Feedback & Reports

Fished from 4.30 in the afternoon at the 'new swim' in Legg Meadow, casting to the far bank by the hole in the willows. A fantastic late afternoon's fishing including 3 chub between 5lbs and 7lbs and 5 barbel of 8,9,11,12 and 12.5lbs.

After a half a days casting instruction followed by a full day's salmon fishing on Wyesham with John Symonds I arrived at Courtfield on the Friday anticipating my Barbel fix. I settled in at the croy where the river meets the road at the second parking spot on the beat. Lost a good fish almost straightaway that ran out a good length of line on the baitrunner and then kept going even though I had the clutch reasonably firm on account of using 12lb line. The power of these fish never fails to astonish. Then had an enjoyable chat with the owner who came down to introduce himself - a thoroughly decent chap. Picked up a stonking chub in this swim before moving into Meadow Pool to put some distance between myself and the half wits in their canoes. Actually not all of them were a nuisance, just the groups of young men for whom the river habitat/environment is purely incidental to the ridiculous posturing that constitutes a canoe trip. I had one of these idiots yell out that if I was not catching any fish this was likely due to 'us lot coming through' and to reinforce the point slapped the water with his paddle much to the amusement of his mates. Half wit does not do justice - if I had had my slingshot with me a I might have been tempted. 5 more chub in the Meadow Pool but, in spite of steadily feeding the swim, of Barbel there were no more signs. Some lovely water on this beat and when I come back I will explore the streamier sections downstream towards Wyebank. I believe the Barbel fishing would benefit from a good rise in water and a bit more colour. Also worthy of note: a number of Salmon were holding in this pool revealing themselves during the course of the day; entertained by a family buzzards in the opposite field following a tractor and picking off rodents flushed out by the thresher - a remarkable sight. Just a quick word about John Symonds - a real gentleman, with a scholarly appreciation of Wye salmon fishing - he is also an excellent instructor.

2nd time on this beat on two differnt swims. Boat taffic heavy around midday. Looked like someone was fishing off one canoe. 14 chub to 4lb and 2 barbel to 7lb.

As is normal for this beat, if Courtfield is booked then Don who owns Wyebank also lets you fish his beat so long as it is available. Fished Wyebank early morning and late evening. No salmon to report but good sport fishing the fast water under the far bank with a double hander catching quite a few Brownies (best approx 1lb, Chub and a couple of Shad (best approx 2lb). Almost got knocked over twice by canoes (girls who had no idea of how to steer) where I had to turn round and push the canoe out of the way. Fortunately I wasn't in too deep at the time.
Fished Courtfield in the afternoon but nothing doing. Heard quite a few loud splashes (between the house and Leg Meadow crib) which I suspect were salmon but in each case I was too late to see the actual fish.

Needed to get out and fish, so tried Courtfield as Wyebank was unavailable. Had to abandon the fly rod due to a lack of flow, and tried a flying C. Salmon showing so was hopeful, but settled for a 2lb chub! Left once the canoes arrived at 9.

Three barbel from four to seven pounds. Four chub, largest was around four and a half pounds. All caught on a single hair rigged elipse pellet fished in conjunction with a small pva bag of crushed pellets and hemp.

Four anglers caught 10 barbel, best 9lb 7oz. The middle section produced well. We all enjoyed the day which was the
first visit to this stretch. You need to decide which section to fish as access to the various parts are distinct. Day spoilt by dreadful prolonged and heavy rain later in the day. All anglers caught barbel so good sign.

Me and the boy arrived late morning caught 3 chub. Had a good chat with Don the owner - put us some fish, 6 more decent chub and two barbel all on feeder fished pellets.

Parked up at outside the Severn Trent complex at around 7:00 am. The river was high with a lot of debris, we knew this might be the case given the weather.
I opted to fish really close in on what they call the "New Swim". I used Elips pellets with an open feeder. In total I had 6 Barbel between 9lb and 12lb plus a 3lb Chub, most of the fish were caught before 15:00, so we left at around 19:00.
The other two rods caught 3 Barbel between 9lb and 11lb plus to around 5 Eels.
All in all a great days fishing, really enjoyed it and will return when the river is a little lower and slower running.
During the day we saw a number of very large Pike, 20lb plus laying up in the shallows, another thing to bear in mind for next time.
Hopefully I will be back very soon, thanks for all your help, very efficient.
Finally, very big thanks to Don, he helped a lot, took time to give me updates on the river levels before the day, nothing was too much trouble for him.

5 chub to 4lb. No sign of barbel though.