Feedback & Reports

4 Trout

Water level very low, very muddy and lots of bits of line caught in between rocks. water a bit hot for trout at the moment so no catch .

11 Trout

Evening session in low, clear water. Fish were holding very close and responding well to small #18–20 nymphs, particularly Perdigons and Hotspot PTNs.

4 Trout, 5 Grayling, 2 Chub

5 Grayling

Back to Caradoc for day two and, unfortunately, there was no meaningful change in conditions. Having booked and paid for two days on the beat, the choice was essentially to give it another go or simply walk away and lose the booking, so perseverance won out. The river was essentially unchanged from the previous day. Desperately low, painfully clear in places and still plagued by pervasive filament and streamer weed. Every cast with a lead or feeder remained a lottery, with terminal tackle regularly returning festooned with the stuff.

One angler headed up to try the Croys, hoping the slightly increased pace might offer cleaner water and some respite from the weed. No such luck. The problem was every bit as bad there. Elsewhere, a few barbel were seen flashing in one swim, which provided enough encouragement for one angler to settle in and work through various baits. Several hours of patience, however, produced nothing of consequence.

There was, though, some unexpected entertainment courtesy of a family who had established themselves a little further upstream on the beach. With almost 300 yards of empty shingle and gravel available, the obvious choice was apparently to launch their rubber rings directly through the swim being fished. After floating merrily downstream, the return journey involved literally walking and swimming back through the swim and underneath the rod. Meanwhile, other members of the family decided that the perfect place for a spot of enthusiastic splashing was about five feet from where another angler was clearly fishing.

The angler politely pointed out that he was actually fishing the swim and asked if they could perhaps avoid it. Unfortunately, the request fell on deaf ears and the swimming, splashing and walking through the swim continued regardless. Rather than risk turning the situation into an unnecessary confrontation, it was felt better simply to pack up. The angler did exactly that and went home. Sometimes there really are no words. There was certainly no desire to spoil anyone else's enjoyment of the river, particularly on such a hot day, but with hundreds of yards of empty beach and river available, a little consideration would have gone a long way. People can, sadly, be remarkably selfish.

Further downstream there was at least a little more peace, although absolutely no improvement in the weed. It remained every bit as bad as the previous day, making presenting a bait effectively for any length of time extraordinarily difficult. Despite everything, persistence eventually produced two chub, winkled out from amongst the weed and providing at least something to show for another long and difficult day.

Note to self: avoid Caradoc during the school holidays!

There is also a frustrating sting in the tail. The Fishing Passport walk-off terms almost encourage anglers to stay and attempt to fish when common sense suggests that conditions simply aren't suitable. Extremely low water and pervasive weed, apparently, are not in themselves sufficient grounds for a walk-off. When much of a beat is barely knee deep and every cast returns with the terminal tackle smothered in weed, that feels rather difficult to reconcile with the idea of providing reasonable fishing conditions.

Caradoc is capable of being a superb stretch of the Wye and previous visits have demonstrated exactly that. These two days were a very different experience.

Low water, oppressive heat, relentless weed and the joys of the school holidays combined to make Friday another endurance test rather than an enjoyable day's fishing.

Such a shame. Caradoc can be so much better than this.

2 Chub

1 Barbel, 6 Chub

Nice stretch of water, we caught using cage feeder with hemp and pellets. The water was quite low however certain pegs had a nice flow in the middle of the river and this is where we had some success.

2 Chub

8 x Chub upto 3lb5oz.

8 Chub

only had 30 minutes, but had 3 splashy takes but no hook up. Hit Bibio hopper and Sedgehog on the surface. Lake VERY low