Feedback & Reports

River a few inches higher and pushing through slightly quicker than my last visit. Floating weed still a problem but much better than the previous few days judging from other anglers reports. I had a few Chub early morning but had to wait until 09:00 until the first Barbel arrived but at 8lb 5ozs it was worth waiting for. Although I finished with 8 Barbel, there was no sustained feeding spell having to wait an hour or two between bites, my final two coming after 6pm including the best fish of the day at 9lb 2ozs. I knew I was in a productive swim so was not tempted to move around and patience did pay off today. All fish tempted on Elips pellets, best Chub 4lb 14ozs but most other Chub around the 3lb mark.

8 Barbel, 12 Chub

Fished both Weds and Thurs but only mornings until about 10 and afternoon and evenings from about 4.30. River up a little on Weds but dropping back on Thursday. Not ideal conditions but as always its worth persevering on this stretch as the fish are there and can be tempted. Pellet fished on a long hook link behind a feeder did the trick with 7 barbel to 9.05 and 6 chub to 5lb. Nice to meet Rudi who knows the stretch really well and is very open and helpful to visiting anglers. Courtfield is definitely one of my favourite venues and I will be back later in the season.

7 Barbel, 6 Chub

5lb pike caught on the spoon.

1 Pike

River rose 5-6 inches during the day and floating weed made fishing difficult at times. However, a good day with best barbel at 9-14 and chub to approximately 3-8 caught on pellet.

9 Barbel, 10 Chub

Difficult day fishing, although conditions good, water was low and clear.caught 1 barbel at 5 1/2 pounds mid morning on halibut pellet. Fished legg meadow crib area. Tried all bates and tactics but no good, nice stretch of water, but I think it needs some colour in it.

1 Barbel

Rain held off and had a couple of barbel, so a good day out.

2 Barbel, 1 Chub

One very small chub. Nevertheless, the rain held off and I enjoyed being by the river.

1 Chub

Arrived at 2pm to do an evening session. Unfortunately there were large rafts of Rununculus weed drifting down the river all afternoon and evening. It was a nightmare to get any kind of presentation as each and every cast would need to be bought back in within a minute of casting due to the weed wrapping round the line and dragging everything off course. I've never witnessed this happening other than in flood conditions. Don't know where it all came from. Hoped it would stop towards the evening but didn't.
Started by the steps then went down to the woods at about 7ish and winkled out a couple of Chub to save the blank.
A real shame. Great beat, just the wrong day to be there.
Will be back in September after the summer kayak chaos ends.

2 Chub

Great day again on this beat. However one of the most frustrating days on the Wye. Arriving at the swim early everything was perfect. Then the canoes started to come down. No problem with these, however the ranunculus started to drift down in rafts. It was impossible to keep a feeder out for more than 5 mins. The continual drag on the line moved the feeders until they snagged. Lost 10 feeders and very very frustrating and expensive. The canoes were just destroying the weed beds. Still managed some good barbel to 9lbs 10oz however very hard work and not pleasant fishing. Other anglers on the beat were also experiencing the exact problems and came for advice. The weed does hold back the flow and increase the height of the river. No wonder it's the lowest I've seen it. Ok rant over.

4 Barbel, 10 Chub, 3 Other

I opened the account with a 2-3lb chub. Then at 8:30, a big slack line from the same area I caught from the previous day pre baited area. The Barbel charged off downstream like a rocket, played it for a bit, then the 10lb hooklink snapped :(....caught a few more chub, then at 14:30, from the same area, landed a 9lb 3oz Barbel. Then the chub went nuts, several 2-4lb fish most casts (casting all over the swim!) for about 2 hours. I fished using a large feeder, hemp+hali mix, 2-3ft hooklink (braid is better for wear and tear), small hair-rigged single pellet hookbait with size 14 barbless hook :)

1 Barbel, 8 Chub