Feedback & Reports

After a night of over indulgence and four hours sleep I arrived at the fishery full of anticipation. The river was very low and clear with lots of weed so I plumped for a swim near the Vanstone Pool with a clear channel down the middle. Fishing by 8 a.m. I had a 3lb 2oz chub almost immediately so I was expecting great things. Sadly it proved to be a false dawn and as it was a Sunday the river went canoe crazy. All were, to be fair, sensible and courteous but a series of bizarre sights drifted past constantly and made fishing almost impossible so I decided to catch up on some sleep as it was a very hot and bright day anyway and far from ideal for fishing. Around 3 hours later I woke up feeling dehydrated and pessimistic but at least the boat traffic had died down a lot. I cast out a feeder more in hope than expectation. After around half an hour the tip smashed down twice very quickly and I struck into what was obviously a big barbel. I counted my blessings as, for reasons best known to itself, the fish stuck to the clear channel in the middle of the river and tried to head off upstream. I am sure if it had tried to get into the weed at the sides I would have lost it. Anyway after several long and powerful runs I prised it up off the bottom and eventually could see it up in the water. When I finally started to get the upper hand I thought it would be virtually impossible to net the fish without it getting into the weed first. Once agin I was lucky and she was as quite as a lamb as I drew her to the net. A new p.b. she weighed exactly 10lb 8oz and to say I was elated would be an understatement. Anyway a quick photo and the fish was returned safely and swam off strongly. Immensely broad across the 'shoulders'. Later on I lost another fish in the weed and landed a small chub.

The following day I made and early start lost a barbel and landed another of around 4lb before the swim died as the sun started to roast me so I packed up and made my way home around noon unable to stay until the evening when I suspect the fish would have been on the feed again. Excellent trip and will definitely be back soon.

A beautiful piece of water that held plenty of promise, but in spite of a very good and varied hatch throughout the day, there was no rise, apart from a constant stream of tiddlers that would rise at anything. Tried nymphs, wet and dry, and caught several 3 - 4" fish and one very feisty brownie of about 7". Saw one good fish of about 2lb glide out from the bank to the deep water in middle - so there are fish there!

A great beat. At times there was plenty of fish feeding sub surface but I couldn't work out what type of Nypmh they were feeding on. Total caught was 3 WBT up to 11" on PTN. A handful more not brought to hand.

Nil return. River very very low. A few salmon splashing but mostly dark resident fish. Tough fishing conditions but enjoyable day all the same. Ray very helpful.
Will be back in the Autumn after some rain. A few canoes but not bad considering its August school holidays. Highlight was the Kingfisher.

SK and I enjoyed our day on Upper Bigsweir yesterday. Water very low but we did see about 6 fish. Non caught!

Fished 2.00pm - 9.00pm, I had a terrible experience, my complaints are as follows:

Barbel: As a Great Ouse regular, I'm not used to starting at 2.00pm in clear water and catching a Barbel within 30 seconds of casting out. I was pouring a cup of tea when an 8-pounder tried to take my rod to Hereford. Fortunately I was only disturbed by four Barbel throughout the course of the evening.

Chub: They fight too hard. Twice I hooked large Barbel and emitted yelps of joy, only for the fish to miraculously turn into a three-pound Chub.

Salmon: I was just nodding off when a large Salmon crashed out of the river and woke me up. Please remove them from the river.

Canoes: I was lead to believe that I would be entertained by parties of canoeists capsizing, having water fights etc. Only four or five passed and all were disappointingly courteous.

Despite the above, and because I am a selfless individual, for the appropriate remuneration I would be happy to fish this beat on my own every day until the end of my life, just to ensure that no other angler is forced to suffer in the way that I was.

Beautiful beat in wonderfully peacful valley, not too marred by the lack of water. Heavy showers dampened what looked like a great afternoon at the outset. Temperatures dipped with the rain and the fish went quiet, but water temperature warm to the touch and as soon as the rain stopped they were back. Three WBT and Eight Grayling to about 15", all on dry fly with a crazy half hour's evening rise when the rain finally stopped.

Lost my favorite pair of Oakleys, so if anyone finds them will happily oblige with a bottle of their choosing!

Quiet start on pellets, changed to meat and caught 5-1/2lb barbel straight away. Four other good bites but didn't catch any more, left mid afternoon.

After heart stopping moments in the Heirag when a fish hit the spinner, only to see a very large chub come to the surface, to catching my first salmon in the Ferry Pool - a cock grilse of about 7lb, safely returned of course. Many thanks to all at the Wye and Usk for making this possible, what a fantastic days fishing.

No rise and very few flies on the water, but still managed to catch 8 fish between us including a 12" grayling and a 12" brown trout (stockie). This water always has something to offer and is amazing value.