Feedback & Reports

River high and off colour. Conditions not great but good day out. Few small fish seen in slacker margins.

Halibut pellet, hair rigged on a 2oz running ledger rig.

1 Chub

A good days fishing with a new PB barbel of 11lb 13oz. A tough day to begin with. The fish didn't turn on until late afternoon. Five bites then came in quick succession resulting in 2 x chub around 3lb and three barbel weighing 7lb 10oz, 8lb 12oz and 11lb 13oz. In summary a nice stretch of river. It is a long walk but that was expected. My criticism would be the lack of swims due to fallen trees etc. With the river high we were a little limited. We also struggled to accurately workout were the fishery began and ended (maybe a sign would help). My angling partner didn't fair so well only managing the one chub around 3.5lb.

3 Barbel, 3 Chub

Having fished the Wyebank and Courtfield a few times we decided to have a look at the other side.
The track to the Youth hostel parking is interesting and requires care but is not a problem and the parking is fine. The Hostel seems to operate a cafe which is worth investigating further.
The walk up to the beat is not unpleasant and takes about 15 mins. There is plenty to go at, we walked to the top of the beat and even with the river a couple of ft over it was no problem finding swims. The banks are steep in places but easy enough to get down. In hindsight we should have fished fewer swims but with the bright sunshine and great company it just happened the way it did, the fish were a bonus. Great to catch up with Don. Looking forward to fishing this beat again in the summer, especially if the water is high.

2 Barbel, 2 Chub

The river is within its banks, still lots of colour, was flowing through faster than I'd imagined, struggled to hold bottom with a 4oz lead! Also it was our first time on this stretch and conditions made it hard to establish any river bed features. 1 chub caught by my friend, I'm gutted to have blanked but a very nice stretch of river and I will definitely give it another go when its not carrying so much pace.

1 Chub

We arrived at the car park at first light full of excitement for the day ahead. We decided to walk up to the top of the beat as this was our first visit to Home Fishing and wanted to see what we had to work with. We noticed that most of the beat is inaccessible due to the large number of tree's and bushing along the bank. There are however a lot of gaps which would be ideal to stick your bait in for 20 mins if you could last that long. We started at the top of the fishery, dropping in a few swims to try and find the fish. After an hour in the first swim I had no bites so I went to see JJ to see how he was getting on. It turns out he was doing worse than me. As he set up his chair he realised he had lost a screw and had no chair for the day. I of course found this very amusing. We each worked our way through the very tight spots this best has to offer with no joy. It was looking like it would not be our day. We each found another tight swim which looked promising so hope was restored. First cast with a huge piece of meat produced a 2lb chub for me, the bite was almost instant. I got my meat straight back out and waited patiently whilst watching the anglers on the far bank throwing their bait at each other. (They must have been bagging up). All of a sudden my rod wrapped round and instantly I knew this wasn't a small chub. It was a slow powerful fight so I knew I was in to a good barbel. Shaking with excitement I slipped the net under a stunning Wye double. I rushed a couple of bushes along to JJ to take the all important photo. As I got to him he was just releasing an 8lb barbel. I posed for the photo after weighing the 11lb beast with a cheesy grin on my face. It seemed they were coming on the feed! After celebrating in my usual fashion, I quickly cast in with the hope of another. It wasn't to be. Tried various baits with no joy so we decided to have one last swim change before dark. First cast JJ looses all his gear in a bush and the curse words swiftly followed. With no more action we headed back to the car after a satisfying day. We had to work very hard for our fish which made it very rewarding. I'll take a double any day. After catching the most and biggest fish, I had all the bragging rights on the journey home. JJ was just glad to be sat down after his chair trouble. We rounded of the day with lots of Guinness. Can't wait for the next visit to this fantastic river. Thanks WUF.

2 Barbel, 1 Chub

A stretch for those who like to stretch (their legs). One of our party who fished right at the top for a while (where he caught the 'other' - a prime gudgeon) estimated he walked 7 miles in total over the day. A nice stretch with a lot of wildlife to see - including an otter putting in a star appearance. Fish caught mainly near pumping station and the obvious swims at the bottom of the fishery.

3 Barbel, 9 Chub, 1 Other

Got burnt and now raining most of the day. A long walk to the lower section, had to take most of the gear because of the rain. Plonked in the first swims.
Talked to the nice man in the youth hostel, able to park at end of camping area, saved a few hundred yards.
River still low, feeder-pellet and mag, barbel 6lbs bracket, small chub, eel and silvers.
Take care when driving down to the youth hostel, lots of deer on the way back 20+.

1 Barbel, 2 Chub, 10 Other

Very difficult fishing compared to recent visits to Home Beat. No joy in prolific swims such as Swan Crib and Island Pool, so fished the cattle drink opposite the Legg Crib on the Courtfield bank. I took four barbel from this swim between 6-8lbs 6oz in the afternoon. Will fish Courtfield on next visit to explore this section of river more as access to banks is not so limited. 3 salmon seen in Ferry Pool around 7:00pm, all doubles.

4 Barbel

After arriving at the venue half asleep at first light and promptly backing the car over both landing nets and ground bait, I had a feeling the day was not going to go well... happy to say i was wrong. Conditions were great and the barbel were ready & waiting. The constant army of canoes to be expected on a Sunday were no trouble at all, apart from 2 Sunday drivers who ran straight into our lines. To be fair they put up a great fight on light tackle so I've added them to our catch list.
The only downside to a very fine day was the limited access to the river. Having read previous reports, I was prepared for a bit of jungle warfare & not afraid to get stuck in but i'm afraid to say there was a lot more walking done than fishing here today. Undergrowth & nettles can be dealt with, but a large part of this fishery is overhanging trees & bushes that are impossible to fish through. The only really available water is mid beat along the pumping station but this seemed very slow & deep and didn't produce anything - except for one small pellet munching pike. The top section, despite having better looking fast water, was again overgrown & had several people fishing it from the far bank anyway...so we fished predominantly in the first available swim at the end of the beat upstream of the island, and after walking the whole stretch ended up back where we started to see the day out. Not surprisingly, the fish were by then a bit offended after being molested for most of the day...so 8 barbel to 9lbs and 3 chub including a real fatso of 6.25 lbs is not to be sniffed at, but it could have been a lot more and I guess this new fishery will improve over time with a bit of effort on the bank. Cheers WUF.

8 Barbel, 3 Chub, 1 Pike, 2 Other