Feedback & Reports

Fished from 4pm until 8pm with the river levels and hot weather and with the hindsight of the previous two days fishing felt it was a waste of time fishing through heat of the day,chub first cast then nothing until about 6 then another chub of about 4lb waited until 7-30 for next bite then 3 barbel in successive casts largest around 7lb did not weigh them more interested in returning them in a healthy state.Swimfeeder fished pellet and luncheon meat.

3 Barbel, 2 Chub

Fished the wooded area hoping to find a bit of streamy water and shade from the sun,morning session 6-10 am produced nothing,returned later in the afternoon and a double blank looked likely untill a nice Barbel of 8 lbs 12 oz saved the day at the last moment.Had a look around
Legge meadow with a view to fish there but found most of the swims were getting overgrown .Probably will not book this beat again as its looking a bit neglected and also the opposite bank has better access.

1 Barbel

River still low and neading rain. Started off on beat 2 on the bottom of the rapids but only had one small chub. Moved around the bend at 2.00 too a deep pool nearly opposite the Boatman pub, and by 5.30 had had 1x 4lb barbel and 4 small chub on small pieces of luncheon meat, between us. Canoes ok in morning but busy in afternoon. Had a couple of salmon jumping right out of the water in front of us! Will have another go in the winter as this area looks very pikey!

1 Barbel, 5 Chub

1 Trout

Fished the evening after a warm day. Low water and bank side vegetation a challenge. 1 small trout caught on a PTN.

1 Trout

Bright sunlight and low water made challenging conditions. I couldn't locate a trout and surprisingly there were none in the faster heads of the pools. I did find plenty of grayling feeding with very subtle rises. Most were happy to take a small F fly or black klink. The best in the net was a 19" hen which was probably not far short of 3lb. I lost my footing and took a plunge, but drying out in the warm sun was not too much of an ordeal!

13 Grayling

A very misty morning greeted us at 6am as we walked down from the church-yard car-park to the beat, decided to start from the top limit of the beat and work our way down the beat, on the steps by the weir found a great spot, only to find two other anglers had beaten us to it as they were fishing from the opposite bank! Bank access in places was steep but land owner had made every effort the clear areas to fish, the nature and bird life never disappoints, and always manage to see a kingfisher, which always makes my day, to see river extremely low it would be difficult to find any good depth with good oxygenated water enough for a swim feeder or lead, the fishing was going to be very difficult and made harder by the sweltering sun which eventually burnt through late morning, found and tried a number of swims down the beat but no elusive barbel, however tried trotting a float down a couple of likely swims and found non stop Chub action that kept us busy for the remainder of the afternoon until we could bear the sun no more, corn seemed to be the better bait along with bread. Boat traffic was very light thankfully.
Thanks WUF for yet another great day, will definitely be back, hopefully when the water levels are much higher and water coloured.
NB. Met another angler with his wife early that morning walking along the bank, had a brief chat, afterwards i thought "two anglers we met earlier, the two of us and the chap i bumped into, makes 5 ? on a beat that only allows 3 rods? How can that be?

Fishing Passport Note : The anglers on the opposite bank were most likely poaching. Please call us if you suspect that other anglers are present that shouldnt be.

26 Chub

Lovely stretch of water but river very low and a hot sunny day - so just about as tough as it could get. After trying everything I could think of to spark some activity eventually had a few nibbles at a nymph, but nothing landed. I would imagine this is a fantastic stretch of water with some rain fall and will definitely go back when the conditions are somewhat more in my favour

Stayed at the Bell ( recommended ) and you can walk the beat from there. Really lovely river although very low as you would expect at the end of summer. The top end of the beat by the bridge in the village is a favoured spot for local bathers - so avoid that if the sun's out ! Several pools along this 1 mile stretch but very little activity throughout the day. I wandered out just before dark again to take a look but nothing coming to the surface. Just one of these days - a couple of smaller trout by nymph but nothing to write home about. Will definitely go back

2 Trout

River very low and sun very hot all day - not a recipe for a full day's sport and so it proved. Early chub and a decent barbel but then very quiet with just the odd chub until pub time at 5.30.

3 Barbel, 10 Chub