Feedback & Reports

So, water was v low (0.97m Monmouth gauge) which meant quite a lot not possible to fish a fly through, but can see the huge potential of this beat for sure. The water running down from Slaughter to the foot bridge is just wonderful and can imagine a lot of fish get hooked here. Below the bridge down to Martins it was all too slow for a fly, so fished hard with a spinner, scrambling the banks and wading the edges, didn't connect with one, but did see a fish roll in the Smokehouse pool.

I don't want this to be just another negative post about the canoe civil war that haunts this part of the Wye, but I put up with as much as I could on the top half until finally a large pack of men came through, one with a sound system so loud I could actually feel the bass through the water. So I wound in the line at that point. Around 50 % of them have obviously been briefed and passed me behind where my line was, but the other half carry on straight through the middle of the pool. The grumpy man in me feels it is perhaps a bit unfair to pay £50 to fish a beat where the main part of the day is virtually impossible, but the more easy going utilitarian in me says there is still a lot of water and I was outnumbered around 100:1 by canoeists, so I should give way to them. I doubt I will fish there again at this time of year, but would consider coming back from June when it's available mid week. In the mean time... i think we should all do a rain dance!

Highlight was filming two MASSIVE wild boar cruising down the treeline of Lady Wood in the half light on the way out!

First time on this beat and enjoyed it . very nice stretch of water. river levels low with a strong continual wind made it quite tricky. plenty of fly on the water brook duns , uprights etc ten trout to french nyphing and three to the dry. fishing the dry was very frustrating with several good fish rising but casting a real problem. size wise all between 10-22 inches. shame the wind was up all day as there were fish rising freely for 2 hours. will fish this again but with a few more inches on the gauge as i am sure you could achieve a good catch here with some pace in the water

13 Trout

Great day. Overcast and drizzling, but there were a few hatches going on all day. All the trout and grayling were small (palm length) except one grayling of 22 cm. Map should be updated, as it is unclear where to park ans exactly what lengths are fishable..l

4 Trout, 7 Grayling

3 Trout

Fished 1630-1800. Cool and overcast with a stiff breeze, but very sheltered in the valley. There was a reasonable amount of fly life and a few rises below most of the riffles. There were absolutely loads of cased caddis clinging to the pebbles.
I started with a tiny elk hair caddis that got a few rises but only one stuck so switched to a grey and black emerger. 4 wbt between 9-13" resulted. All fought very well and were fat as butter, all returned.
An exceedingly lovely little beat that manages ample cover without making casting impossible.

4 Trout

Mick the gillie was very helpful, but unfortunately no signs of running fish.

The was river low and clear and the weather colder and breezy. I struggled to locate any fish with a nymph. Eventually saw a rise so switched to a cdc emerger pattern and was successful on the first cast. A plump 9 inch trout was all I managed but still an enjoyable day.

1 Trout

Caradoc was a lovely beat to fish and I can see with 1' to 2' of extra water the whole river would liven up, as it was .24 on the Ross guage and we were always going to struggle I think.
Unfortunately we would never fish Caradoc again at the weekend as canoe traffic was very high especially in the morning. Despite several signs displayed by the owners not to beach, light fires or BBQ's the shingle banks below the suspension bridge were a magnet for groups of canoeists to do exactly the opposite. I had two chaps decide to try and stop mid-stream in the narrows, right opposite me as fly fishing this run, to chat with mates around a fire on the bank. I politely asked if they could move through quickly and was answered with the stock answer " you don't own the river " to which I replied " no but I do pay a rod licence and rent to fish the beat and they contribute nout" and off they went having completely disturbed the pool. These were followed by the same group of approx. 10 canoes that upset another angler later in the day downstream at Upper Bigsweir ( seen on his catch return ). We could hear them coming from over half a mile away playing a loud sound system on board and as they went by a trail of cannabis smoke filled the air, young Welsh lads on a jolly up, but as they passed my brother fly fishing below me one decided to capsize in the last and most promising pool at the bottom of the river. After about 10 mins of chaos trying to sort themselves out they were gone to annoy those downstream.
I hadn't fished the Wye for about 15 years and this was a 4 day trip to celebrate my brothers birthday so was surprised at how things have changed, and to me a lack of respect from walkers who think its ok for there children to throw rocks into water you are about to fish, dogs owners doing the same with sticks and canoes all over.
Apart from all the moans we did have a great time and my brother managed a fresh 9lb fish on his birthday fishing a guest ticket at Ross on the Friday.