Feedback & Reports

2x chub to 4lbs+ on luncheon meet, plus one barbel 5lbs+, also on luncheon meat.

River conditions were excellent but the day was horrific. Definitely not recommended for Sunday fishing. I have fished the wye now for 12 years and obviously tollerent of the canoes, but some idiot that hired out a few canoes told the canoeist to paddle upstream which, if you have canoed, is very difficult, especially at the rapids. There were people trying to canoe up the rapids whilst the canoeists from Hereford were trying to get down causing commotion and leading to capsizing and all sorts. The desperation of the paddles hitting the side of the boat whilst trying to get up the rapids was horrendous and I think obviously put the fish off. Therefore not recommended whilst school hols or sundays I dont think.

River Lugg - 2 chub 3 & 4lb. The rivers were great just dropping and fining down after the down pours we had earlier in the week.

4 barbel to just under 10lb. Quality fish, fin and scale perfect. One taken trotting, the others on ledgered luncheon meat. 7 chub to approximately 5lb - taken both trotting and ledgering. River still high but falling and losing some colour.

Found this beat quite hard to find (mybe my navagation skills) but the road to it was very poor only just wide enough to get 1 car down all this said the beat was pleasant when we got there. There were not many fishable swims on the left bank due to heavy growth on the banks. The right bank was more accessable but a longer walk the water is very shallow but if you can find a bit of deeper water or some cover you can find the fish. I had 5 chub upto just over 4lb and lost a very good barbel and my fishing partner had 2 small barbel 2 to 3lb and 3 chub. We fished from 5pm till 9pm which was probably the best time of day for this beat I feel.

Another early Saturday start found K.B and myself on the road towards White House for a return trip hoping to find the river in better condition than a month previous. Arriving around 7.30am we were pleased to find that the river was up compared to are last visit and carrying some colour. Trying likely looking swims and giving them a couple of hours before moving on showed that the day was not going to be one of the best we have had on the river and when in the early afternoon the opposite bank was the venue for a well attended match this did result in the number of swims available to fish being reduced. By the end of the day I think the catch was down due to the angling pressure from the other bank. Sunday was another early start and with Middle Hill court the venue hopes were up for a better days fishing. Having read previous catch reports we fished the areas that had done well and indeed the fishing was much improved on the day before with both of us getting amongst some nice Barbel with the average weight up on White House. Over the weekend are tally for Barbel reached 40 fish to a top weight of 8lb 13oz.

The only concerning thing that I have to report is that nearly every Barbel and all of the couple of Chub that we caught had Argulus or the Common fish louse on them. I don't pretend to be a marine biologist but having checked on the enter-net I strongly belive that this is what they are. I don't believe there is much anyone can do to eradicate this crustacean but we took great care in removing every one from the fish we caught, I really do hope that this is not going to affect the fish in the amazing river.

Many thanks to the WUF. Top job done by all involved.

2 barbel 5 & 6lb 3 chub 2, 4 & 5lb. The rivers were great just dropping and fining down after the down pours we had earlier in the week.

2nd time with the Wye & Usk, first time in March snow on ground and the river tidal, nothing whatsoever. On Friday 23 July had a 3lb Chub and 9lb barbel and mate of mine had a two barbel 4lb and another 9lb. Great fight with the bigger ones and lots of activity, warm, cloudy intervals, river high, used Halibut pellets. Really a great day in stunning surroundings.

3 barbel to appoximately 8lb - not weighed.
4 chub to 5lb - not weighed. All caught on ledgered luncheon meat. River coloured and high but level slowly falling - not wadeable

2 Barbel to 6 lbs, 4 Chub to 5 lbs. River coloured and dropping after heavy rain.

The river looked perfect carrying plenty of colour but results didn't reflect this. 4 rod totals as follows:

Fri. 23/7 Backney - 3 barbel (best 7-4)
Sat. 24/7 Middle Hill - 4 barbel (best 7-10)
Sun. 25/7 Whitehouse - 9 barbel (best 7-5)

The barbel were interspersed with a few chub (best 4-8) but not in any significant numbers. All of us "rang the changes" with baits but all the barbel were caught on either pellet or meat.

It was extremely disappointing to find other anglers on all of the beats we had booked (bearing in mind all had a limit of 4 coarse rods)! We knew this was possible at Backney so this was no issue but another angler arrived to fish Middle Hill Court and there were 3 other anglers sharing Whitehouse with us. As the number of fishable swims is not particularly high on these beats, the presence of other anglers did restrict opportunities to rove up & down the beats and it certainly does nothing to alleviate clearly increasing angling pressure.

In coarse angling terms the cost of fishing these beats is relatively high but is acceptable when exclusivity is factored in. We definitely left feeling a little cheated and it would be nice to have some explanation of the situation!

** WUF Note **

We were sorry to hear the enjoyment of this angling trip was affected by extra anglers on the water. While we endeavour to ensure a degree of exclusivity, the beats do sometimes experience poaching activity (as do all fisheries). Having investigated this report, we believe that the other White House and Middle Hill Court anglers were fishing without permission. Should anyone come across what they believe to be poaching on a Passport water, we request they contact the Foundation as soon as possible, leaving a message if out of office hours. Although difficult at weekends, we can sometimes have the owner, a bailiff or one of our habitat team members attend the scene.