Feedback & Reports

Another great day. Lost count of chub. 4 barbel caught long-trotting at far end of beat. Sweetcorn used as bait. Many chub caught.
Other method was swim feeder with 2 foot hooklink. 10mm boilies on hair.

14 Barbel, 20 Chub

Low river - swim feeder and 20 inch hooklink - 10mm source boilies and tuna and chilli boilies. Lost count of chub - catching immediately on drop - couldn't even sit down! Pity we were fishing for barbel!

6 Barbel, 40 Chub

Another very productive trip to this excellent beat. Barbel a bit more skittish than in previous years, probably due to the low water, but regular feeding and perseverance paid dividends over a day and a half of high-quality fishing. We found fish in some new locations this year, which was a welcome bonus. The chub shoals seem to get bigger every year; 100+ in the net is a very conservative estimate, and it was often impossible to get the feed through them to the barbel below.

49 Barbel, 100 Chub

A beautiful sunny day with the river running ever lower and clearer. Unfortunately, a stiff downstream breeze made float fishing very difficult so the feeder was the only real option. Another lovely day out in wonderful surroundings and enough fish to top it off.

5 Barbel, 12 Chub

Second day on the stretch, but due to packing up and travel, I only managed to fish 10:00 to 15:30. Clear blue skies, so decided to leave umbrella and coat behind (mistake). I found a bush to shelter from the rain, which proved a useful spot. Caught 10 barbel, all but two bites were more like chub taps than barbel pulls, so found it best not to ignore them. One small one at around 2lb, one at 4lb and the rest between 6lb and 7lb 10oz.
Never expected to do so well during the middle of the day, so was absolutely delighted.
I found that I needed to check both the hook length and line, up to about 8ft above the lead, after every fish. The rocks and weed were making a real mess of 10lb Insight GR60 mono.

10 Barbel, 8 Chub

First of 2 days on the stretch. River still low, but with a little colour. Fished the full day and the numbers say it all. Regular bites throughout the day. Fished the faster water passed the bend. Lost count on the numbers of chub, and lost a further 6 barbel, but overall my best ever day on the river. Fish fell mainly to pellet.

29 Barbel, 35 Chub

Nice to be back at Holme Lacy 3 after an absence of 8 yrs, could not believe how much it has changed. Young trees and bushes growing, with well maintained pathways and pegs. This beat is a real credit to Colin Richardson who maintains and manages it for the land owner. Great to speak to him again, what a true gentleman and always willing to give good advice on pegs and where to locate fish. Lets hope the w&u keep this beat on their passport for many years to come.
So to the fishing itself - weather was sunny and cloudy on the 1st day and overcast with rain showers on the 2nd. 1st day saw me start at the bottom croys trotting pellets catching a few chub, I then moved to the first land slip changing to a speci waggler trotting the far bank this picked up a lot of fish bites came fast and furious. 2nd day I fished the bottom of the beat and started wading right down to the fast water with a feeder. No luck. As I came back I noticed a deep gulley on the far side. Put in a kilo of ground bait, hemp and pellets. Went back to rig up and avon float, waded out and started feeding pellets. Picked up a few chub just off bottom then noticed chub coming right up in the water to take on the drop. I shallowed up to 18" and started to catch what would turn out to be a massive haul of chub all ranging from 3lb to 5lb+. At one point I was catching 4 to 5 fish in 20 minutes. This then tailed off and the fish became spooked by the float going in. I stripped everything off but a no.4 shot and basically free lined a 8mm pellet down the run. The chub could not cope with this, the presentation must have been as good as it gets. 5 barbel also fell to the free line and at 7 o'clock with my hooklink broken and a long drive looming I desided to call it a day. The fish were stil feeding and I stood and thought to myself how lucky I have been to catch such a large amount of quality fish. I will probably never have such good fortune ever again. The angling gods must have smiled on me. Thank you to the wye and usk for letting me fish in such beautiful surroundings. I feel privileged.

7 Barbel, 100 Chub

Back on Holme Lacey for a second day. Weather glorious again but most of the colour from yesterday had dropped out. Again we kept mobile and fished numerous swims along the whole length, BH catching 5 barbel and 11 chub and BG had 6 barbel and 15 chub again. All caught on various pellets and boillies to round off two great days fishing making the 560 mile round trip again well worth it. Finally once again a massive thank you to the Wye and Usk Foundation for providing the opportunity to fish this fabulous river.

11 Barbel, 26 Chub

First visit to the mighty Wye this season, weather was beautiful, river nice height with a touch of colour. We fished quite a few swims from the croys down to the bottom end which, as mentioned by previous posters has changed quite a bit. We caught from most swims with BH catching 36 chub and 3 barbel and BG trailing in with 11 chub and 4 barbel. A fantastic days fishing with various pellets and boillies catching all the fish.

7 Barbel, 47 Chub

Bright and sunny. 4 barbel hooked in the first hour and then they switched off completely. The chub continued to feed sporadically.

3 Barbel, 10 Chub