Feedback & Reports

Had the best days fishing ever on our beloved river Wye. Arrived early and a bit of colour in the water, fish fed all day catching around 12 chub to around 4lb and several Barbel to around 9lb. It was a great day and we can't wait to go back. Only think to note bank access is a little more challenging but this all ads to the adventure. Thanks again WAF.

3 Barbel, 12 Chub

Not a bad day. River still in high water, fast flowing and coloured. Feeder method.

1 Barbel, 9 Chub

River up three and a half feet, chocolate brown and pushing through, not ideal but we managed a few fish, best Barbel just over 8lb. Best chub 4 and a half. All fish to meat.

4 Barbel, 8 Chub

Got there about 6ish in the morning and the river looked good, but about 2 hours later there was about 4 foot of extra water running through with a lot of debris coming down. As this stretch is on the outside of the bend it was fairly dangerous as my friend nearly got hit by a massive tree that was was flowing through (i wouldn't even try going into the wooded area as you'll either collapse climbing the hill to go round it or you'll fall in when in there are there are no pegs on this stretch that are really accessible). I was informed by a local who was walking their dog that the other side of this stretch was day ticket for £7 and had pegs cut out to fish, and then about half an hour later 4 really loud brummies turned up and then that was the perfect time to call it a day as I couldn't bear listening to them shout to eat other from peg to peg. I don't think I'll be paying a visit to this stretch again and if i do I'll be paying the £7 to fish the other bank as it has better swims. Think the swim could produce a good days fishing if there was no flood water running through and also if no one else was fishing the other bank.

1 Chub

There is good access to the river in the top field with fishy swims but the bottom is snaggy and there were a few fishermen on the opposite bank while we fished so we moved on, beyond the woods, a ten minute walk. The river opens up much wider in the bottom field with less obvious places to fish but venture into the woods and you may be rewarded. We caught all our fish in a stunning pool at the bottom of the riffles in a frenzied session where we had a number of double hookups! Used halibut pellet, method feeder.

12 Barbel, 8 Chub

Another fantastic day at Fownhope 5. Heavy rain throughout the day did not dampen our spirits or the fish. River was rising by a good foot at the end. SG and SM made the arduous trek over the hill and braved the woods but were rewarded with a fantastic catch. SG fishing from the large rock having 18 barbel best 10.7lb and 29 chub biggest just under 5lb. SM fished just downstream and had the chub catch of his life with 45 chub and 3 barbel. MH found his fish mainly on the first field and ended the day with 10 barbel and 22 chub.
Majority of the fish came to pellet tactics with red being the best colour - must have been something to do with cherries dropping into the river in the woods!!
Thankyou Wye and Usk for allowing us to fish this fantastic beat.

31 Barbel, 96 Chub

Travelled light so walk not too bad and settled in to one of the swims in the wood. Started fishing late morning and fish feeding from the start. Loads of bites and missed fish including a carp which was lost at the net. Action stopped abruptly around tea time and that was it. Fish caught on pellet and meat .

2 Barbel, 10 Chub

The day was dry warm and overcast and the river was still carrying a lot of colour when we arrived, the prospects were good. Cardiac hill gets no easier in our advancing years but it's a necessary evil to get downstream, and walking through someone's back garden just gets weirder every time... We decided to take on the woods as the river looked so inviting there, the chosen swim was only big enough for one rod but that was fine (there's an element of mountain goat needed so caution is advised on these swims.) Boating traffic was minimal and all were courteous and kept out of the way, to be honest if you're fishing from the woods they don't usually see you until the last moment.
Fishing feeders with pellet or boilie hook baits we finished the day with 13 fish, 12 good sized chub including a five pounder you could have put a saddle on and a beautiful eight and a half pound barbel as last fish of the day. We would have carried on but the Wye lived up to its reputation as a tackle killer, the sharp rocks and snags eventually robbing us of every feeder we owned..
A real red letter day for us, thanks again Wye and Usk, we'll be back as soon as we've restocked with feeders.

1 Barbel, 12 Chub

A difficult day on a new stretch for us involving a lot of walking some of it uphill. On arrival we met a river that had risen 2 or 3 feet overnight, so the trotting rods and centerpin stayed in the car. We walked the whole length without our gear and only found a few fishable spots. We settled on some swims at the end of the first field below the wood and managed to catch 2 barbel each to 7lb 10oz.

4 Barbel

The river was falling (0.88m on the gov Ross gauge) but still fairly heavily coloured, debris wasn't too evident. Not a bad day all in all, rain until lunchtime and bright hot sunshine in the afternoon. Barbel weren't feeding as hard as expected but still put in a creditable appearance, the fish ranging from about 5 to 8lbs, all the chub caught were between 2.5 and 4lb, pellet and feeder tactics caught all the fish. Thank you again to Wuf for an excellent day.

8 Barbel, 13 Chub