Feedback & Reports

Wyebank, Bottom Section 06.00 to 09.30, 6 Barbel to 8lbs and 9 Chub between 2 and 4.5lbs. Rolling touch ledger in main flow on large halibut pellet and later on curried luncheon meat, 18inch bottom length to size 8 hook on 10lb line, 10ft barbel rod and fixed spool.

Courtfield Middle, tail of island 16.00 to 18.00hrs.
18ft trotting rod and centerpin with 4lb line, over-shotted chubber float set at 2ft to size 14/12 hook with single/double sweetcorn over sweetcorn loose feed. 1 GRAYLING about 10in long, 3 chub largest 3.5lbs, 3 barbel to 6lbs and numerous dace of around 8 to 12oz.

Wyebank Bottom Section 18.00hrs to 22.15hrs. Same trotting set up as above, another GRAYLING! 8in long, 4 Chub largest 5lb plus a bit, 7 barbel 5 to 9lbs and numerous dace and chublets.

On light gear in the fast shallow water over 30yds this was trotting at its best and I consistantly caught more quality fish per hour than are caught in the usual meadow section.
For these sections easy wading to mid stream is required when water is low, felt soled thigh waders would just do in low water. The 18ft trotting rod only has a 0.75lb test curve and was hardly able to control the barbel in the current, a more powerful rod would be advised. Use a centrepin if you have one to present the bait correctly.

The 2 grayling came as a suprise as they are seldom caught in this Wye section but most anglers fix ledger with large baits or perhaps its the constant high levels last year flushed them downstream. Their return would add another species possible on fly in this section.

Another angler fished ledgered pellet with swimfeeder just below the island and throughout the day caught good chub and barbel even as the canoes came directly through his swim.

An oddly difficult day. Barbel reluctant to play in any of the usual swims. Caught a couple of 2lb class chub and lost both of the two barbel tempted.

Sunday Chubby Sunday.
Arrived late @ 4 pm, very windy, first cast a 4.12 chub which set the tone for the next 5 1/2 hours - some kind of feeding frenzy irrespective of bait, hook size, hair length etc. I stopped counting after a dozen, mostly around 3-4 lb with a few chublets thrown in, some bites within a second of pellet landing in the water. A welcome break at 9pm when a solitary 8lb barbel joined the party then after that more chub.

3 rods fished, river low weather sunny, 9 barbel caught, all on pellet, best 7lbs. Lots of chub caught, best 4.5lbs. Great fishing.

Arrived to find water level up on recent weeks and slightly coloured. However, the bright and sunny weather through most of the day undoubtedly contributed to the difficulty in persuading fish to take an interest in our baits.

Despite a long fish-less spell through the middle of the day, the activity either side of this more than made up for it.
3 Chub weighing 3lb 6oz, 2lb 2oz, and 1lb 6oz
4 Barbel weighing 7lb 12oz, 6lb 8oz, 7lb 8oz and 5lb 12oz
All fish caught on pellet.

(Most canoeists polite and courteous throughout the day, but some seemed to find control of their vessels difficult, particularly when in the vicinity of our chosen swims - no major harm done though).

Once again, many thanks to all involved at the WUF for a truly first-class service.

A very early start was the order of the day for our first trip to the Wye this season and first time on this section, so it was with much excitement that we walked the whole stretch looking for likely spots to tempt the barbel from. It was soon apparent that the river was very low and running very clear and with finding fish proving to be as difficult as spotting a cloud in the sky it was soon apparent that a tough two days were in store for us. What followed was a lesson from K.B in how to extract barbel from a river in far from ideal conditions ending the day with 8 barbel a chub and an eel to my 4 chub. On the sunday the conditions were better with good cloud cover but a strong gusting wind. I performed better ending up with 5 barbel to 6 pound just behind K.B with 6 barbel to 8 pound which from a river in dire need of extra water shows the potential of this fantastic river. Many thanks to the WUF.

Overcast for a lot of the day but still rather warm. Fishing was fairly slow until early evening when I caught 2 barbel and lost one in about quarter of an hour. Final total for the day was 4 barbel caught 2 lost also 2 chub caught. Very nice day although the engines extracting water to irrigate the fields very soon get on your wick, how nice it was when they turned it off for a while!

We caught 2 chub of about 2pounds each, swims were generally low, no evidence of barbel, lots of weed, tried on pellet and meat, the latter being more productive. Lot's of salmon around, next year will fish a little lower. But what a gorgeous place!

Surprised to find myself alone on the beat which I haven't visited before. Weather a bit too warm and sunny. Easy access, lovely stretch and a good few fish with numerous chub ranging from 1/2 lb to 4 lb from various swims and then a purple patch of 3 cracking barbel between 4pm and 5pm which I'm sure would have been more had I stayed later and/or picked swims more sensibly in the morning. Lesson learned - don't get too blinkered on the pellets - ring the changes and 'dead' swims come alive.

Thanks for the recommendation WUF - super efficient as ever.

6 chub on sweetcorn to 4lbs and 2 barbel to 5lb on pellet taken later in the day. I helped land a good barbel for the other angler booked on. Very plesent day away from work. Thank you.