Feedback & Reports

Reading all the recent catch reports it seemed that the barbel would be crawling up the banks! however, our day was the hottest day of the year, being 31 degrees. We expected the going to be tough but we weren't disappointed with the 4 beautiful chub we had in the evening. It was nice to fish a new beat of the wye and it gave us a good idea of the river's pools and snags which is invaluable when fishing in higher water conditions. We will return!

4 Chub

Fished the wood section. 5 good chub caught to one rod. Some nice eels caught and small dace. No barbel which was due to the low river conditions. Lots of canoe traffic which did not help the fishing and we even had people swimming through our swims.

15 Chub, 10 Other

The ducks kept us company all day but unfortunately so did the continuous (and I mean continuous) canoes. They were still coming down well past 6pm.
Some clearly did their best not to disrupt us. Many were frankly inept (some triggered by alcohol), making it impossible to fish at times. A stark reminder as to why we tend to avoid Saturdays in July on certain parts of the river, especially when the weather is ‘good’.
Despite our best efforts and persistance, changing methods throughout the day and fishing until 9:30pm, we couldn’t off-set the difficult conditions (bright sunshine, clear water) and frequent disruptions.
CH made an all too brief contact with a solitary Barbel and hooked and lost a Chub on cheese-paste very late on. RE generated some interest in his float-fished sweetcorn but ultimately the river and conditions beat us both.
Only booked a few days prior to the weekend so faced limited availability. We expected a generally challenging day and that’s exactly what we got. We look forward to next time, but maybe not this stretch on a summer weekend whilst the sun is shining. River 1 Fishermen 0.

Fished the Meadow swims as none available in the woods from 2pm until late. Only caught eels.

4 Other

Arrived at around 7am and fished the wooded section. Caught a chub and a barbel (5 lb ish) by 9:30am and then it went dead. Brother in law caught a chub mid afternoon and the father in law was a victim of eels.
It was a bit too hot to fish and to be honest the canoes are getting worse. Whilst I understand the business reasoning around making hay when the sun shines the owners of the canoe rental firms should have concerns for other river users. I lost tackle due to people going straight through the lines, endless noise and general messing around. Don't get me wrong I'm not a kill joy but when someone wants to get in the river to swim downstream in a swim we you are fishing it's not really on.
Really need to get this under control, it's a shame because it's a great place to fish, I just don't need the hastle when I take the day off to fish, to put up with this.

1 Barbel, 2 Chub, 1 Other

Fished from 7.30am - 7.30pm. Small chub showed early with one of 3lb. Barbel came steadily all day, mainly in the six pound area, but a one off large one appeared mid afternoon at 10lb 7oz. An eel of 2lb 10oz put in an appearance as well.
Ledgered pellet. River low and quite colored.
Stayed at the Inn on the Wye - very close by, very friendly place.

12 Barbel, 7 Chub, 1 Other

We arrived at the fishery around 6.30 am and fished for barbel with pellet and feeder in the wooded section, despite Don The bailiffs excellent advice, we caught just one chub between us and packed up around midday. To be fair the river was very low and the weather had been stinking hot for the past week, not the ideal conditions for barbel. The Wye and Usk Foundations service was excellent with good directions to the fishery, however you need to be a mountain goat to get to the river in the wooded section.

1 Chub

Fish all falling to mainly 2 of the 4 rods (5 barbel to 1 rod). Barbel from 4 to just under 7 lbs. Other fish were 2 eels of no great size. Tactics were groundbait and pellet feeders with pellets as hookbait. Conditions very hot, middle of day fishless as expected, fish coming early and late (packed up 7.30 pm).
Disappointed to find parking area outside Pumping station not available due to 2 cars being present (6.00 am). Found 3 tents erected, 2 large canoes, remains of a bonfire and assorted beer bottles,empty cans strewn over an area at top of meadow, with tents containing men worse for wear, alcohol-wise. Consequently, the top meadow was a no-go area for us, as we were unaware of who might be in the tents and how they might react to us.
We had to park at the remaining parking area (bit tight) and fish further downstream, when we had arrived with the intention of at least some of us fishing the top meadow, having read the information on swim selection given on the website.. So disappointed with that as I say. I do not feel it should be up to the visiting/paying angler to police the water. I could not have contacted anybody regarding this as no mobile phone signal was apparent. In fairness, they did appear to clear up after themselves when I walked the top meadow later in the afternoon.

6 Barbel, 2 Chub, 2 Other

Blistering hot day, very heavy canoe traffic, mostly polite & courteous though. Fished mainly in woods section as too hot for the meadow. Despite Dons helpful advice, managed a big fat blank. Love the stretch though & will certainly return.

A difficult day on Courtfield with temperatures reaching 29 degrees and not a cloud in the sky.
Primarily targeting chub on the float I heeded Don's advice and headed for the Boat pool and just above. Had two 3lb fish before Don's arrival at 8:45 to sweet corn but bites were very sporadic and hard to come by. Not helped by the number of canoes and swimmers coming down the river (I kid you not!)
Managed another couple of fish, biggest just under the 4lb mark by mid afternoon when I called it a day, beaten by the weather and lack of activity.
As ever Don's advice vital to making a very difficult day, conditions wise, worthy of the trip. Thanks Don, see you soon.

5 Chub