Feedback & Reports

No fish or even any bites.

Banks very steep and slippery, making it extremely difficult to cast. It felt dangerous accessing the water in any of the swims I fished. Even a long handled landing net was unable to satisfactorily reach the water safely, so we concluded that even if we were to catch, we'd be unable to safely land the fish.

Rather disappointed.



Finished early as unable to locate a comfortable swim.

2 Barbel

What a funny old day. I booked this last minute as the information i had suggested the river would be in good order for barbel fishing. Not much worse than putting a load of planning into a trip months in advance only to find the river either on its bones or in full on zambezi flood when the allotted day comes. Arriving at the river after an hour and half's drive, it looked perfect. Lots of colour, lots of flow (though the data available suggested it would be slowly dropping through the day). I parked at the woods, having had great sessions there in the past. Couldn't have been more confidant as i cast out but an hour and a half later, absolutely nothing had shown any interest either to meat or pellet. Also, the fallen tree that was to the right hand side of my favourite swim has mostly been washed away now so the protection this used to offer in breaking the flow has kind of gone. Anyway, around 11.30 i went for a wander and having scouted the meadow i decided to move. I decided to rove the swims there - i'd have two or three casts in each and then move if i'd not had any response. First swim, nothing - but in the second, i had a rattling kind of a bite on meat and struck in to nothing. Next cast, same thing but i left it longer and this time had an eel. I know lots of people hate them but personally i love them to bits! So out went the meat again and same result, a second eel. Then it went quiet. Two or three swim moves later and i was in the man-hole cover swim, pondering why i'd not done better. Around 3 o'clock, i finally had a bite on pellet and an 8.02 barbel was duly caught. This is it, i thought - but no. No more bites happened and at 4.30 or so i decided to call it quits and go home. There's every chance i could have had another couple of fish in the last hours of daylight but to be honest, it was never going to turn in to a red letter day. I can't believe i didn't see a single chub all day (or even have a pluck!) but there it is.

1 Barbel, 2 Other

3 x barbel up to 7lb and a large eel. River perfect should of had more but not on the feed ?

3 Barbel, 1 Other

Nothing, very difficult access and very unsafe

Having arrived 45 mins before first light and forgotten my head torch i eagerly awaited the darkness to turn to light before slowly unpacking the car putting my waders on, it was soon light enough to make the short walk to my selected swim for the day. With rain and cloud forecast for the morning and sunny in the afternoon i was really looking forward to another (hopefully) successful session, after seeing the river i was thankful to see it a nice tinge of brown i could not wait to get the rod in the water. Bite time was slow and after changing to meat my fortunes changed, i had three bite in quick succession, and delighted to land three Chub of 5lb 2oz, 4lb 13oz, 4lb 8oz, and another hour or so later around 4lb, only no sign of those elusive Barbel? As the sun started breaking through the clouds the bites started to diminish i managed another fish an eel of 2lb, Next cast i was snagged again and promised myself if i lost anther rig after the 5 times previous i'd call it a day, i guess what yes i lost it. Canoe traffic was light, so no complaints this time. Thanks again WUF for great access to a great river, i'll be back in a few weeks to try again.
** yes almost forgot, when i settled into my swim i watched a wild otter playing in the margins on the opposite bank before disappearing into the undergrowth... i was blown away, my first wild otter.. !

4 Chub, 1 Other

The Chubb averaged around the 4 pound mark and were in good condition. Barbel eluded us today but that’s life. Just a quick point reference parking at the water works. The sign says don’t park in front of the gate. You can park at the side of the entrance just make sure they have access to the gate.

7 Chub

One solitary lonely barbel was caught by my mate 9 1/2 pound in excellent condition

1 Barbel

Second of two days fishing again fishing in the woods. Another Eel first chuck and then the luncheon meat was put away. Continued with fish meal boilee that has done well for me everywhere. Nothing doing except a couple of plucks but at least no more Eels. This did not feel like a prime Barbel river that I believed it to be.

1 Other

The river looked good with some colour and the mild conditions made me feel very confident.
Unfortunately the fish had other ideas ! One Eel on luncheon meat and nothing else was disappointing, not even a Trench mouth (chub) !!

1 Other