Feedback & Reports

17 x grayling 8-18 inches, 4 x out of season trout 6-11 inches, 1 x out of season salmon 5-6 pounds, long trotting. Almost perfect river conditions today, although I had to use lighter float gear than usual with shy grayling in clear water. A nice healthy range of grayling sizes, including one at 18 and several at 17 inches, but also a few smaller ones included in the catch and there were some little grayling parr under 6 inches as well. The accidental salmon was a rather docile coloured grilse, which I thought was a big grayling for a while as I worked it upstream. To my surprise, it lay quite quietly while I plucked the hook out. All in all, a most beautiful Irfon day (though cold at 1-2 degrees) with snow on the hills and flaming colour in the trees over the river. It won't last much longer; the leaves are falling fast.

17 Grayling

Barbel not feeding but 6 chub made it worth the effort.

6 Chub

A bitterly cold day with a sprinkling of snow on the high hills in the distance. However, the sun came out and we fished the Church Pool upwards with weighted upstream nymphs. NB caught and returned a nice WBT around 1lb. We called it a day at lunchtime.

1 Trout

No fish caught but lost a single fish and had several other takes. The river was in good condition, clear and without too many leaves.

River in fine condition, clear, and steady levels. Crisp November day. One rod fly, one trotting with maggots. Both caught one small grayling each. Fly angler fishing Czech nymph style and fish took a flashback pheasant tail on the dropper.
Lovely stretch, lots of yellow wagtails about and kingfishers, just couldn't locate the fish today. No OOS brownies.

2 Grayling

Found the river at just about a fishable level after the recent high water but quite cold. Fished weighted nymphs all day and caught just three small WBT for our efforts. It was NB's first session with upstream nymphs and he hooked and missed several.

3 Trout

14 x grayling 10-16 inches, 7 x out of season trout to 15 inches, long trotting. Nice conditioned, strong grayling, mostly in the 14-15 inch class. River running cold and clear; Abernant is one of the few upper Wye beats I would wade far into with confidence while 2ft 3 inches showing on the Llanstephan gauge. Salmon showing intermittently on the beat, as they were yesterday on the Irfon.

14 Grayling

11 chub on bread, 9 from beat 2 and 2 from beat 3. I do wonder wether the resident otter is having an effect on stock levels on beat 3? Today was the fourth time in as many visits I have seen an otter at Whitney. Otters and cormorants in one stretch can't be good.

11 Chub

As close as I want to come to the B-word on WUF waters! A last minute booking, having read some pretty lean results and a few blanks reported in the last week or so, I didn't hold out much hope for barbel - but thought the local chub might still be game. Not so! Our first time at How Caple and it's another beautiful stretch - however, this grey drizzly day was as dull and lifeless under the water as it was above. While my brother searched for a pike with no luck, having eaten my lunch by about 9am for something to do a chub of about 3.5lbs finally gave me reason to put the landing net together. Happy days!
Still, better to be on the bank than not and we're lucky enough to have the Wye on our doorstep when others have to come a long way to enjoy it. We tip our hats to you!
Thanks WUF.
PS another 14 greedy cormorants to chalk up on cormorantwatch.org too. Our record sighting this year still stands at an appalling 66, over the Lugg in Hereford.

1 Chub

Started near the head of the Island on the bend in two beautiful looking pegs, with steady flow on the inside and pacy water towards middle for pellet feeder attack. Unfortunately although looking perfect, little or no action other than trout and grayling on float. No signs on feeder so started leap frogging back down the stretch on the feeder and pellet, meat, maggots, bollies etc. Only proper fish being a 4lb Chub caught in middle of stretch on feeder and meat as light was fading, although whole day was dull and overcast. No other anglers (or Barbel for that matter) seen on three days fishing on WUF waters in spite of near perfect conditions.

1 Trout, 2 Grayling, 1 Chub