Feedback & Reports

Fished Sunday morning 5.30am, open ended feeder with 10mm halibut and caught 3 good chub. Left about 1.30pm (canoeists). Came back about 5.30pm fished same method till 9pm and had 8 barbel from 6 to 8 pounds (Fantastic). Went back next day at 5.00am had 3 more barbel and 10 chub to 5lbs. Stayed at the Greenman in Fownhope - excellent accommodation. Best time ever will be back soon.

11 Barbel, 13 Chub

Fished dawn til dusk in four promising looking swims with not so much as a bite. All swims look very well used and came to the conclusion fish must have moved downstream into deeper inaccessible swims. Will be back in the Autumn to try again.

River come up a little overnight. All fish on halibut pellet

14 Barbel, 16 Chub

Was really looking forward to the trip as there had been rain during the previous days and the water level was just starting to rise (not by much) and normally this brings the barbel onto the feed. However something must have happened as they just didn't feed. There was a oil like shimmer on the river surface which I had not seen before.
Having fished this stretch many times over the last few years this was perplexing. It was not the fishery fault as we were getting line bites from fish swimming into the line. Towards the end of the day one 7lb 10oz barbel was landed together with a small chub. Some other anglers came along from another beat and they hadn't had a bite all day! So what was supposed to be perfect conditions didn't deliver. As I say it's not the fishery but something about the river condition!

1 Barbel, 1 Chub, 2 Other

3 Barbel

One of the toughest days fishing that I've personally had on the Wye. The river was low, clear and huge quantities of weed were coming down making fishing out further than the margins almost impossible. I put my fishing partner in the banker swim and he managed 3 barbel to 8lb 10oz which was a personal best and first barbel in 20 years for him. I on the other hand fished just about every swim on the lower beat looking for the barbel and all I could catch was chub. We sat from dawn until 5pm before our first bites as well. Hopefully we will have a little rain this week that will lift river levels slightly and put a bit of needed oxygen back in the water.

3 Barbel, 13 Chub

Excellent days fishing. Fishing was hard due to water levels and canoe activity. Barbel of 5lb and chub of 3lb, all fish where caught on boilie pva tactics. I shall be back in the future for one of those doubles!

1 Barbel, 1 Chub

Wonderfull scenery, great beat, long walk but worth it. Had one barbel and two chub. Hard day for fishing, walked full length of beat, unpacked tackle with great relief after very long walk only to find I had left my bait in my car. Fished croy, looked great and produced two good chub but no barbel. Fished lot of swims on the way back but just one barbel between 7 and 8lb from far bank within 1 meter of trees. Great scrap. Very hot day but very nice day spent on the Wye again, thanks.

1 Barbel, 2 Chub

Well got there at 6am and had to sit in the car for 4 hours because the rain was so heavy could even get my waterproofs on to stay dry. Then got to the river at around 10.30am'ish, started fishing for 30 mins and then it started... canoe after canoe after kayak until 4.30pm. Even some locals said they had never seen so many, it was impossible to fish, so my advice is don't fish this stretch on a Saturday not worth it. Also, they have no consideration for you fishing like on other parts of the Wye I've fished. All in all I fished for 4hrs 30mins out of a whole day that's nearly £5 per hour. What made it worth it for me was the stunning barbel I caught at 8lb 9oz. Simply the best outcome I could of hoped for considering circumstances as I nearly gave up a number of times. River was still low but with some colour and apparently a extra foot on it.

1 Barbel

Another cracking day out. Nice beat, with several swims marked by wooden posts with plenty more potential swims if cleared/cut back a little. Some areas bank very steep so little care needed when going to waters edge, plenty of areas where you can wade if you take waders. Parking good and very close especially at the orchard. We started the day first light at top end in the open field by the orchard. Although water levels low and competing tug of war with the weed beds, managed to land 3 barbel up to 7lb as well as losing several fish which seems to be the norm for us. As the sun came up by mid morning swim went quiet, so we decided to have an early lunch break, then head to the lower parking and have a go at the lower end of beat. Plenty of fishable areas but a bit of walking too. With some decent swims near to the parking end of field it is possible to leave gear there and you can venture off with rod/net and bait and walk all way up to lower boundary of orchard and work your way back down stream trying out different swims. Cattle watering swim was big with fast flow and plenty of fish and weed. Highlight of day being when MB hooked into a really big chub/barbel which nicely took him into one of the big weeds beds and so determined to land it, off came his boots and socks, trousers rolled up and he started to wade down to where he was snagged up but then realised some of the runs where deeper than appeared and more disappointing for him that after a while the fish had escaped and left his tackle nicely in the weeds so Twang, get another hook and end tackle on. However be prepared for the cattle to visit this location and although we stayed there for a little while as more and more of them came down the bank we decided we didn't want a stand off with them, more so as they are accompanied by a rather large bull (with balls bigger than footballs lol). At end of day its their field and watering hole. Although the big old bull watched us, no aggression was showed and he seems to be quite content as long as you stay to the edge of field by river bank. The Foundation might want to put a comment in the beat description as from the entrance style you can walk through field to get to top end of lower stretch, but with young cattle and big old bull, it might be advisable to walk the long way round keeping to the river bank. Absolutely plenty of fishing on the lower stretch and we took chub to 3+lb and a wee minnow for me lol. Late afternoon, early evening we decided to try and have another bash at top end which had produced barbel at the start of day but to no avail. Another fantastic day out which keeps us keen ready for another Wye excursion. all fish caught on pellet/feeder type tactics with different flavours tried, spicymeat/sausage seeming to be preferred. Another note for the Foundation, the barbel were quite heavily covered by some type of parasite.

3 Barbel, 3 Chub, 1 Other