Feedback & Reports

On our first visit to The Creel, we were impressed with the setting and appearance of the beat but had difficulty in finding safe swims down the very steep banks. It appears not to be yet fully established as a coarse fishery and the places we fished would be dangerous in wet or high water conditions. It was a beautiful day, however and once fishing we enjoyed our catch of six barbel to eight pounds and a bag of lively chub and were amused by the comings and goings of the hundreds of Canada Geese. The wild side of the Wye at its best?

6 Barbel, 8 Chub

Great days fishing, 16 x chub to 6lb 7oz and 11 x barbel to 10lb, all fish taken with feeder on meat or pellets.
The river was in excellent condition and the wildlife made it a pleasurable beat to fish.
The Canoe traffic was light throughout the day with the exception of two clowns in an inflatable with an outboard motor going through noisily churning up all the weed in the afternoon. We only left when it got dark!

11 Barbel, 16 Chub

Moved around throughout the day, Chub were suicidal for the first 90 mins in each swim. Most chub 3-4lbs. Had a few at 4-5oz, my hookbait was as big as their head! Settled into a swim for the evening. The chub kept coming until the last half hour of light when I had 3 barbel in quick succession. Strange day as the last time I was here me and a friend had 20 Barbel between us and only 2 Chub.

3 Barbel, 45 Chub

Low clear water conditions. Picture post card spot with church as back drop. Took fish late on pellet and feeder. Struggled all day exploring all the pegs. Owners came for a chat late in day and some good advice.

4 Barbel, 7 Chub

Nice day, overcast but dry, barbel and chub plus a bonus perch.

2 Barbel, 6 Chub, 1 Other

One small barbel before I fell in. Banks steep in parts, did well to get out! Full kit on plus big coat. Thanks to K from Cornwall for helping me dry out!

1 Barbel

A tough day, a small chub 2 - 2.5lb on the 2nd or 3rd cast then nothing. Not too many safely accessible swims on this stretch but tried most of those available. The other angler on the stretch for the day went in and was lucky to get out from where he was fishing. We managed to recover most of his kit with the help of a canoeist but his iphone was the worst for the experience and will probably not recover.

1 Chub

A lovely stretch of the Wye in breathtaking setting. Arrived at 3pm and mostly fished the section by the Islands and persevered with trotting for a few hours to yield one chub. Then settled into fishing the pellet feeder for a few hours and had 4 barbel to just under 9lbs. Had a really nice chat with Charlie Lodge the beat owner. A very pleasant man. Only saw 3 or 4 canoes and the water was slightly tinged and up a little. Nice afternoon and evening.

4 Barbel

Thought it worth a go as the river levels were dropping after rain; sound theory? Yes, river was fine, access however, no. You must take your hat off to the bank clearing staff for their intrepid exploits where they have worked and access into wader depth water was there but unfortunately, unless you can get 40m+ back upstream against waist depth flow, there's no way to get out again, and the rest of the bank was way too overgrown to cast from. So, two hours trying to cast a fly and I gave up and drove the 40 miles back home. If the WUF are going to continue to charge more for game fishing in summer months, perhaps they should do something for game anglers. Too often the summer season is geared only for the course angler. Yes, the choice is mine but if there is no fishing possible on a beat, don't offer it!

A great days fishing on a beautiful beat. I took my Brother in law (American) fishing for Barbel as I promised him over a few too many beers at Christmas!
I set him up and even before my bait hit the water he was into his first ever barbel, a lovely fish of about 7lb. I was made up for him. He was thrilled.
Long story cut short he ended the day with 2 barbel and a chub while I settled for a beautiful 12lb barbel (my second best) and an 8lb barbel.
Wind picked up late in the afternoon so we up sticks early to head off. A great day - thanks to WUF!

4 Barbel, 1 Chub