Feedback & Reports

We had to move to find some barbel willing to play ball. All were in the 4-5lb bracket.One chub and an eel also caught.
Quite slow going in perfect conditions. I am sure things will pick up as the month continues.

4 Barbel, 1 Chub, 1 Other

Not as good as the previous day but a decent enough day. Couple of barbel early from the concrete walkway then moved downstream to the bottom end. Got a few chub. Back up to fish the walkway and got 3 more barbel before dark. Couple of 8lb fish and others around 5lb. Plenty of people fishing far bank also.

5 Barbel, 8 Chub

Very low and clear, hard going. There is a dead sheep on the boulder beach about 20 yards short of the far gate in the second field. I tried to find someone from the House to let them know but couldn't locate them. Looked fairly "fresh" as wasn't too smelly.
Otherwise lovely stretch of river but hard work getting near ultra spooky fish and fighting a nasty downstream wind. Hope to return one day. Would be a lot easier fished as a pair with someone helping to spot!
My full blog post is here https://www.theunfamousfly.co.uk/challenging-fishing-on-the-usk/

1 Trout

River low. fish took some time to find but bites where plentiful when located lost a number of good fish in the streamer weed. Only fished morning till late afternoon

3 Barbel, 6 Chub

Back on Lower Canon Bridge for the second day of the season. Once again the deeper areas seemed quiet and the fish came from the shallower areas. Most fish came to a pellet approach and the biggest Barbel over the two days was 9-12, a stunning fish. We all caught (three of us) and had a great day. What a pleasure it is to fish in such a lovely spot and the countryside around Lower Canon is beautiful. The fact that you can now take a 4x4 to the beat is good news and it was difficult to wind in at the end of a very enjoyable two days and head for home. Big thanks to fishery owner and W&U.

8 Barbel, 4 Chub

River seemed low clear and slow. Fished one of the swims at the bottom of the tree line, having navigated the heavily rutted entrance to the field to park.
Taps and trembles throughout the day on meat, corn and cheese, but no 3 foot twitches. Not a sniff on halibut pellet. Ended up with 3 chub, 2 on garlic meat at 1lb and 3lb and another 3lber on cheese.
Tried anything/everything to convert more taps into fish on the bank, but it wasn't to be.
Number of new swims looked promising but couldn't fish them due to anglers on far bank fishing across. Still plenty to have a go at though.

3 Chub

Didn't get to the beat until about 2.30, made for swims I'm familiar with in the middle by the tree line. The other angler booked on obviously had similar ideas, we had a quick chat - fishing seemed quiet - and I set up downstream of him in a swim my mate had always done well from on previous visits. However, after a couple of hours with only one real enquiry to show for (which I think was likely an eel plucking my luncheon meat) I started to get the impression that there maybe wasn't enough flow in front of me. Previous visits to this beat were always made in relatively high water conditions, whereas this day was low and slow. A quick recce downstream showed a couple of swims with interesting areas on the near bank, where the flow was concentrated. I decided to fish three of these in rotation, first one I lost a small chub (then it went quiet). Second one nothing. By now it was gone 6 and both my fellow angler on my side and the three on the far bank had had enough and packed up. At around 6.30, the river suddenly switched on, and in five consecutive casts in the third downstream swim I caught a small chub, then an eel, then three barbel, one after another. The barbel all between 6 and 8 pounds. This spell came about during a kind of false dusk - it had got really dark and cloudy, also very windy. However, after an hour or so of action, it brightened up again, the wind died down, the sun came out - and the bites slowed right up. Ignoring the unsuccessful swim in the middle, I moved back up to the swim I'd lost a chub in previously and just as the light really did start to fade at around 8.30 I had another barbel (and one more foul-hooked, which I don't count!) I'm sure there could have been another couple of fish in the session if I'd really sat it out, but the thought of the warm welcome waiting at the Green Man in Fownhope (never mind a pint or two of HPA) had me packing up around 9. All in all a very rewarding day, interesting to see how the barbel really do feed in short spells during these low conditions. Tomorrow would be spent at Fownhope 5... unlike How Caple Court, a beat I'd never visited before.

4 Barbel, 1 Chub, 1 Other

River low all fish caught on pellets with feeder nice day.

2 Barbel, 4 Chub

A recennoitre rather than a fishing session to get to know the river at the current extremely low levels. Walked and watched for a couple of hours intending to come back in the evening but didn't make it back!

6 Trout