Feedback & Reports

The barbel are still spawning (I observed this one evening on the camp site I was staying at) so I think they are two to three weeks behind due to the low Spring/early Summer temperatures. Fished all day around a now famous snag that lost me more hooks than leads so this seems to be a sunken tree and the barbel are under it. After the first cast leading to a slamming bite and a tug of war around the snag which I subsequently lost, the rest of the day I only got the the odd knock, then I had one barbel over 7lb on pellet. Unfortunately could not fish the last two hours of light.

1 Barbel

Caught two chub trotting pellets, largest about 4lbs. No barbel from either side, all very slow feel they must be on their spawning grounds.

2 Chub

A difficult but ultimately rewarding first day of the season. The river was low and clear, but had a reasonable flow at the top end of the beat. Caught chub up to 4.5lb on 2 small elipse pellets glued to the hair with marine halibut groundbait in a medium cage feeder. Caught using my Hardy Marksman specimen feeder rod with 10lb mainline and 9lb hooklink to a size 12. Dad also caught a >3lb eel on a large piece of luncheon meat. Fished 4 swims all in front of the house and managed 6 barbel up to 9lb - all on 2 10ml elipse pellets glued to the hair. 1.75lb test curve Daiwa infinity specialist barbel rod, with 12lb straight through and size 10 hook. Hard work but a good day in the end.

6 Barbel, 12 Chub, 1 Other

Struggled tonight, didn't see so many big fish, but did catch 1 @ 10 ins. CAN SOMEONE DO A RAIN DANCE!

4 Trout

Tried absolutely everything to winkle out a fish of some description but it just was not to be. Pre-baiting and moving swims brought no change.
Suffice to say, I cannot think of a better place in the world to blank. The local wildlife never ceases to entertain, even if that is a Mink busying itself along the margins. Will be back again and again and again!

A very tough first say of the season, only four chub caught with myself catching three of them. Beautiful stretch of the Wye but a little disappointed with access. Even with chest waders I would estimate only six to seven swims that you can safely get to without a rope. Could do with some work to make it a bit more angler friendly as this low number of swims split between four anglers along the entire stretch isn’t ideal, especially for £20 per angler! I’m sure as the season progresses the catches will improve, perhaps just a bit too early for the barbel after a three month break.

4 Chub

Running very clear with good hatch of stonefly and still a few mayfly about. Very little in the way of fish showing / rising despite the abundant fly life although only able to fish between 11:30am and 1:30pm. Small brown trout returned.

1 Trout

Wet conditions but much less windy that the last few days. River was up a bit with a good flow, but quite clear. Various hatches of olive, midge and sedge. Caught 1 fish on a GHRE, but the rest came on an X-caddis which was used to target rising fish. Most fish were 8-10inches with 2 notable exceptions weighing in at 2lbs. All returned. Only fished the lower section, so still much to explore on this beat.

8 Trout

Finally it was the 16th and I arrived on the bank excited to get fishing, first thing was to find the pegs as they were all over grown. Once the pegs were sorted I settled into a swim near the middle of the stretch. I fished a groundbait feeder with pellet and on the hook I used either 14mm pellet or luncheon meat. Despite my best efforts and a change of swim only 4 chub came my way (all between 2 & 3lb). No barbel for me, or the other chap on my side of the river, or the three guys on the other side. Seems the barbel were elsewhere, maybe still spawning.

4 Chub

No fish caught in the morning, raining continuously. Much better afternoon between 2 and 6pm with 10 fish caught to 12 inches. All New Zealand style in the top half of the beat. First time on this beat and very impressed.

10 Trout