Feedback & Reports

River very couloured and high - very few available, viable pegs. No fish caught - left after 3 hours

What a beautiful setting for this stretch. Easy access to riverside but settled for swim close to fishing hut that could accommodate the 3 of us. Our friend had flown in from Germany the night before but unfortunately the Barbel would not oblige for him. Only 1 caught, 1 lost and few chublets but enjoyable nevertheless. Many thanks to WUF for providing the opportunity to fish this magnificent river. We'll be back next year.

We arrived to find the river a good 4ft up on summer level, with lots of debris comming down and the river a lovely chocalate colour, but we had a drive along the beat and found several slacker areas of river that could hold a few fish. By the end of the day we were all glad that we persevered as we all caught barbel including three over 9lb.
Most fish were to either meat or pellet wrapped in paste.
Thanks to the Foundation for a glorious beat in Caradoc.

Arrived to find river fairly low and clear despite the recent rain, but this was soon to change. I decided to fish a swim in the middle section from which i had caught barbel previously. To begin with the flow was so slow that my swimfeeder feeder was barely emptying, but within three hours the flow was such that i was stuggling to hold bottom with 5oz of lead. At one point the river was rising by around a foot every 15 minutes. I did manage 1 barbel of 5lb on pellet before the river became unfishable due to the amount of suspended debris, even in the slacker water. I was not dispondent however, as i had the next 4 days booked on diffrent beats and felt conditions would then be perfect for barbel.

I had one bite during our session on meat, lost it in weed. My mate landed 2 barbel at 7lb each. Lost another 2 to same weed. Enjoyed our time on the Wye. Hope the guys in the blue van did better! Many thanks to the Foundation.

Summary of a fairly dire weekend's fishing as follows:

Caradoc Fri 10th Sept - 5 barbel (best 7.2)& 2 chub.
Foy Bridge Sat 11th Sept - 3 chub.
Whitehouse Sun 12th Sept - 1 barbel.

It was our first time at Caradoc and we'll definitely return.

It was also our first time at Foy Bridge but we won't be returning! It was very disapointing, this is a single angler beat and we finished up huddled together in the one likely looking swim on the left hand bank. That said I'm sure that we would have had a few more chub if the river hadn't risen and turned the swim into a washing machine as well as making the rest of the stretch virtually unfishable. It was interesting barbel feeding and watching from the right hand end of the bridge before the flood waters came.

We arrived at Whitehouse on Sunday to find the river circa 8ft up and despite fishing hard and adopting a mobile approach we could manage only one fish between us! The two other (very friendly) guys who were on the beat did manage to find the fish though and did very well indeed

4 Barbel to 6lbs, water had a slight tinge, weather wet and warm, river low but rising.

Another wonderful venue, 2 Monsoon's couldnt dampen our enjoyment. Again plenty of Chub, to mid 4lbs. 7 Barbel to 9lb 6oz, all caught on either pellett or meat. All fish in the best of condition, testament to their wonderful habitat. Again thanks W&U for your help.

This was a last-minute booking having received an e-mail from the Foundation regarding late availability on this beat - much appreciated, as it helped me to decide which beat to fish! The river was still carrying some colour, but had obviously dropped significantly over the weekend. Fished from about 11am to 6.30pm, mostly in bright sunshine, so a catch of 4 barbel, with a brace at 8lb 14oz and 9lb 8oz and a single chub of 3lb 8oz seemed a fair return given the conditions. The usual pellet and meat were the successful baits.

After an unproductive morning with the first 2 swims only producing one small chub, I finally found the barbel feeding in the third swim, taking 8 fish to 7lb 8ozs and one further chub of 3lb 8ozs. All fish taken on Halibut pellets.