Feedback & Reports

Our final day of the trip. Walked the beat and decided to fish the lower part. My friend had a great day catching 6 Barbel up to 10lb all on legered maggot with five fish lost due to the snaggy swim conditions. I blanked, though had three Barbel snag me up in a sunken Willow tree. Thanks again WUF. Hopefully back again next year where we'll try some new beats. That Wye Barbel double still eludes me —maybe next year.

6 Barbel

River low and very clear fished most of the stretch and found the odd fish the best barbel went 7lb along with a 5lb fish,the best a chub around 4lb. This was the slowest day out of five booked so far, we have had a very good run this season. Another pleasant day on the bank.
Thank you

2 Barbel, 2 Chub

Caught on hare's ear. No rises seen all day.

2 Grayling

Fishing slow, only 2 takes all day. Access difficult with only 2 or 3 swims available and we weren't informed about cardiac hill!

2 Barbel

1 Salmon lost in the bridge pool.

3 Trout

Nice warm, grey, overcast and still day. Caught approx. 20 trout, mostly 5 - 10 inches but one nice fish of 15 inches taken from a deep hole under an overhanging branch. Also one salmon parr. Used both dry fly and a PTN, the latter taking the better fish. A very pleasant day.
There is a discrepancy between the beat description and the map. The description gives the top of the beat at Hergest Falls but the map shows it as being upstream of the footbridge, so about 100 metres above the falls.

20 Trout

River conditions were the same as day previous despite some nightime rain; which carried on up until mid morning. Bites were again hard to come by, even fishing the deeper water in the two swims closest to the tree line.
A good sized barbel eventually was banked (9lb 2oz) fishing very tight under a overhanging willow in the near margin. By this time the rain had cleared and gave way to a warm, but dull day.
A couple chub were also caught, again fishing the near margin shelf; one of which tipped the scales at just over 5lb.
Tactics and bait used were the same as previous day.
There was a slight issue with the anglers who fish the opposite bank (as part of the estate ) casting over to the far bank (our side) and also one guy deciding to wade right across and trott a bait along the margin where we were fishing. However, these were minor issues and we just moved to another part of the river.
A good 2 days fishing on the Wye, not as prolific as previous visits, but enjoyable nevertheless.

1 Barbel, 2 Chub

I had not intended to fish the main river, only wild stream beats and, as a result, was seriously undergunned for Penpont with a 7' 6" 3wt rod. After the tight confines of the Crai beats, Penpont felt luxuriously spacious and I didn't lose a single fly to the tree gods all afternoon.
There were a few fish rising early on but none even attempted to take my duo offering of an elk hair caddis and a beaded GRHE nymph. I switched over to an olive klinkhamer later but still no luck.
It's certainly a lovely looking beat and relatively easy wading. Thing is, when you mostly fish small rivers (as I do), something the size of the main Usk looks a bit daunting - loads of water and no real idea of how to approach it. I'll probably be back with a guide next time.

River in excellent condition, slightly up and coloured, but the fishing was slow. All the fish were caught on feeder and pellets. Don the fella that leases the stretch came down and was very helpful and informative.

6 Barbel, 5 Chub

Fished above the car parking space until the rain stopped, moved right down to the bottom of the beat, but no fishable spots. Found a spot on the bank in the middle of the second field, had a barbel 6lb 9oz, only bite. Fished just below the car space, late afternoon, had a 8lb 2oz towards the far bank were the Salmon were leaping. Good to be back on the Wye, off to Fownhope No 5 tomorrow.

2 Barbel, 2 Chub