Feedback & Reports

Hard going, very low and cold, not fly active as such and found it difficult to locate any fish at all at first, but as the temperature rose managed 2 Grayling and 2 trout from the top section of the beat. Nothing bigger than half a pound

2 Trout, 2 Grayling

A wonderful days sport for two. 10 hard scrapping barbel from 5-9lb.
A full and very descriptive blog on the day available here:

https://timsriparianramblings.blogspot.com/2018/11/somewhere-under-rainbow.html?m=1

10 Barbel

Most of the grayling were caught in a short period mid-afternoon. Fishing a duo method with all fish taken on the nymph.

20 Grayling

Water fairly low again - and as per beat description, it is quite flat and shallow in places but access is easy and I managed to find a couple of fish, 12" OOS Trout and 8" Grayling. Failed to convert a few other takes, all on nymph end of duo.

1 Trout, 1 Grayling

Day two of a mini-break. I stayed in The Lion Hotel in Builth Wells - clean & comfortable, off street parking, good breakfast, good price. Recommend it if you are doing Upper Wye beats.
Today the temperature had dropped significantly from Thursday and it felt very cold in the gusty wind. There was plenty of action on the river with fish coming up to the dry and taking the nymph on the same duo set-up (see my 25th Oct feedback from The Rocks). Early afternoon the fish started rising to a sustained hatch of pale up-wings and for a time I switched successfully to a CDC dry.
My problem today was keeping the fish on! I lost at least half a dozen after the first grab, and like all who blame their tools, I began to curse my barbless hooks. Anyway 4 nice Wye fish came to hand, 3 sturdy 14" Grayling and a similar sized OOS WBT. All returned fit.
PS: The beat instructions ask for catch return to be left on forms to be found in glass case in carpark. I couldn't find the glass case but it could have been a "boy look"!

1 Trout, 3 Grayling

3 good grayling + A lot of minnows.

3 Grayling

More difficult today than yesterday, wind and rain then blinding sunlight but managed 4 to 6lb 8oz after sunset all within 30 mins! At the 1st set of wooden steps on the right.

4 Barbel

Great day caught my first Wye double happy days!????Used pellets and maggots. Fishing slow in the day but river had cleared considerably over the week. Fished the wood section. What I will say is when it’s wet watch your footing as the banks here are steep and you could literally end up in the river!

2 Barbel

After fishing a dreadful 3 day pre planned trip during mid October when the river was virtually unfishable, I felt the need to get at least another day in. An old fishing buddy and I were dedicated Barbel anglers on the Hampshire Avon for many years and recently decided to switch allegiance to the Wye. This is our second trip to the WAU beats. What is most noticeable to us is that fish location is very different on the Wye, the fish shoal up and you have to find or it can be a long hard day. The Wye is a much bigger river than the Avon and we have not spent enough time yet in working it out. There is so much water its actually a bit daunting, but we may need to focus on a few beats to concentrate our efforts. We will get there but I guess what I am trying to say is that after 6 moves and plenty of bait dropping I only managed another blank. We will be back for sure and are already discussing when we may be able to get up next.

never ended up fishing here in the end because i didn't think it was worth risking falling into the river fishing from the sloped banks. This venue needs some work done on it making some swims which you van fish safely.