Feedback & Reports

A difficult but ultimately rewarding first day of the season. The river was low and clear, but had a reasonable flow at the top end of the beat. Caught chub up to 4.5lb on 2 small elipse pellets glued to the hair with marine halibut groundbait in a medium cage feeder. Caught using my Hardy Marksman specimen feeder rod with 10lb mainline and 9lb hooklink to a size 12. Dad also caught a >3lb eel on a large piece of luncheon meat. Fished 4 swims all in front of the house and managed 6 barbel up to 9lb - all on 2 10ml elipse pellets glued to the hair. 1.75lb test curve Daiwa infinity specialist barbel rod, with 12lb straight through and size 10 hook. Hard work but a good day in the end.

6 Barbel, 12 Chub, 1 Other

Struggled tonight, didn't see so many big fish, but did catch 1 @ 10 ins. CAN SOMEONE DO A RAIN DANCE!

4 Trout

Tried absolutely everything to winkle out a fish of some description but it just was not to be. Pre-baiting and moving swims brought no change.
Suffice to say, I cannot think of a better place in the world to blank. The local wildlife never ceases to entertain, even if that is a Mink busying itself along the margins. Will be back again and again and again!

A very tough first say of the season, only four chub caught with myself catching three of them. Beautiful stretch of the Wye but a little disappointed with access. Even with chest waders I would estimate only six to seven swims that you can safely get to without a rope. Could do with some work to make it a bit more angler friendly as this low number of swims split between four anglers along the entire stretch isn’t ideal, especially for £20 per angler! I’m sure as the season progresses the catches will improve, perhaps just a bit too early for the barbel after a three month break.

4 Chub

Running very clear with good hatch of stonefly and still a few mayfly about. Very little in the way of fish showing / rising despite the abundant fly life although only able to fish between 11:30am and 1:30pm. Small brown trout returned.

1 Trout

Wet conditions but much less windy that the last few days. River was up a bit with a good flow, but quite clear. Various hatches of olive, midge and sedge. Caught 1 fish on a GHRE, but the rest came on an X-caddis which was used to target rising fish. Most fish were 8-10inches with 2 notable exceptions weighing in at 2lbs. All returned. Only fished the lower section, so still much to explore on this beat.

8 Trout

Finally it was the 16th and I arrived on the bank excited to get fishing, first thing was to find the pegs as they were all over grown. Once the pegs were sorted I settled into a swim near the middle of the stretch. I fished a groundbait feeder with pellet and on the hook I used either 14mm pellet or luncheon meat. Despite my best efforts and a change of swim only 4 chub came my way (all between 2 & 3lb). No barbel for me, or the other chap on my side of the river, or the three guys on the other side. Seems the barbel were elsewhere, maybe still spawning.

4 Chub

No fish caught in the morning, raining continuously. Much better afternoon between 2 and 6pm with 10 fish caught to 12 inches. All New Zealand style in the top half of the beat. First time on this beat and very impressed.

10 Trout

13 Chub on bread and pellet. Took fish from beats 2, 3 and 4. Tried for barbel but no joy.

13 Chub

Six Barbel to just over eight pounds between us but the going was hard, the fish just not settling to feed. Three of these came first cast in a new swim, then nothing! Maybe they have not finished spawing yet, it's a very late year. Plenty of chubb though, one rod having one of six pounds, which is a big fish this time of year. This beat is a bit of a walk,(offset by the beautiful meadows with spotted orchids) but there is some lovely water at the top end, Swan pool looks great and this is where most of the fish came from. This beat has some real promise for the future.

6 Barbel, 15 Chub