Feedback & Reports

Started on the dry, but there was a strong wind and limited surface activity. Moving on the wet flies, I was soon into the first fish. Most successful fly was a Mallard and Claret.

10 Trout

Fished a shallow swim for the evening. Picked off the odd fish early on until the barbel properly switched on in the last hour. Brilliant sport, caught on pellet, no feeders, catapulting free offerings over. Will be back!

10 Barbel, 1 Chub

Weather dull & overcast, no fly activity, water low & very clear. Caught 2 trout very small on nymphs no rises seen, fished for 2 hours then moved to Lower Longtown.

2 Trout

Weather sunny and warm, better than the afternoon, water low but was carrying a little colour, some rises seen, raised 2 fish but did not connect. I did catch 1 nice trout about 12 inches on nymph, fished for about 2 hours.

1 Trout

Arrived to be greeted by low cloud and mist, water understandably low and clear. A great start, landing a small Barbel within a minute of the first cast hitting the water. Persevered with feeder and pellet for majority of the day but couldn't sustain the pace of the first few minutes.
Two further small Barbel (approx. 1.5lb) before resorting to free-lining meat later in the day, which duly accounted for two fine Chub of 3lb and 2lb.
Whilst I fully appreciate the river also belongs to canoeists, and I do expect Saturdays to be very busy at this time of year, I would say the constant traffic between 10am and 4pm (and I mean constant) was not conducive to worthwhile fishing. In particular, the slack water between the numerous croys at Wyebank seem to be the go-to areas for canoe-schools, with groups of 10-15 spending most of the day there, practicing their new skills, effectively rendering two thirds of the beat unfishable.
Lost 2 larger fish, definitely Barbel. One whilst free-lining, which sped approx 10 metres into a snag, unstoppable!, the other on pellet who's first run snapped a 10lb hook-link. Fished until 7pm, the conditions and the beat promised great things but in the circumstances, finished with a reasonable 3 Barbel and 2 Chub.
Fishermen will always want to catch bigger fish, but it's also great to see the next generation of Wye Barbel in such fine condition!
Despite the 'distractions', still an enjoyable day on the river. Great to see the Buzzards overhead, the wagtails and robins catching insects, and the kingfishers criss-crossing the river between the canoes. Fascinating to watch them waiting for a safe gap in traffic, just as we would, to cross the road. Thanks to all at WUF for all the hard work.

3 Barbel, 2 Chub

River low and as such only a few swims that had any depth were viable options. The fish were caught throughout the day from both the upper and lower pools. Pellet, boilie were used and both baits caught used with a feeder. A very acrobatic pike kept us amused whilst leaping for silver fish after the feeder went into the top pool.
A very nice stretch but limited options in these low conditions, worth considering taking the float tackle I reckon.
As mentioned before, do beware of the ramp. You can just about swing round it without going over if you don't feel confident your car will make it. First visit to this section and I'd like to come back but maybe with a bit of water on.

15 Barbel, 10 Chub

Water level was low (not sure what it was on the gauge). Weather - overcast with E wind, 18 deg C. Successful flies were size 14 goldhead GRHE, spider patterns (patridge and orange) and 2 fish on dries - grey klinkhamer, although the fish were not freely rising. All fish were returned.

2 Trout, 5 Grayling

I have never seen so many people fishing. Fished 7am-11am in the bay area. Caught 4 rainbows on worm. Lots of people float fishing. Pleasing to see no litter left in my swim by others. Chatted to three young lads who were fishing next to me, great to see young people doing something outdoors.
One question, if these catch reports are used to assess fish stocks etc, how does this integrate with catch reports from those who buy a ticket from the machine at stillwater such as this? Do they submit catch reports in the same way and can the rest of us access these as we can with those from W&UF?

4 Trout

Got to the beat @ 9 am on an cool overcast morning, walked the bank and decided to start our day at the bottom of the length in the faster shallower water across from the shingle bank. The pegs looked fishy and the bailiff/ranger (nice bloke) had said some barbel had been caught there recently, even thought the river was low. Fished pellets, close into the bank but had no luck as the day warmed up.
At around 2ish we had a walk up the length, looking for some deeper water and decided on the try the peg directly across from the line of trees dividing fields. Mixed some ground bait with pellet and hemp and fished feeder or pellet PVA over top. Didn't take long before knocks and bites started to come. From then on it was just about turning the bites into fish. We came away with 4 barbel between 7-8 lb and 2 chub and lost quiet a few more.
A great days fishing from the strong fight barbel in the beautiful setting of The Wye. Shall return again soon.

4 Barbel, 2 Chub

No fish taken, despite excellent conditions, perhaps reflecting a lack of expertise and knowledge!