Feedback & Reports

Back to Caradoc for day two and, unfortunately, there was no meaningful change in conditions. Having booked and paid for two days on the beat, the choice was essentially to give it another go or simply walk away and lose the booking, so perseverance won out. The river was essentially unchanged from the previous day. Desperately low, painfully clear in places and still plagued by pervasive filament and streamer weed. Every cast with a lead or feeder remained a lottery, with terminal tackle regularly returning festooned with the stuff.

One angler headed up to try the Croys, hoping the slightly increased pace might offer cleaner water and some respite from the weed. No such luck. The problem was every bit as bad there. Elsewhere, a few barbel were seen flashing in one swim, which provided enough encouragement for one angler to settle in and work through various baits. Several hours of patience, however, produced nothing of consequence.

There was, though, some unexpected entertainment courtesy of a family who had established themselves a little further upstream on the beach. With almost 300 yards of empty shingle and gravel available, the obvious choice was apparently to launch their rubber rings directly through the swim being fished. After floating merrily downstream, the return journey involved literally walking and swimming back through the swim and underneath the rod. Meanwhile, other members of the family decided that the perfect place for a spot of enthusiastic splashing was about five feet from where another angler was clearly fishing.

The angler politely pointed out that he was actually fishing the swim and asked if they could perhaps avoid it. Unfortunately, the request fell on deaf ears and the swimming, splashing and walking through the swim continued regardless. Rather than risk turning the situation into an unnecessary confrontation, it was felt better simply to pack up. The angler did exactly that and went home. Sometimes there really are no words. There was certainly no desire to spoil anyone else's enjoyment of the river, particularly on such a hot day, but with hundreds of yards of empty beach and river available, a little consideration would have gone a long way. People can, sadly, be remarkably selfish.

Further downstream there was at least a little more peace, although absolutely no improvement in the weed. It remained every bit as bad as the previous day, making presenting a bait effectively for any length of time extraordinarily difficult. Despite everything, persistence eventually produced two chub, winkled out from amongst the weed and providing at least something to show for another long and difficult day.

Note to self: avoid Caradoc during the school holidays!

There is also a frustrating sting in the tail. The Fishing Passport walk-off terms almost encourage anglers to stay and attempt to fish when common sense suggests that conditions simply aren't suitable. Extremely low water and pervasive weed, apparently, are not in themselves sufficient grounds for a walk-off. When much of a beat is barely knee deep and every cast returns with the terminal tackle smothered in weed, that feels rather difficult to reconcile with the idea of providing reasonable fishing conditions.

Caradoc is capable of being a superb stretch of the Wye and previous visits have demonstrated exactly that. These two days were a very different experience.

Low water, oppressive heat, relentless weed and the joys of the school holidays combined to make Friday another endurance test rather than an enjoyable day's fishing.

Such a shame. Caradoc can be so much better than this.

2 Chub

A very disappointing and, at times, thoroughly frustrating day at Caradoc. A trip which had been booked 6 months ago.. The filament weed is now absolutely pervasive, stretching along virtually the entire length of the beat and making fishing incredibly difficult. Every single cast with a lead or feeder came back with the terminal tackle and hooklength festooned with streamer weed and coated in horrible, slimy filament weed. Cast, wait, retrieve, strip off weed, rebait and repeat. It was relentless, unpleasant and, after a few hours, bloody hard work.

The river itself is desperately low. For much of the beat it is barely knee deep, something amply demonstrated by the swimmers wandering out from the beach and across areas where we would normally expect to be fishing decent water. There is very little depth anywhere and precious few places offering the sort of flow and cover you would normally associate with Caradoc.

And then there was the heat. Temperatures in the Hereford area reached the mid-30s today and sitting on an exposed riverbank for hour after hour in that sort of heat made an already difficult day considerably harder. With very low water, blazing sunshine, oppressive heat and seemingly endless weed, conditions could hardly have been less conducive to productive barbel fishing.

There were at least a few fish to show for the effort. One angler picked up an early chub with a long-range chuck into the faster water, while another eventually managed a barbel and a chub later in the day from the same general stretch, despite having to battle the weed throughout.

A few barbel were seen flashing early on in one particular area, which was enough encouragement to stick at it. What followed was a six-hour-plus exercise in patience and bloody-minded persistence, repeatedly clearing weed from the tackle before finally coaxing a bite and putting the second barbel of the day in the net. Hard-earned would be an understatement.

Elsewhere, there were loads and loads of chublets, mostly up to around 10oz, happy enough to take corn. They at least provided a bit of entertainment, broke the monotony and, importantly, gave some respite from the seemingly endless battle with the weed.

We’ve had some cracking visits to Caradoc in the past, which perhaps makes this one all the more disappointing. At present, this is Caradoc at its absolute worst. The desperately low water and extreme heat would have made it difficult enough, but combined with the sheer volume of filament weed, properly fishing the beat became an exhausting exercise.

The weed isn’t merely an inconvenience at the moment. It is utterly debilitating, and today Caradoc felt more like an endurance test than a day’s fishing.

2 Barbel, 2 Chub, 30 Other

Well more and more chub?

Caught nothing, water is pretty low

We booked this ages ago but as soon as I saw the river I knew there was no hope.
Every cast was covered in slimy green weed instantly , a complete waste of time and money.

We booked this ages ago but as soon as I saw the river I knew there was no hope.
Every cast was covered in slimy green weed instantly , a complete waste of time and money.

2 Chub, 1 Other

1 Barbel, 3 Chub, 1 Other

2 Barbel, 10 Chub

4 Chub