Feedback & Reports

River low but good days fishing 5 barbel and one chub all on pellet and feeder from several swims.

7 Barbel, 1 Chub

River very low, initially warm and overcast then too hot for comfort in the afternoon! Not big on insect life yet but there were clouds of pale jobs with twin tails as day progressed and later also very small buzzy stuff. A better man would have caught more but these (10") trout were fat and fit, so happy. Caught on small cdc type dry flies. Clear and low, fish easily spooked, so go light. Have not got to grips with nymphing yet, hence reliance on dries. An otter was bumbling in bushes. My first river like this, lots to learn as on balance, the river won. Will be back tho....

3 Trout

4lbs very thin Grilse. Clean but hardly a Wye specimen.

1 Salmon

6 x trout 10-12 inches, Rusty Klinkhammer. The Arrow is still very reduced in level, so it wasn't easy fishing today. Not much rising, so I mainly fished the likely water. One nice fish under Mallhollam Bridge. Great fun and I saw a sparrow hawk close up as it coursed down the stream.
Back at the car I was eating a late lunch and putting away my tackle, when a man with a few years under his belt came by on a bicycle with a little dog perched in the handlebar basket. He was apparently in a rather exuberant mood. He stopped, put the dog on the verge to make its mess, and told me he was celebrating retirement that very day. I told him I could recommend it. He said that he had been driving a truck for 30 years and dreaming of the day he could retire. “It came this morning. Confirmation of my redundancy, the letter said. I didn’t have any whisky in the house, so I celebrated with red wine for breakfast. Actually I’ve been celebrating all morning”
“Way to go.”
“I don’t think I’ll take up fishing though. Too slow for me.”
“Really? I find it nail-bitingly exciting.”
“No, no. Too slow for me.”
The dog was back in its basket now and he cycled off towards Kington and its pubs, wobbling rather precariously.

6 Trout

Arrived at around 7:30 and settled into the swim at the bottom of the beat. Conditions perfect, not as bright as yesterday but still warm enough. Had to wait until 09:15 for the first fish. At 11:45 I was hit by a Barbus freight train clearly en route to Monmouth, nothing I could do to stop it as it cut me off against the bedrock! Decided to take a nap after this and woke up 2 hours later. Waited for the second fish to arrive at 14:40 a nice little Barbel of around 2lb. From here in it was steady all the way to darkness. Thoroughly enjoyable day returning 10 Barbel to 7lb 7oz and 3 Chub to 5lb 4oz. Decided to try a different bait approach refusing to use Halibut pellets. All fish fell to Goose Pellets, Peperami or Corn all fished over feeders of crushed halibut pellet and hemp.
I did shed 10 full sets of end tackle during the day, so be aware!

10 Barbel, 3 Chub

Good flow and slight colour very few rising to small caddis. 2 grayling about 1/2lb and several small trout. The new stiles are splendid a boon to us ancient ones. This is a wonderfully relaxing spot. The silence is deafening. Caught most fish on sunken gold heads. I think I am beginning to get the hang of this method but how do you avoid getting hooked on the bottom? Hope to return soon.

Largest barbel was 9lbs 4ozs and best chub was 4lbs 2ozs. All fish were caught on various combinations of feeder fished pellet.
This was the last day of four really enjoyable days spent fishing on two different beats. Thanks to all involved for making the fishing on this superb river available.

9 Barbel, 2 Chub

This beat has a lovely mix of runs, gutters and pools, and I looked forward to fishing on a warm, occasional sunny day. River low and crystal clear, but a range of flies about. However, this was a real struggle, was there most of the day and tried on, in and under the surface with barely any interest. 2 at 8" on an elk hair caddis, but that was as unsuccessful as the other offerings most of the time. Perhaps next time....

2 Trout

3 small trout - all returned and a 3lb grayling all caught on a PTN

3 Trout, 1 Grayling

This is a very attractive and accessible stretch but jolly expensive! A lot of loose weed was coming down, probably from swans feeding up-river which was a bit trying but three good sized barbel and seven chub to 4lb 12oz, all on pellets and from various swims, made it an enjoyable day. We couldn't complain about the lovely September weather, it was a joy to be fishing.

3 Barbel, 7 Chub