Feedback & Reports

Fished the wood section. 5 good chub caught to one rod. Some nice eels caught and small dace. No barbel which was due to the low river conditions. Lots of canoe traffic which did not help the fishing and we even had people swimming through our swims.

15 Chub, 10 Other

We caught and released 5 small trout, ranging from 6 to 10 inches in the morning on the upper section of the beat. In the afternoon, we moved to the lower section, however as temperature rose, the fish became less active and had less appetite. Although we patiently carried on fishing until late evening with the belief that the fish would start to rise as the temperature dropped off once again, we ended up no catch in the afternoon.
We saw some decent size fishes cruising at the bottom of shallow water but they were not interested in flies and disappeared to somewhere as we stared to fish.
Water was very clear, the level was very low, and the flow on the pools was very slow like still water.
It's been long hot days, we need rain, and the fish need rain!

5 Trout

I was welcomed by the owner when I arrived at the river and he told me a lot about the beat including its rich wildlife and the importance of avoiding the environmentally sensitive area. He corrected the map sent by WUF showing me that the lower limit is slightly further downstream of the wooded area. There is a sign on a tree. He didn't think the upstream limit stretched as far as that shown.
The fishing was challenging as the river was incredibly low and conditions bright, hot and still. I was casting to fish I could see on the long glides and although a number had a go at my dry fly none of them stuck (my poor timing, I suspect). If I could have spent more time there I'm sure nymphs would have paid dividends in the deep pools and gutters. I saw fish of varying sizes including a couple of good grayling and a chub. I'd certainly like to return to this beautiful stretch of the Irfon and wouldn't be put off by hot, dry conditions.

There is never a bad day on the Wye, but the low river and hot bright conditions are making it tough going. There were a couple of swims that produced the fish but one of them was very difficult to return the fish safely, so it took two of us, one in the water to land and unhook the fish safely, and one fishing. I drew the short straw and spent my time in the water, may be not so bad given the weather. I would just like to emphasise that in these conditions the fish welfare should come first and if you can't land and release the fish safely in a given swim, don't fish it!

10 Barbel, 3 Chub

Very hot and very quiet.

Did not catch any fish.

A great day working my way upstream with a light rod and a heavy nymph. Slight colour in the water - which I’m guessing may be something to do with calcium carbonate chemistry? Probably made it slightly easier to sneak on the fish, all of which were holding exactly where you’d expect in the deeper pools.

12 Trout

Only fished the afternoon and evening, 1 barbel about 12 ozs and 2 small chub. Fished 6 pegs at the lower end of the fishery. Just couldn't get them to feed. Lovely place and a great day. Weed did prove to be a bit of a problem.

1 Barbel, 2 Chub

The ducks kept us company all day but unfortunately so did the continuous (and I mean continuous) canoes. They were still coming down well past 6pm.
Some clearly did their best not to disrupt us. Many were frankly inept (some triggered by alcohol), making it impossible to fish at times. A stark reminder as to why we tend to avoid Saturdays in July on certain parts of the river, especially when the weather is ‘good’.
Despite our best efforts and persistance, changing methods throughout the day and fishing until 9:30pm, we couldn’t off-set the difficult conditions (bright sunshine, clear water) and frequent disruptions.
CH made an all too brief contact with a solitary Barbel and hooked and lost a Chub on cheese-paste very late on. RE generated some interest in his float-fished sweetcorn but ultimately the river and conditions beat us both.
Only booked a few days prior to the weekend so faced limited availability. We expected a generally challenging day and that’s exactly what we got. We look forward to next time, but maybe not this stretch on a summer weekend whilst the sun is shining. River 1 Fishermen 0.

Hot sunny day, river low and clear. No bites or fish, tried all methods, meat, pellet, corn, long, short hook-links. They just weren't having it. Beautiful short stretch of river. Would go again when river a little higher. Good parking and pub very close.