Feedback & Reports

It was my first time on the River Wye, I fished the Middle Hill Court stretch. I did not catch any barbel but I caught two chub at 3lb 4oz and 3lb 10oz. Both fish came to robin red pellets, fished approx 2 rod lengths out in some slack water. I fished the cage feeder with halibut flavoured ground bait.
I will definitely be back. Great venue and hopefully the river will yield me my 1st barbel.

2 Chub

A lot different to the last time I fished this beat then the water level was real low but after a few days of rain the river was up and pushing through. After starting on the road side which was slow fishing for a couple of chub, the owner of the beat came down and after a good chat he suggested a few better swims for the conditions and I never looked back. I set up in the first swim the other side of the bridge and fished the edge of the slack water. In the last 5 hours I caught 3 Barbel from just over 7lb up to just over 9lb and in the flow it was some good scraps. I also had another 9 chub from 3lb up to a PB of 5lb 6oz. So over all a fantastic days fishing.
I stayed on a nice peaceful camp site called Trippenkennet farm which is not far out side of Ross. It has nice hot showers and if the river is not fishing it also has 2 fishing lakes on site. And at only £6 a night it was a cheap 3 nights.
A big thanks to the Wye and Usk great beat great access and great fishing.

3 Barbel, 11 Chub

3 Barbel, 7 Chub

Very shallow water but good bankside. Nice place to fish, huge amount of boats and I could of caught far more without them. All fish caught on feeder fished pellet.

7 Barbel, 4 Chub

Sudden rains over previous day or so had considerably swollen river level - very muddy and fast - fished from bank. Both bottom and float but just a couple of bites and no catches all day.

Early start on the bank for 5am, river 600mm up and rising with plenty of colour,and debris's evident. This in-turn narrowed the swim choice. Opted for the first swim over the bridge, bit of a eddy but no real slack water, straight lead 3oz and meat the size of a golf ball down the side, even with 3oz it was being dragged in to with in 12-15ft of the bank. First slamming bite at 5.45am resulted in the best of 4 Barbel going close to 9lbs and in spectacular condition. Tried the pellet and feeder but this only attracted barrow full's of weed on the retrieve (every 5mins due to constant build up). Back to the BIG meat, the bites were so ferocious in the flow, even with the bait runners on, lost 2 fish on the take as they took 20+yds off! Cormorants feeding on small chub, eels, and dace directly to my left under the willow, sad sight. Left at 10.30am after sun burnt through. No canoes by then, great time to be out, loved it. Home for a fry-up. Would be nice if we could post pics here?

WUF note - Please feel free to email us any of your pics admin@wyeuskfoundation.org or post them on our Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Wye-and-Usk-Passport/437313486365425

4 Barbel

Last day of 4 on WUF and the second on this stretch. River was up at least 5 feet and racing through, bringing vast amounts of weed. Decided to give it a go at the top of the stretch, but again weed was going to be a problem. Just as we started setting up, Colin arrived and suggested that the swims we had chosen would be very difficult and he directed us to two pegs closer to the bend where the current was less and there was some slack water. Big thank you to Colin. Managed 4 barbel in the first hour and another 6 spread out during the day. Largest 7lb 13oz. Had to finish at 6pm to travel home, but with the water dropping back and the weed flow a little less, we would have expected further fish into the evening. All fish taken on either single or double 12mm pellet.

10 Barbel, 1 Chub

Tricky conditions to start with - lots of weed coming down made fishing difficult. It was my first time on this beat so was fishing somewhat blind. I later found some barbel and caught well catching 8 barbel between 3 and 8 lbs - all on pellet. Fished between 3pm and 8pm.

8 Barbel, 1 Chub, 2 Other

The bottom half of this stretch is nice to fish, the top half with a bit of rain, take a lifejacket.

3 Barbel, 1 Chub

Day 3 of 4 the WUF. Started fishing at around 10:30am on what looked like a perfect river. 6 chub, 1 barbel and 2 lost barbel in the first half hour (all on pellet) suggested a bumper day, but then the river started to rise rapidly. Managed another 3 barbel in the next hour before the amount of weed in the faster water made the swims unfishable and forced us to move. Again another day of heavy rain. Moved to the top of the stretch and managed 1 further barbel late in the evening, but the weed made life difficult.

5 Barbel, 7 Chub