Feedback & Reports

Quite a surprising day. First surprise was a couple of days ahead of fishing when i saw that Fownhope 5 had no-one booked on for the Sunday. So made plans with the wife to head there for a pub lunch followed by an afternoon on the river. Next surprise was getting the bill in the New Inn at Fownhope for the excellent Sunday lunch we had there, very reasonable (especially compared to the place next door!). After lunch we headed the long way round the woods. Given recent catch reports i fully expected to find the opposite bank fully loaded with HDAA anglers, so third surprise was finding Lucky Stone pool completely deserted. Fishing in to the obviously faster water, another surprise came my way in that despite it being the middle of a very sunny day, the fish were exceptionally obliging! Chub and barbel came regularly though some bites were missed (probably chub) and a couple of fish threw the hook at the net (definitely chub!). Predominantly I fished the feeder with usual groundbait/ pellet combo and either meat or pellet as hookbait. I also waded across the very shallow section so i could trot the middle of the river with sweetcorn but it wasn't as effective as a static bait (though i did manage a decent chub on the float which was great fun!). Total of 6 decent chub and 4 barbel, biggest of which i weighed very quickly at 8.13. That was a somewhat surprising return given the conditions and the fact that we were only there for about 4 and a half hours. Last surprise was the canoes - or lack of them! In the time i was there i saw less than 10, plus a group of 3 paddle boarders... all immaculately behaved, went through quickly with a wave and a hello from me which was politely returned. Could have stayed longer and would definitely have caught more but with the walk over the hill and the drive home looming I was very content with my day. Superb!! Thanks to all at WUF and landowner for making it possible.

4 Barbel, 6 Chub

really different from last week - bites really fussy and barely more than a tremble of the tip at times - all came in the morning - rain pushed the water up a few inches and it seemed to stop them feeding. another two 9 pounders to add to the three from last week...but still no double.

5 Barbel, 12 Chub, 1 Other

1 Barbel, 40 Chub

3 anglers 11hours fishing hard work

10 Chub

Lot of chub and some barbel

Overcast most of the day and low water level
A fair hike to the river from the parking area and then very few fishable swims without a major trek with full gear - the lucky stone end of the beat is only really an option for the young , agile and very fit ! Lucky stone itself is actually easier to fish from the opposite bank which is apparently on the Hereford Angling ticket (and anglers were casting across to ‘our side’ all day!
Overall a rather underwhelming day with the only sport (apart from eels) on free lined meat

5 Chub, 5 Other

only fished this beat in the winter when everything is a bit wet and slippery- and a trip to the stones and back is a bit of a suicide mission...a bit of an easier scramble this time of year. Plenty of barbel feeding early morning - had 6 before 7am - all on 15mm pellet. when your arm needs a rest, stick on some meat and you get chub instead. more like a quarry than a river bed - with lots of square sharp edged boulders to snag or cut you off. Really disappointed to catch several fish dragging yards of line around with them...braided hooks lengths...and all with barbed hooks. if you're going to fishy these types of snaggy areas you need to think about line and rig choices. yes i lost half a dozen fish in the rocks - but i only left em with a 4 inch hooklength and a size 12 barbless hook - not yards of tackle.

14 Barbel, 20 Chub

10 Chub

We caught 12 chub, 1 Dace and 1 eel on the feeder using pellets and meat.

12 Chub, 2 Other

Made the trek over the hill on an overcast day.
Barbel 8.7 and 8.9, chub from 2-5 lb caught all through the day.

2 Barbel, 60 Chub