Feedback & Reports

Used standard feeder fishing tactics. Day was dull and river had a moderate flow. Very slow all day, Vanstone pool was consuming tackle so we moved. 3lb chub caught in the morning then nothing till the light was starting to fade, then a brace of 5lb chub - glorious golden perfect fish. Then 2 barbel one 8lbs and one 9lbs. All fish fought hard. Lovely day as usual. I really appreciated the help of the ropes in the steeper swims. Both pheasants and sheep kept us company.

2 Barbel, 3 Chub

Started off over the hill, venturing towards the stones. This remains straight forward, and dry to access at the moment, including for SC, my 14 year old son. River levels all good, falling gradually through the day. Steady if not hectic sport to begin with, before the lunchtime lull that can occur in that swim. Troubled by more snags than usual, we had 10 chub or so up to 4 lb, and one lovely barbel of approx 9lb, all tempted on feeder and pellet method. We settled for a quieter pace of life in the afternoon, in the furthest downstream swim below the gate. The bites in here were less frequent, but when fish did arrive, they were of a healthier stamp, all chub - 4-5lb. SC on his first trip to the Wye, lost a big barbel at the net as the light closed in. He took this mishap much better than me, and vowed to return and catch his first barbel soon. He was king of the chub for the day which softened the blow somewhat. He's desperate to try for Pike, will need to do some research to find the best beats available.

1 Barbel, 19 Chub

On arrival the river looked good, not too low with a hint of colour. The fish fed steadily throughout day, chub to around 4lb, barbel to 7lb 3oz and a 12lb pike. All the fish fell to feeder fished pellets including the pike!

10 Barbel, 20 Chub, 1 Pike

First time at the venue. The location is really nice but we were a bit disappointed in the amount of swims to choose from. Realistically I’d say you had a couple to choose from and the water wasn’t even that high yet. Could be a better summer venue possibly when you can sit out on the gravel at low water or trot a float down. Fishing very quiet so packed up early

1 Barbel, 2 Chub

25 Chub

Nothing seen

First outing on the Wye this season. Fabulous day apart from falling into the river, not done that in years, was very slippy on the bank, luckily was only up to my knees and managed to get out ok, muppet! So wet legs all day but still had a good day catching chub on the balsa, biggest went 5lb 14oz. I spent 20 minutes watching an otter gracefully swimming around, that was so cool. Lovely day out.

1 Grayling, 16 Chub

Following storm Amy the river was back to normal levels. Our first time fishing this beat. Very quiet and peaceful when walkers and canoeists were not present, some were very noisy, spoiling the atmosphere. Lovely beat but daunting due to length of available bank for fishing, and difficult to recognise potential swims. The beat could be very challenging during the peak summer months due to the numbers of canoes, as the warning in the Fishing Passport description.

5 Barbel, 2 Chub

We fished a clear 0.48m river on a perfect warm autumn day – thin cloud, no wind and water 11 degrees, kingfishers, and otters for company twice! We fished in all historically productive spots from the glide below Grandstand up to Little Glaslyn (though DC hasn’t fished CLG for five years). Not unexpectedly, hardly any fly, with little midge and a handful of what were probably LDOs, and certainly nothing to elicit a rise. Where appropriate, we tried surface patterns, duo, spiders and EU-nymphed bugs but struggled to find obliging fish, apart from four small OOS trout, 10 5” graylets and only two adult grayling - an 11” fish on a dark olive Duck’s Dun and a lovely 40cm 2.25lb lady for GR on a weighted orange spider. In the many years DC has fished CLG, he’s never had such an unproductive day in such promising conditions. CLG is still a beautiful location but where were the fish and, in particular, the adult grayling? Must come back in 2026 when there’s more fly life or drown some maggots in the coming months!

Note for other anglers, the riparian owner and WUF: the footpath alongside the island in the river, from the stile upstream of Grandstand to the cattle grid, is overgrown with brambles. After some bushwacking, avoiding trip hazards and potentially punctured waders, and line-grabbing branches and briars, a careful reverse was made back to the stile and to the gate from the car park. Access along this footpath should be much better managed and until this happens, we recommend that, like us, anglers should use the farm track from the car park to get upstream to the cattle grid instead. Access elsewhere is fine.

4 Trout, 12 Grayling

A couple of hours on the Beacons. Flat calm to start, so some fish on dries to 1lb. As wind increased fish were caught pulling wets or small lures. The level is falling rapidly here. I did notice a large number of very big signal crayfish in the reservoir, which I could see crawling on the bottom in most areas when it was calm. It is a worry - these were not present a couple of years ago. No doubt eating a lot of the fly life, which may explain why the trout in recent years have been smaller on average compared to what they used to be. The sedge / cased caddis have all but disappeared.

6 Trout