Feedback & Reports

We had been beaten by a rising river on Wednesday at Holme Lacy so straight after fishing there we drove to Sugwas to look at the conditions for the following day. To say we were gutted was an understatement - the river was flying through with debris and weed everywhere but a lot can happen in 12 hours. We arrived at 6am and saw what can only be describbed as perfect conditions - colour in the water but it had dropped 2 foot from the night before.
Tom and Mark started in field upstream of carpark and Tom caught 2 barbel within 30 mins while Mark broke his Wye duck with a 4lb chub at 6.30. I had decided to fish a bit further downstream and got bites from the word go. Before 11am I had had over 15 fish, both barbel up to 9.5lb and chub up to 4.5lb. It was fishing heaven. Buzzards, kingfishers and even a fox put in an appearence to add to the great start to the day. Tom and Mark had moved up to the middle section where Tom had 6 more barbel before 11am. Mark was still getting used to the river and was getting bites but no more fish as yet. I then moved into the spot vacated by Tom and Mark in the field upstream of the car park and fished 3/4 of the way across river using pellet with hemp in feeder. I then hit a spell I will never forget - a fish a cast topped off by a barbel of over 11lb, never having seen one that size in wye before. I left the swim at 1pm so Mark could fill his boots but he had to wait till 4pm before he landed his 1st Wye barbell, followed by 5 more, his biggest being 8lb, and 2 chub. Tom had gone to the top of the field near brick buildings and had 6 barbel, his biggest being 9.5lb and 4 chub, 1 of 4.5lb. I went back to my 1st peg and caught steadily upto 7.30pm when we called it a day. I only had 4 last casts, 2 of which resulted in fish.
This was our best day on Wye without a doubt. Mark is now a river convert and Tom doesn't want to go fishing again as his expectations are too high now. Overall I can honestly say I won't have another day like this but I've got the pictures and memories forever. Only one downside - a couple of barbel still had barbed hooks in their lips which were taken out. A few salmon were splashing about which again made the day. Thanks for a great stretch of water and the way it's maintained - wild yet fishable. All fish taken on pellets over a hemp base and all fish in great condition. THANKS AGAIN WUF.

40 Barbel, 15 Chub

Once again, what can I say but a great days fishing. 6 barbel to 7lb plus 5 chub and one eel. Many thanks to Don and to Wye and Usk.

6 Barbel, 5 Chub, 1 Other

Fished as I would a wild lough in Ireland, but the static anglers were too plentiful to be able to keep moving; many of them practising dark and mysterious arts unknown to the naive fly angler! Still, the only trout I did manage was quite small and perfectly finned so I guess it was not a wild fish. Not really the place to go if you love wild fishing.

1 Trout

Tried a hares ear - no go, then dry F-fly which awakened things up a little. More water in river, but changeable weather unhelpful. Nice place.

2 Trout

Came back for a second afternoon to find that the river had come up two feet over night. This would have been fine, except that, as it was the first flush for a while, it was carrying a lot of debris, and I had to keep clearing the line every few minutes. Managed to keep keep it in the water long enough to get one barbel of about five pounds.

1 Barbel

3 1/2 lb grilse ( not fin clipped) at 12.45pm on Wednesday 18th Sept.

1 Salmon

Good day earlier in the year - today blank. Little sign of fish life so tried wets. Saw two pairs of kingfishers so who cares! P.S. Had a break for lunch at the Riverside Inn, Aymestrey - busy but good food/value - advisable to book. Owner said W & U had done some survey work and population quite healthy with salmon parr present. I'll try winter grayling next.

Started at 9am under the excellent tutorage of John Symonds, within a couple of hours both able to cast (some of the time!). A great day was had, learnt lots, a couple of fish seen, however none caught.

4 trout, biggest about 10" on a para adams, with a few others missed.

4 Trout

I had a few hours fishing up Llangadog with the spinning rod. I had 2 trout and a small shoalie sewin, all returned. I was hoping to catch some salmon but sadly didn't manage any.

2 Trout, 1 Sea Trout