Feedback & Reports

7 Barbel on hallibut pellet. 1 Chub same bait.

A first visit for my brother and I. The river had obviously receded by 7 or 8ft but a farmworker informed us that it was still 5ft up!. We found two nice looking slacks behind two promentories midway between the hut and the suspension bridge. Both swims proved to be tackle graveyards and feeder and lead losses were alarming. We have booked a return and hope for lower and clear water so that we might see just what we were casting into. I stuck with it for 9 barbel to about 8lbs whilst S C ventured down into the trees for 4 barbel of a smilar size. All taken on large elips pellets and feeder tactics. A word of caution, whilst the bank conditions were fine and allowed us to drive to the bridge in the morning, it was very different in the evening. No rain fell all day but the use of two tractors and a landrover in the field made the area in front of the gate onto the road almost impassable.

River high and fast ,could only fish the margins.
7 barbel between us. Hard work, but enjoyable.

We arrived about 12.30 to heavy rain and a brown rising river, but still looked fishable. We tried a couple of swims for half an hour for one barbel. Then a passing dog walker warned us that the access road was beginning to flood and so it proved, water pouring off the road had also turned the track down to the river into a stream. We decided not to wait for it to get any worse and left at 2.00. A pity because I'm sure we'd have had a few more. Still waiting for Summer but not holding our breath.

A day when sitting it out in one swim seemed to work better than roving. The 2 rods who sat it out landed 3 barbel each, late in the day (5-7.5lbs). The 2 rovers managed one barbel between us - but 17 chub! River remained coloured all day though still dropping. However, the inclement weather meant the beat was much quieter than it generally is on a Sunday.

9 barbel between us, biggest 8lb. River up and pushing. All caught on spicy pellets upstream of the hut. Don't leave the track in the wet weather as you can get the car stuck!!

River in near flood Saturday morning - up 2ft on Friday when the water was deep brown and hammering through, including trees and dead sheep floating by. We fished early Satuday through to Monday afternoon. Weather brightend on Sunday and river dropped 4ft and slowed down. 25 barbel to 9lb 4ozs mainly 5's and 6's, 5 fat bronze chub, and 2 eels. Pellet, bollies and meat, 5oz swimfeeders in the slack. Not many canoes, great scenary, buzzards, cuckoos and a very low flying military plane. Locals told us the flow is controlled by a dam sluice which releases water when its near full. We were fortunate that the weather changed on Sunday morning and we saw plenty of warm sunshine.

Due to the amount of recent rain, the river was quite high and moving very fast, but found some good slacks by the trees towards the bridge. Ended up catching two eels and two barbel both around 6 pounds and in perfect condition. This was my first time at Caradoc and even though the conditions were not ideal, I had a great day and am definitely coming back.

Hard going, river roaring through and rising during the day but there is nowhere else I would rather be. Teased out 5 barbel (best 8lb 8oz) and 1 chub between us. Looking forward to returning to this beat in July when hopefully the river is less challenging. Thank you WUF.

Fished the afternoon and early evening, sun out and the river dropping steadily. Fishing the near margins, I settled myself in, cup of tea in hand and a beautiful silver salmon leaped clear from the water 2 metres from my seat. It stayed there all day! Anyway, fishing was productive. I missed a couple of rod bending bites, all on pellet but in the end I managed to catch 2 barbel, around the 5-7lb mark and 3 Chub.
A wonderful and relaxing afternoon, a picturesque beat and a good cup of tea!
Thank you Wye & Usk Foundation.