Feedback & Reports

Barbel to 7lbs 15ozs and chub to 3lbs 8ozs all caught on pellet.

2 Barbel, 3 Chub

Another great trip to the Wye and the chance to share in a good friend's first success with barbel. He didn't quite manage a double, but 9lb 13oz was close enough. Our results included another two 9's and two 8's so, all in all, a good average size. All fish were in great condition and fought well.
The sunny and low, clear conditions meant feeding spells were short and confined to the early morning and late evening periods. Canoe traffic was heavy, but no real problem. The people that lost their camera (see 25 August report) even returned with wet suits and snorkels to continue the search. Thankfully, they found it pretty quickly and so the disturbance was minimal.
Lastly, a recommendation for the Chinese restaurant at the back of the Forge and Hammer pub in Lower Lydbrook. The decor is certainly 'unusual' and we did wonder what we had let ourselves in for. The food was, however, very good and we didn't feel at all out of place in our shabby fishing clothes!

15 Barbel, 5 Chub

9 Barbel, 5 Chub

This was the second Day guiding R and D. Breakfast in the hotel was at 8.30am so we agreed to meet at 6.45am to see if we could winkle out a barbel before breakfast. We managed 3 by 8am so mission was accomplished, nothing large (all about 5lbs). After they returned from the breakfast feast,D said he had never seen an eel so we wandered off to a deeper stretch and within 10 minutes we had an eel of about 1lb so that ticked that box. We were just talking to Don and saying we hadn't caught any chub and with that the rod arched around and we had a chub of about 3.5lbs. So 6 chub later we were made to eat our words. The chub were quite large too, 3.5, 3, 4.4, 5, 4.9 and 4.8lbs. Then two barbel followed by 3 more chub to 4lbs 10oz ending the day on a high.
R and D thoroughly enjoyed. Thanks Don and W&U Foundation. Looks like the beat is pretty full for Sept good luck to those fishing there.

6 Barbel, 9 Chub, 1 Other

Fished from 2pm till 8pm, Very disappointing day, not a single bite. Will be back.

2 eels caught river very low & slow.

2 Other

Guided R on the beat last year and he caught some huge barbel and he wanted a repeat session this year. I also guided him on Wyebank last year where he caught 32 barbel in a day!

He brought along his young lad Dominic for the day. Richard caught a good few chub and barbel. He even allowed his lad to land his first barbel of 6lbs 9oz. Richard landed a beautiful 8lbs 12oz barbel. Plenty of chub to 3lbs 12oz were landed. A few fish were lost due to the hook links being parted on sharp rocks.

As normal the fish came early in the morning and late in the afternoon. A great days fishing.

4 Barbel, 8 Chub

River low, 5 barbel( 6-8lbs), 5 chub(3-5.8lbs), 2eels(3lbs) all caught on ledger, boilie was best for barbel.

5 Barbel, 5 Chub, 2 Other

After guiding S and N yesterday they tried on their own. They said the canoe traffic was even worst during the day. Again the fish were caught early and late. At one point during the day they had 5 people diving in and swimming around in the swim. To be fair one chap had lost his camera over the side. They didn't find it! I suggested they asked the divers to bring back a few feeders. There must be 100's down there. No wonder they didn't catch for a while after this. Still 9 barbel a couple of 8lbs and a beauty of 10lbs 4oz all weighed of course. Not sure how many chub they caught but there must have been some. Nothing like the beauty of 5lbs 12oz the previous day.
Over the 2 day period they only lost 3 feeders. I know when I first fished the swim I lost 10 in one day. Thats why local knowledge is helpful. This was their first visit to the Wye and certainly not the last.

9 Barbel

Guided N and S and what a fantastic day they had. The fish fed at intervals during the day. Being Bank Holiday weekend meant the canoe traffic was busy. Several fell out of the canoes into our swim. At times it seemed more like a public swimming pool rather than a fast flowing river.
The fish came on the feed towards late afternoon and evening. The largest chub was one of 5lbs 12oz and best barbel was 9lbs 3oz. Several 8lbers were caught. All the larger fish were weighed and not guessed. They were smiling just a little! Thanks W&UF and Don.

14 Barbel, 18 Chub