Feedback & Reports

The usual Jolly Boys outing to the Wye consisting of DC, MF, MA and Sherlock the faithful hound, was depleted for the last Wye trip of 2025. DC sadly had to stay at home following an interesting knee operation. So while DC spent the day stewing over a medical negligence claim, MF, MA and Sherlock had the pleasure of fishing the incomparable How Caple Court.

Possibly the most stunning stretch of any river we have fished yet overly maligned in certain whingy catch reports - too fast flowing, too slippy, too much debris, too much water, not enough water. This is wild fishing at it’s very best and part of it’s character is the challenges it throws up!

Arriving at first light, MF and MA walked most of the bank and came to the conclusion that the swims at the downstream end where there is plenty of slack water offered the best option, with most swims pushing through very fast. The water was high and coloured but dropped about 3ft through the day.

Feeder fishing with a range of baits was the order of the day. As usual, MF had just about every bait available from a tackle shop as well as a slab of stinky cheddar cheese. The banks were a wee bit slippy to say the least but this only added to the day’s entertainment as we flailed around all day like new born foals. It was a victory that we didn’t fall in.

The chub came fairly regularly through the day other than a quiet spell around lunchtime. All were in fabulous condition and averaging about 4lb. The last twenty minutes before the lights went out, and the owls started hooting, brought two decent barbel for MF. Both around 8lb.

MA had another rather lack lustre catch compared to MF. His form seems to have dipped since having to extract a rusty barbed hook from his arse at fownhope 5 and getting stung by a gang of angry wasps at Holme Lacey. Needs to do better.

Thank you to the wye passport team and the beat owners for a magical year on the Wye for this crew. We will be back with a vengeance next year!

And here is a picture of Sherlock for no other reason than he looked cuter than MF with his barbel.

2 Barbel, 8 Chub

Very enjoyable day one nice hard fighting Barbel weighing 8lbs exactly plus two Chub 4lbs and 2lbs

1 Barbel, 2 Chub

Very enjoyable day one hard fighting Barbel weighing 8lbs exactly plus two Chub 4lbs and 2lbs

1 Barbel, 2 Chub

4 Chub

All fish were caught on the first swim after the gate. Despite it having rained the night prior and the river running at 3 and half metres, we had a decent supply of bites even in these conditions. The largest Barbel of the day was approx 10lb and all fish fought well.
Lovely, peaceful and beautiful surroundings with the woods opposite and views behind.

2 Barbel, 4 Chub

Did not fish river debris after the good lift of water made life difficult

The river levels shot from 1.2 to 3.61 over night. The water was out the banks near the car park area, just in on the rest of the stretch. We found 1 fishable peg. We managed 3 barbel on the bank, biggest being 8.15lb. We lost more tackle than caught fish, due to snags moving in the swim during the day.

3 Barbel

River at 3.6 m on the Ross gauge - did not fish

River was over the bank down the bottom of the beat so was very difficult to find any slack water, needless to say we struggled and lost loads of tackle, others were eels...

1 Chub, 2 Other

Eel

1 Barbel, 1 Chub, 1 Other