Feedback & Reports

What a stunning late autumn day in this lovely valley. Mist early, then sunny, no wind, dippers dipping and owls hooting, a crepuscular otter....oh, and some fish! A few olives in the early afternoon but nothing of note rising to them. Before and after that I fished duo and Czech nymphed as needed. Confidence boosted by taking two fish in the first six casts, one on the duo emerger and the other on the duo skinny pink nymph and both in relatively shallow water (so at least one fish was still looking up). Meant that water which at this time of year I might have given a miss, needed covering - as it turned out, largely to no avail. Finished the day with six grayling of 10-14" and four trout, the best about 14". Most on nymphs and bugs, but a few on the HE emerger. Also quite a few "graylets". Only fished about half of the beat so, as this was only my second visit, still much to learn about this venue.

Rudi and I were the last to fish this beat sadly as PwII-y-Faedda is unavailable next year. It was with trepidation that we arrived at the beat after all the rain over the past 48hrs, and yes the river was high and coloured, and after a fruitless 2hrs nymphing any accessible water, it was time for lunch, then out came the trotting rod in the margins with maggots, after feeding for 30mins, my fist fish! Followed by 10 more. These were grayling 10 -14", 9 off and 2 oos wbt 1 8" and a 14" which put up quite a fight as usual. Oh! and 6 minnows, how on earth they managed to get 3 maggots and a size 14 hook in there mouths but they did. In the end a very successful day considering the conditions. RL had 7 grayling and 2 oos wbt plus 2 dace but won't admit to how many minnows, at least 1. A great day out with my mate and a great location, sad its no longer available.
Thanks again WUF team for the chance to fish these magnificent rivers, Merry Xmas to 1 and all - Tight lines.

Not the best day to fish the Wye after very heavy rain the previous day. By packing up time, it had risen 5 feet with trees, dead sheep and masses of weed floating down. Fortunately we both had chub on the first cast and my companion landed a small barbel otherwise it would have been a blank.

4 x baby grayling of about 6 inches, 2 x out of season trout 8 and 12 inches, nymphing. The larger trout looked like a Tregate Anglers stock fish left over from the summer. Not a very productive day, but a pretty place to spend it in.

Spent circa 4hours on a very full river, very pleasant but no fish. Plenty of canoes around.

Fished the meadow in the morning nil catch. Moved down to the wood in the afternoon 1 chub 2 1/2lb 2 barbel 2 1/2lb and a 10lb 4oz cracker to end the day. Pellet and meat.

Lots of fingerling grayling to amuse us throughout the day taken on small sedge and klinks. Two grayling each to half a pound. The wind was causing a few problems until early afternoon which then suddenly abated leaving us to enjoy near perfect conditions. This was the first opportunity I had to try my new Snowbee 9' #4 prestige outfit, superb.

Fished the previous two days on another stretch of the Wye and found it hard going - this stretch also difficult. I landed one barbel around 5 pounds (not weighed), one of the other guys blanked fishing for barbel and another fishing for pike had one fish around 11 pounds. Fishing with meat or pellet produced no bites a change to red maggot on a hair rig clip started to produce bites and subsequently the one barbel of the day. A beautiful stretch of the Wye and despite the lack of fish a most enjoyable day

4 Barbel to 8lb all on pellets, and one small pike of 7lb.

Having had some great sport at Backney the previous day, my companion Gavin and I arrived at Holme Lacy with high expectation. The weather conditions looked ideal, overcast and 12c with the river carrying just a little colour. After walking the section we settled into swims on the downstream end of the stretch. Gavin was very soon into a 6 lb plus barbel whilst I was finding all the snags in front of me with every cast so moved into cable crib. Once again I found the snags with increasing regularity which wasn't helped by weed dislodging the feeder and pulling the hook into various nooks and crannys. As the morning wore on the debris coming downstream decreased and presenting a bait became easier although 4 oz was needed to hold bottom in many areas. I managed two barbel, a chub and lost a barbel and Gav too had another barbel. At lunch time I had a rove around with a deadbait in various swims looking for pike but to no avail. We then met Colin the Ghillie who was very helpful and interesting to talk to, and on his advice decided to move to swims at the top end of the section for the afternoon. I caught a succession of barbel and chub from my new swim, as did Gav from his. The way these barbel fight has to be experienced to be believed! Amazing battle every time and what stunning specimens to boot.
We finished the day with 10 barbel between us from 4 1/4 lb to 6 3/4 lb and 7 small chub. All caught on a variety of baits.
A great days sport in stunning surroundings. Can't wait to go back.