Feedback & Reports

3 Barbel, 1 Chub, 2 Pike

Difficulty fishing with strong head wind.

2 Trout, 2 Grayling

River running very fast and coloured. Tricky to keep hold - using 4oz feeder with pellets. A lot of weed coming through caused phantom bites. Banks were very slippery following flooding earlier in the week, which made access very tricky.

1 Chub

1 Barbel, 3 Chub

Only one fished.
River still high but dropping quickly , bites slow but regular through the morning- all Chub, finally fish around 2:45 was the Barbel. All caught on meat

1 Barbel, 8 Chub

Well, what a river. I had a look the day before, and it was just creeping back into the banks. Fished the next morning and it was 4 foot+ down. Full of colour and the leaves of an Autumnal storm. Trees and the spoils of along dry summer came through with every surge of force the Wye could muster. Fownhope delivers to those that venture into the wood swims, but this was a no go area, as the lucky stone was still being jet washed by the remains of the last rise.
I fished the top field, in the big corner slack. Fished to the edge of light and into another rain storm. My homemade pellet paste along with pellet, meat, and continueous feeders full of a good mix of a spicy Groundbait gave me fish up to 6lb. Really nice day again, but to be honest, tried a look in some other swims along that stretch, but it was all too much for any weight or hooklength i could deliver into the swirling depths.
I will be back.

9 Chub

The usual Jolly Boys outing to the Wye consisting of DC, MF, MA and Sherlock the faithful hound, was depleted for the last Wye trip of 2025. DC sadly had to stay at home following an interesting knee operation. So while DC spent the day stewing over a medical negligence claim, MF, MA and Sherlock had the pleasure of fishing the incomparable How Caple Court.

Possibly the most stunning stretch of any river we have fished yet overly maligned in certain whingy catch reports - too fast flowing, too slippy, too much debris, too much water, not enough water. This is wild fishing at it’s very best and part of it’s character is the challenges it throws up!

Arriving at first light, MF and MA walked most of the bank and came to the conclusion that the swims at the downstream end where there is plenty of slack water offered the best option, with most swims pushing through very fast. The water was high and coloured but dropped about 3ft through the day.

Feeder fishing with a range of baits was the order of the day. As usual, MF had just about every bait available from a tackle shop as well as a slab of stinky cheddar cheese. The banks were a wee bit slippy to say the least but this only added to the day’s entertainment as we flailed around all day like new born foals. It was a victory that we didn’t fall in.

The chub came fairly regularly through the day other than a quiet spell around lunchtime. All were in fabulous condition and averaging about 4lb. The last twenty minutes before the lights went out, and the owls started hooting, brought two decent barbel for MF. Both around 8lb.

MA had another rather lack lustre catch compared to MF. His form seems to have dipped since having to extract a rusty barbed hook from his arse at fownhope 5 and getting stung by a gang of angry wasps at Holme Lacey. Needs to do better.

Thank you to the wye passport team and the beat owners for a magical year on the Wye for this crew. We will be back with a vengeance next year!

And here is a picture of Sherlock for no other reason than he looked cuter than MF with his barbel.

2 Barbel, 8 Chub

Very enjoyable day one nice hard fighting Barbel weighing 8lbs exactly plus two Chub 4lbs and 2lbs

1 Barbel, 2 Chub

Very enjoyable day one hard fighting Barbel weighing 8lbs exactly plus two Chub 4lbs and 2lbs

1 Barbel, 2 Chub