Feedback & Reports

An enjoyable, but tough day on the Wye in the wind and rain. We fished hard through the unpleasant weather from dawn until dusk and were rewarded with a chub of 3lb 12oz at lunchtime and a barbel of 5lb 12oz at about 7pm.

1 Barbel, 1 Chub

Caught on pellet.

1 Barbel

Both caught on Flying C - River level very low and clear.

1 Pike, 1 Other

Hot sunny day, water low and a fair bit of weed. Best day on the Wye so far. Four Barbel, 2 at 5.5lb, 1 at 7lb and 1 at 7.5lb. Also 1 Chub of 3.5lb. Baited up swims with hemp and pellets from a bait dropper and rested them, then returned added a few more droppers and straight in with Elips pellets glued to hair rig. Will be back in the spring.

4 Barbel, 1 Chub

Started early, fly only. River in good condition. Little colour if any. Rose a fresh looking fish a couple of times to a small fly in front of the hut from the croys but it would not take. Fished the lower part of the beat but little moving/showing.
Not too many canoes, starting at 9ish, mostly polite and did not disturb me too much, who knows what the fish think...
Only problem was the amount of weed (ranunculus?) coming down, at some points in thick mats - was there a cut? It got worse as the river dropped and by 1pm it was really hard to fish.

1 Trout

After finally finding the fish, had my best ever day on this beat. Fished 6 different swims from one end of the beat to another, but only found 2 with any decent water level and flow. Chub from 4.5lbs to just under 6lbs and barbel from 6lbs to just under 11lbs. All fish caught on 12ml ellipse pellets glued to the hair, with a size 10 hook and 16lbs micro-braid hook links. 12lbs TF Gear red mist mainline on either my 2.25lbs test curve Daiwa Infinity Specialist Barbel rod or my 1.75lbs Hardy Marksman Specialist Avon rod. Weed was probably the worst I have ever experienced on the Wye and water levels the lowest I have experienced on this beat - in spite of which water was being abstracted throughout the day. Still one of the best Wye & Usk beats in my opinion and one I look forward to fishing again in late September.

26 Barbel, 7 Chub

Monday 19 August 2013. TWO GRISLE 5lbs and 4lbs spinning with a small mepps at the top croy under the wood before noon. Water condition improving by the hour.

2 Salmon

River looked good. Day ruined by endless canoes.

It was recommended by the Foundation that given the rain we were receiving, Caradoc would give me a good chance of a salmon on the Wye. Although I did not catch, there were plenty of salmon showing throughout the day. Fishing effectively for them was another matter. There was a weed cutting exercise going on upstream and I kept getting clogged up with cut weed floating down stream all day. Unfortunately there were swimmers, dogs in the river and even a horse as the day progressed. Had this not been the case, my chances would've been much better.

1 Trout

Lovely part of the world and lovely stretch. River still seems out of sorts. Combination of late spawning and really low water levels.

Fish together in large shoals so a lot of barren water.
Managed 8 Barbel on one rod but only two chub on the other. Fish in fast water.

Two blanks on other stretches in same trip for both anglers.

8 Barbel, 2 Chub