Feedback & Reports

River levels very high for summer, approximately 1.6m at start of day and then dropping very slowly; - water coloured.
Fished opposite the Weir Gardens, but this is a very long walk from the car park, even when carrying the minimum of gear. Taking a tackle box plus accessories, would make it an SAS route march. However, access to the swims at the water's edge was easy.
Even though the river levels were high and the river was pushing through very fast, caught a personal best barbel of 9lb 3oz. My brother, who had never fished for barbel before, caught a 7lb 8oz barbel. He also lost what was probably a very large carp, but we never saw the fish. Also had a 3ib 1oz chub.

2 Barbel, 1 Chub

Lovely beat, but only managed to net 3 fish on a GRHE. Few rises, tried few dry flies but none taken. Stuck to nymphing most of the time. Missed a few. Will be back again to try my luck.

3 Trout

Two of us fished this beat together from 3pm 'til dusk. The stream seemed unaffected by the recent rain and was running quite clear with a reasonable flow in all places. I starting with a small weighted P/T nymph and quickly caught fish as did my partner. The thick tree cover protected us from a cooling wind and shaded most of the pools, giving the feeling of fishing in a hidden corridor of greenery. Hook ups in branches are inevitable to begin with but once you're in the swing of things, the flick casts come more easily. I used a 6' rod which was ideal for the job. As the afternoon wore on we found more rising fish and switched to dry P/T flies and continued to catch, especially in the more difficult to reach places where the fish rose quite freely and were harder to put down. We caught 12 fish plus and lost another 6 as they skittered to hand, the largest being about 10 inches. The beat is about 1/2 mile long with enough interest to provide a day's fishing and is easily waded. The most delightful aspect was the number of twists and turns in the stream with a new pool and fishing challenge around every corner.

12 Trout

Fished from the crack of dawn until 9-30am when the amount of water coming through forced a hasty retreat. Managed six Barbel and lost a load of feeders. This is a great beat but needs to be fished at normal summer levels.

6 Barbel

River still high and a bit coloured after recent rain (apparently it was rained off on Monday).
This is a very beautiful and secluded stretch and I would fish it again any time, but in these conditions I was utterly unsuccessful. I stuck mainly to dry fly just because that is the style of fishing I prefer, but that was maybe a mistake in the conditions. I didn't see a single fish rise either to naturals or to anything I put on. Did briefly use heavy nymphs and also hung a Pheasant Tail Nymph under an Elk-Hair Caddis, but nothing got so much as a tug.
There was fly life around, including caddis, some small grey upwings, soldier beetles and a few yellow sally stoneflies. Nothing (either natural or on my line) brought any response.
Fished from 9.00am to 5.00pm. Maybe I missed the best part of the day and it came to life in the evening?

Just fished for a few hours in the evening. Very quiet with nothing showing. 3 trout caught on dries, none over 12 oz, and released. Mini muddler and hopper popper. A few takes but coolish wind seemed to stop a decent hatch.

3 Trout

Fished in the evening. Just a few rises. Still some mayfly about. Hooked and lost a couple but my hamfisted and stealth free approach was unsuited to this enjoyable but challenging beat.

Nice beat caught 5 barbel in the evening on meat and pellets river was high and the odd tree branch came floating past found a nice swim near the island out of the main current a very enjoyable day thank you.

5 Barbel

Ledgered pellet

3 Barbel

The river was up, fast and coloured with a fair amount of debris coming through including some large branches and logs which took me out several times during the day. Levels slowly rose a further 15cm and the pace and colour increased in the afternoon. Fishing close in to find slacker water was the only option and, fortunately, the fish agreed with bites coming in batches of 2 or 3 at regular intervals. Pellets were the only bait tried with a 4oz feeder still struggling to hold bottom. As usual all the fish were immaculate and fit. The largest chub just topped 5lb and the largest barbel was 9-04.
Absolutely brilliant day - even the relatively small number of canoeists were courteous and careful. An otter popped up by my rod tip and gave me an evil stare but the usual wildlife, including a frequently passing kingfisher largely ignored me.
Thanks WUF. See you again soon.

4 Barbel, 11 Chub