Feedback & Reports

A good catch considering the sweltering conditions. We stayed at The Pound in Whitney on Wye - very comfortable and an excellent breakfast.

3 Barbel, 2 Chub

5 Trout

Arriving to see the thermometer registering 28 degrees meant we knew it was going to be a tough day with the river so painfully low!
After a very short walk down a pleasantly shaded footpath you're on the river, and despite fishing the Wye regularly for over 15 years we both commented on the beauty of this beat. Spent the first hour or so looking for any barbel daft enough to be out in the sun before settling down to fish at around half 2pm.
4 painful, sweat soaked, sundrenched hours later without a tap I went for another look around with the sun getting low and settled on a spot that earlier that day I hadn't liked the look of.
Got settled in at about half 7 and just as the renewed sweating outburst was ending and dehydration was starting to verge on serious and I was considering wringing a mouthful of sweat from my T shirt (all drinks having long been drunk) a big barbel belly-flopped not 15 feet in front of me. Dropping a bait on its head resulted in a bite in 5 minutes saving me from straining a drink from my shirt but unfortunately streamer weed intervened and the hook pulled.
The next 80 minutes went mad with a 7lb 3oz and an 8lb smack on landed, 3 lost and at least half a dozen missed before simply seeming to switch off again.
One of the easier beats on the Wye to fish regarding existing swims and places to make swims for Wye regulars, visiting anglers may not agree but there's nothing stopping you from fishing anywhere really except a few trees at the top end. Didn't get snagged once and we did the short hop up the hill to the car in the dark with no torches and no problems - I was expecting the north face of the Eiger based on previous reports but it's less than 50 yards with just the odd root and step. Lovely beat, many thanks to WUF.
Oh, and to the 'angler' who visited before me. It's ok, I picked up your used teabags and took them home to bin them.

2 Barbel

Feeder fished with Richworth Xtracta ground bait, pellet and boilies. Ledger fished over Hinders Elipse pellets. River conditions low. Largest Barbel 9lb 3oz.

10 Barbel

An excellent days fishing in spite of the conditions! Very hot and little cloud cover. The fish were concentrated in the shallow oxygenated water and fell throughout the day to small bugs fished in the French nymph style. TP ended with 11 trout and approximately 20 parr whilst RG stole the show by consistantly finding grayling and ending with 5 trout, 25 grayling and approximately 30 parr.

16 Trout, 25 Grayling

River very low. Only fished an hour, 1 small trout on wet in faster water - a couple lost.

1 Trout

Very hot day. Beautiful beat with varied and challenging water. A steady stream of swimmers and sunbathers through the day (due to the close proximity of the village and public footpath) were a distraction. In the evening a large party of teenagers descended and made a lot of noise, splashing shouting and swearing and were generally a bit irritating.
Two canoeists were informed politely of the agreement and they did take their canoes out at the bridge.
This is lovely lovely water, especially at summer flow levels. I would not fish it again in hot weather for the reasons above.

3 Trout

Hot, most of the action after 6pm. If we could have stayed up to dusk would certainly have caught more. Beautiful, well kept stretch of the Wye. Continue to see occasional dead fish floating past mostly chub, probably half a dozen since start of season. Fished many years on Wye and not noticed this before.

5 Barbel, 1 Chub

Had a quick hour on the run below the Railway Bridge after helping Eifion and Geoff to pick over a thousand Himalayan Balsam between us. One sewin flashed a tail halfway down the run but wasn't interested in my fly. Loads of small trout rising again. A lovely way to spend the last couple of hours of light.

Last day ended up the same as day one. D had a chub fist cast then we had nothing for the rest of the day.
To sum it up it is a great location and under the right conditions am sure it would have produced great fishing but once booked you have to take pot luck with the conditions.
Our only complaint is the walk, it is just too much.

1 Chub