Feedback & Reports

River level increased overnight and pushing through making it difficult. Had a 7lb 12oz early from the middle of the river 150yds d/stream of the hut. Caught the other 2 (and the chub) in the afternoon from the top of the stretch just below the rapids, best of 8lb. All fish caught on pellets/PVA bag method.
Had an interesting chat with the new Ghillie, Glynn who gave me some great advice, which resulted in the 8lb fish. As always on this stretch, great day

3 Barbel, 2 Chub

A very enjoyable day at MHC. Most of the rain had cleared by the time I arrived and conditions looked favourable with the river up a foot or so and heavily coloured. Access was very limited at the lower end of the beat but I found what was probably the only accessible swim downstream of the parking area. Here I managed 4 lovely looking barbel weighing from around 4lb to somewhere a little short of 9lb. Thanks WUF.

4 Barbel

5 Barbel, 4 Chub

Barbel caught on pellet on 3 different pegs. Two fish to 7 lbs smallest to 4 lb. A very enjoyable day. Thank you.

7 Barbel, 1 Chub

River level dropping during the session after rising during the night following rain. Feeder and pellet used for most of the barbel, biggest weighing in at 7lb 12oz. An 8oz barbel caught on maggot (I can't remember the last time I saw a barbel so small!). Plenty of bites throughout the day. Some reviewers have mentioned the snags. I concur that these can be a problem especially in the swims to the top end of the garden stretch but worth persevering as this is where most of the barbel were caught. It is less snaggy towards the end of the garden stretch and the lower end of the fishery. There are plenty of accessible swims despite the claim of one reviewer and these are marked clearly with wooden posts.
This was the second of two days for our trip and on the previous day when water levels were lower a total of 14 barbel were caught between 3 anglers with the biggest hovering about 8lb.

8 Barbel

River rising all day - lots of weed making presentation tricky and finding snags inevitable. 2 baby barbel and seven reasonable ones. Always an enjoyable day at Wyebank.

9 Barbel, 3 Chub

looked great with coloured water on the rise , gently but surely felt like a struggle allday though. lost a few to snags and hook pulls but ended up with the 5 to 7lb or so all in great virgin like condition. Used piloni garlic soft pellets and ground bait. no fish on normal halibut pellets. car smelt like a French onion sellers van afterwards fish seemed to like the shade on the far bank until late on when middle of the river was more productive. Lovely sunny day after heavy early morning showers

5 Barbel

Still some extra water but this dropped during the day, the river lost it's colour and the weather became slightly colder. However, Chris was at it again, landing 4 of the barbel (including another near double at 9.13), As on the previous day, all fish were caught on pellet (one chub was over 5lbs).
Well done to Chris who accounted for 20 of the 26 barbel landed during the 4 days-not sure what that says about us 2 other also rans-we'll try harder next year!!
As always (this is our 5th annual trip) a very enjoyable few days spent in this beautiful area-it's good to catch fish, but it's great just being here. Hope to catch up with you next year Don!

6 Barbel, 2 Chub

Second successful day as we caught the river at just the right time. Barbel were steady all day interspersed with chub, the biggest 5lb 2ozs. The highlight of the day though was watching a big male otter feeding on, oblivious to our presence.

15 Barbel, 10 Chub

First time on this beat, once onsite access to the banks is excellent throughout the entire stretch, with stunning surrounding scenery.
We focused our efforts on the lower stretch, and with the river looking in perfect condition we were expecting a successful day, however the fish were difficult to locate in any numbers, the barbel we did catch all fell to pellet feeder & meat and were in perfect condition with the best weighing 81b 10oz.

Having visited 4 different beats throughout this week it would appear that the barbel are not shoaled up in any numbers and that recent variable weather conditions have contributed to the fishing being somewhat more challenging than usual, roving techniques are a must.

We will definitley be returning to this stretch.

4 Barbel, 2 Chub