Feedback & Reports

Fished this beat on Thursday and Friday. With a bit of help from Stan the bailiff we found the fish and had 49 barbel between us. Most fish came to feeder and small pellet but we had a few on the float too. Wonderful fishing.

49 Barbel

Arrived early morning and started to fish the feeder in the cloudy low light conditions to take 5 chub before the rain came down.
The chub stopped biting so we started to explore the rest of the fishery, which I have to say was stunning. After a few hours spent searching different swims and falling down the banks into nettles (proper boys stuff) we still couldn’t find any Barbel so headed back to base camp for a quick recharge.
I soon set out in search of Barbel again and this time came up trumps after spotting one move between two clumps of weed. I was soon set up and it wasn’t long before the first Barbel was on the bank.
Knowing that I had a well known legend “Barbless” friend with me, I did the honorable thing and let him jump into the swim. It wasn’t long before he hooked a Barbel, surely this was it he was going to finally catch a Barbel after two seasons of trying, but alas it parted company after cutting him off on a rock. Myself and K fell about laughing as our still “Barbless” friend lit up the valley with a torrent of obscenities.
Thankfully after continual resting of the swim he managed to bag his first Barbel and tranquility returned to the valley.
The fish kept coming for the rest of the afternoon and between the 3 of us we managed 8 Barbel and 11 Chub with at least 4 other lost fish. None of the fish were weighed, however the chub were around 3 and 4lb and the Barbel ranged from about 4lb to one which was knocking on the door of 10lb.
A great day was had by all and we would defiantly book this beat again.

8 Barbel, 11 Chub

River very low and clear, fish didn't feed until about half 7 and got better as the sun fell.
This beat needs a bit more water on to fish well through the day. For reference at least 0.8 on the gauge at Ross on Wye (EA) should be sufficient I fished at 0.4 today
Nice to see disabled access and a hut. Overall another great day on the Wye.

2 Barbel, 6 Chub

Windy. Difficult conditions. Fished 2 hours late evening. 6 trout. Floating line. Silver Invicta.
B&B in Llanidloes. Coach & Horses B and B (former pub), very clean, large rooms, good breakfast. Recommended.

Good day at Holme Lacy, river was low but managed a few fish between us. Chub to 4lb and Barbel to 6lb. All fish caught on pellet, some on a float the others using a feeder.

4 Barbel, 13 Chub, 1 Other

First visit to this new W&U beat. No problem with walk from Youth Hostel to bottom of the stretch but very disappointed with lack of swims and access to the river, even for those of us prepared to get to difficult swims. Further disappointment to see at least 8 anglers fishing into the main pools and swims on the opposite Courtfield bank, despite fishery literature stating that there would be no overlap of swims. This meant that even if access to the river had allowed we could not have fished anywhere above the Pumping Station, taking half of the fishery out of contention. Through perseverance and initiative we found one swim that produced fish late afternoon but until work is done to provide reasonable access we will not return to Home Fishery. It is also worth noting that the vehicle access to the Youth Hostel car park is single track and has no passing places. We had to reverse on both journeys to allow oncoming vehicles to pass; nervous drivers should be aware of steep unfenced drop down the valley to one side of the road.

5 Barbel, 1 Chub

River was low and clear when we arrived but came up dramatically during the evening despite the bright, clear sky conditions. There must have been some heavy rain in the catchment upstream. We fished opposite the gardens and had 3 Barbel to 8 pounds and some Chub all on a variety of pellet/boilie approach. Really enjoyed our day and will definitely come back to this beat. The farmer is a good bloke and £5 for a return trip to the river is well worth it!

3 Barbel, 4 Chub

River very low and clear with bright sun all day. During last 2 hours, 2 fish showed at top of beat and two at bottom. One pull but no fish.

Washed-off

We had an amazing time, caught 8 overall, tiny apart from a pound trout on the last stretch of the beat, we fished until dusk, amazing moon and tractor tyre sky. Coming back in September!

8 Trout