Feedback & Reports

Fished the river on 16th and 20th September for the first time. On the 16th the river was high. Had a short session of 3 and a half hours. Rewarded with three chub (best 4lb) and a barbel of 6lb 11oz. Fished for 5 hours on 20th (river down) and had 3 chub (best 3lbs). All of the fish were caught on luncheon meat. Very pleased and will book again

5lb grilse taken on Uskgrub fly on 14/9. 12lb fresh salmon on silver mepps on 15/0. Both fish returned.

Yesterday's rain had dramatically increased levels. River high and very coloured & logs, branches & other rubbish were flying downstream. At least it wasn't raining, but still very windy.
We had a recce first and only found 3 viable spots to fish in safety, all near bank slower runs & slight eddies. We caught 16 barbel between us, mainly fish between 5-7 lbs with two slightly larger at 8lb, plus a couple of small chub - all on pellet & pellet/boilie combos. Had to hold the fish hard so they wouldn't get into the main flow. Brilliant fun & not expected when we arrived and saw the state of the river. We will be back.

With having caught a large number of barbel over the previous four days, but with only one over 8lb, i was looking forward to trying to tempt one of the larger barbel that inhabit this fishery. Two anglers arrived just before me, and with a very limited number of fishable swims in the current high water conditions i was concerned they would plump for the swim i was after. However, they chose to fish the main Vatone Pool, so i fished the run off below, which was my first choice in these conditions. Even here the pace was very fast and the only option was to fish close in where there was a steady pace and a good crease. However, as on Saturday, the river was rising fast after yesterdays rain, and i was not sure that the fish would feed. I needn't have worried as i had a barbel of 8lb 11oz first cast and continued to catch steadily until they switched off late afternoon, at which point the amount of suspended debris was again making the fishing almost impossible. However, by this time i was very happy with a catch of 13 barbel, including a cracking fish of exactly 10lb. This was a great finish to a fantastic few days fishing in mainly ideal conditions, and my thanks go to the Wye and Usk Foundation for offering such wonderful fisheries in stunning surroundings.

Between the two of us we landed 30+ Browns and 10+ grayling of between 9 and 13" safely returned. Water was clear and levels were good. Not much fly activity so most success on nymphs. An excellent day following a disappointing day on the Usk the day before.

1 Chub (2lb), 6 Barbel (3lb - 6lb 14oz).

Shocking weather and I saw 6 trees and a yellow garden shed float past. The river was rising so I called the office to ask if I could get a washout. They said yes but advised that it should be fishable. I decided to man up and found a swim where 4oz of lead actually held bottom. Was very glad I did!

River about 8 feet up meant top end was unfishable. At the bottom end the salmon croys were submerged and trees etc were piling through. I fished for 2-3 hours with no joy, headed to another stretch way downstream and bagged up in the evening - strange day.

First visit to this beat and filled with anticipation having read that it's a prolific beat for barbel and with plenty of swims to fish from.

The first part turned out to be spot on - the second part less so. I didn't walk the whole beat, but in the half mile or so I covered, I found 5 fishable places. As much of the beat is classic barbel water, would it be possible to create a few more safe perches in likely places? With the 2-rod limit, there's no problem finding a swim with fish, but a bit more variety of swims would be nice.

Anyway - I started off in the obvious swim below Carey Brook and had a 8lb barbel first cast. "Here we go", I thought - which is nearly always a mistake! One small chub next cast then nothing - not even bites. The 60 or so swans which were feeding, fighting and generally getting in the way didn't help. Wandered around a bit and chatted to the other angler, who gave me some helpful info on this and other stretches. Moved further downstream to a tricky spot which was shouting "FISH" at me. Barbel first cast. Managed to not say "here we go" and caught regularly for the rest of the day, finishing with 14 barbel and the chub.

Another splendid day's fishing in great surroundings. Thanks again WUF for friendly and efficient service, not to mention great fishing.

4 x Barbel 5-7lb on halibut pellets

Wet and extremely windy. River coloured though not as high as it had apparently been, but started rising again late afternoon.
Fishing hard going, impossible to fish the top half of the fishery safely because of rain, steep banks and water levels.
We managed 8 barbel between two of us from bottom section. Fish averaged 5-6 lbs with one larger at 9lbs, plus a handful of small chub on pellet & boilie combinations.
A tough but enjoyable start to our first visit to the Wye - Lower Ballingham tomorrow.