Feedback & Reports

Caradoc off the mark with the first fish of the season, a 19lb hen fish caught by David Harrington spinning with a blue + silver minnow.

1 Salmon

1 x 28lb salmon, caught on fly. Truth is that it is luck whether you hook a ten pounder or a twenty pounder. The point though is that on the Wye the odds in early spring are in favour of latching into a bigger fish. I doubt there is any river in the UK apart from maybe the Severn with such a high average weight for spring fish. It ain't always easy fishing - but it's well worth it.
The last few years have seen small but significant steps forward in terms of the spring catch. It's about time the hard work of people in the Wye and Usk Foundation striving to improve the river got the recognition it deserves.
So as far as I'm concerned it's a big thank you to those who kept their faith in work to support and enable a natural recovery. The river is still a long way from where we want it to be, but things are going in the right direction.

1 Salmon

7lb cock fish, caught at 1100hrs spinning (black/silver flying C). Superb conditioned deep bodied little springer that swam away safely! Water clarity is v-good but no other fish seen by myself or my colleague!

1 Salmon

River clear. Bright sunny day. Warm. Bright silver fish 10lbs. Strong hard fight. Caught in Boat Pool spinning with yellow flying C single hook. Fish released unharmed.

1 Salmon

Wonderful spring day; great day to be out fishing - shame no fish caught, although saw some rise.
Fished beat 2 & 3 on right bank; wanted to fish beat 5 & 6 on left bank, but unable to gain access - gate code given was wrong - shame really.

First day out this season and first time on this beat.
Easy to find easy to park and beat boundaries clearly marked. When I arrived at around 11.15 it was only around 8c but by 12.00 the sun came out and the temperature responded nicely.
There were a few olives trickling off but no sign of fish rising when I got to the bottom of the beat so decided to fish the duo with a size 16 tungsten bead ptn.
I was soon into my first fish on the nymph only to find it was a Grayling. 5 more grayling followed including 1 lovely fish of around a pound and a half in breeding colours. Also caught 5 Trout 6 to 10 inches all on the nymph.
A lovely 3 hours and a good start to the season.

5 Trout, 6 Grayling

Although I fished the Creel last season I'd not looked that closely at the diminutive Foy Bridge beat and was astonished at the amount of properly lively fly water there was, more Scotland than Herefordshire, and with the river in excellent condition I enjoyed three whole hours fishing this section; wading no more than thigh deep down the left bank, before moving down to the island. It would appear that every species of fish, bar Salmon, was determined to take a fly today. The use of spinners in the slower sections further down the right bank woke up more Pike but tended not to hook up on the single barbless.
My only disappointment was the difficulty in accessing what must be one of the finest fly runs on the Wye; first section of right bank of The Creel, 'The Lyndor Pool' and 'The Pulpit'. Bank too high/steep, water too deep/swift to wade; easy enough for spinning but seemed sacrilegious! Perhaps in days gone by they would have used a boat? Having said all that, I'll probably be going again next week to fish the rest; eight hours wasn't enough....

1 Trout, 3 Chub, 1 Pike

Fished through the beat with fly and spinner. Nothing seen, nothing caught but a great day all the same.

Nil

A lovely looking beat,a small hatch came off in the early afternoon.But no signs of trout. Will have to come back and try again.