots of aggreesive bites(after 5pm) from the barbel but the swim was sadly snaggy and I lost a few rigs and big fish who took me into the snags. Persistence gave me a lovely 5 pound ten ounce barbel which fought very hard using the strong current.
Another really lovely day out on the Wye in a beautiful part of the valley but underwater snags and a general lack of access to the water made it frustrating at times. I could have caught so many more - don't we all feel that sometimes!

1 Barbel

Plenty of water today and not too coloured at all, 1 Salmon spotted splashing about on "The Gabions " but only a brief tug on a black and yellow tube before losing interest. Upper 4 beats difficult to access, had to help a couple of other fishermen get back up onto the steep bank on one and very overgrown. Altogether a lovely stretch of river and only a handful of canoes early on, perhaps as it was a weekday. Would come again but needs a trim!