Feedback & Reports

Smallest barbel 1lb, biggest 10.5lbs. All fish on meat or pellet.

7 Barbel, 13 Chub

Had a good day, weather perfect in the morning, rain and drizzle, hot and sunny in the afternoon but still managed to catch all day. 10 barbel, 3 over 9lb, all caught on pellet feeder. A really nice beat, my only complaint, not enough swims. More need to be available to anglers if 3 or 4 turned up. Anyway, a great day it was a joy to watch loads of salmon jumping.
Just a word on accommodation. We stopped at the Inn on the Wye at £65 a night for 2. Good value.

10 Barbel, 4 Chub, 1 Other

Lovely stretch, very picturesque. Some nice but challenging swims on it. If approached right though they can produce few decent fish. Great maps, directions etc.

7 Barbel, 4 Chub

1st ever trip to the River Wye, so booked this stretch for 2 days.
Day 1
4 Barbel (2 in the first 2 hours and 2 in the last hour). Best fish was 7.06lbs. Method was pellets on standard ledger set up. 6 chub caught during the day between the barbel, best fish was 4.08lbs, same tactics.

4 Barbel, 6 Chub

Very low, very clear and very overgrown. Virtually nothing hatching and no rising fish. Fished for an hour before deciding to give up and move to the Lugg. Saw a promising spot on the walk back and tried a couple of casts. This resulted in a 9 inch grayling and a 10 inch trout so decided to carry on fishing the Hindwell! The deeper pools produced fish of 5-8 inches, all taken on various size 18 nymphs on a French leader. The water upstream of the bridge seemed even shallower than that downstream, only managed a couple of small grayling here. The river could do with a couple of extra inches of water and a touch of colour.

8 Trout, 3 Grayling

A fantastic day guiding 2 clients. The river was slightly up and coloured. The barbel fed well during the whole day. All caught on pellet and swim feeder. The largest barbel was 10lbs 11oz followed by a 9lber and a host of other great fighting fish. The barbel on this beat keep moving around so you need to find them. Clients thoroughly enjoyed.

13 Barbel, 4 Chub

Fished the day rolling meat and lost lots of tackle. Caught 3 small chub. Should've listened to my guide Kenny Parsons. Lesson learnt.

3 Chub

Fly only. Took the one fish caught.
Anglers using worm having a lot more success but creating more disturbance in the water. Such is life. It was my choice to use fly instead of worm.
Very sad to see an angler on the opposite bank gutting his catch in the reservoir.
Just as I was leaving the water - around 4:30pm - a couple arrived - husband/wife, middle aged, and while he set up two rods, worming, she set up a fire so they could cook the catch. This means more fish being gutted in the water.
There is plenty of evidence around the bank that fires are made to cook with.
I'm not a 'Fly Purist' and have no problem sharing a water with bait fishers and spinners - I also use both methods - but the gutting of fish on the bank and into the water means I will NOT be returning to this water.

1 Trout

We have fished Sugwas before and never found it to be an easy beat, part of the challenge of fishing the Wonderful Wye. Avoiding swims we knew to be very snaggy, we just had the afternoon and evening there catching 7 barbel, mostly 4-5lbs and a few good sized chub. It was certainly a privilege to be fishing in lovely countryside on a splendid autumn day.

Fished with a first time river angler in search of the quality barbel and chub on offer. As sometimes happens, things didn't quite go to plan. Having fished this beat early in the season and having done well I fished identical tactics but alas a combination of bright conditions and drifting weed made the fishing difficult. Managed some nice chub to 3.14lbs but the Barbel from earlier in the year were not playing ball! Saying that - what a place to spend a sunny Sunday! We will be back!

8 Chub