Feedback & Reports

River about 8 feet up meant top end was unfishable. At the bottom end the salmon croys were submerged and trees etc were piling through. I fished for 2-3 hours with no joy, headed to another stretch way downstream and bagged up in the evening - strange day.

Wet and extremely windy. River coloured though not as high as it had apparently been, but started rising again late afternoon.
Fishing hard going, impossible to fish the top half of the fishery safely because of rain, steep banks and water levels.
We managed 8 barbel between two of us from bottom section. Fish averaged 5-6 lbs with one larger at 9lbs, plus a handful of small chub on pellet & boilie combinations.
A tough but enjoyable start to our first visit to the Wye - Lower Ballingham tomorrow.

Arrived to find, as expected, the river very high and chocolate coloured, but dropping. I had no previous experience of fishing the beat in this condition, but suspected the deeper section at the top end of the beat would be the place to head for. I chose a swim between two overhanging trees, where there was a steady flow close in, with the river racing through further out. The fishing was fairly slow to take off, but gradually picked up with regular feed going in to build up the swim. I took the helpful advice from the angler fishing above me and tucked my bait under the upstream tree and using a fairly short hooklength. There were no hectic periods of action, but a steady stream of fish throughout the day to give a final tally of 21 barbel landed to 8lb 6oz. All were caught on the usual pellet with feeder tactics. This was one of my most enjoyable days fishing to date on the Wye, with my best catch of barbel, stunning surroundings and a warm sunny day. The other three anglers on the beat were friendly and we shared information.

Unusually we all struggled today on Whitehouse. We have fished this beat lots of times before and always managed to catch barbel. The rain further up the river the day before put the fish right off the feed, even though the river didn't start rising till late afternoon we only had 1 small barbel and a few chub between our 4 rods. But it's still a pleasure to fish this wonderful river even in the harder times. Thanks W & U Foundation.

A new venue for us all, the barbel didnt show in the numbers previous catch reports had indicated, perhaps we should have concentrated more on the angling than the hearty breakfast prepared by RH on the banks of this lovely spot. Anyway BIG lessons learnt I think for the next time. We will be back! Our returns for day quite a few chub, mostly to pellets, 4lb 10z a PB for its captor one of many in the 1lb - 4lb range. Last but not least the barbel, only 2 landed 4lb & 5lbs, and one of the lessons the writer of this report will take away, don't turn you back on your rod even for a second whilst engaged in this hobby we all love, the 4lb barbel had it in the river in seconds to be precise. Thanks to T for retrieving it. Finally to all you wonderfully patient and understanding people at the W&U Foundation, especially Adam, my apologies for stalking you all weekend, 1st Class service as usual, a real credit to your organisation.

8 barbel caught between three of us to approximately 7lbs - don't weight any of them unless they look near double figures. Also a small chub caught, and plenty of fish topping throughout the day. All fish taken on pellet from slower water, sometimes leaving the rod in for up to an hour before it went over. The fish were all in immaculate condition, from immaculate surroundings. Lovely day - thanks for all the advice and help at the WUF.

One barbel about 8lb and 2 Chub between two of us.

Following the previous days heavy rain we fished whitehouse for the first time. It was unseasonably cold (13c), drizzly with low cloud and the river was carrying a little extra water but not coloured. The fishing was tough, I managed a barbel and 2 chub and my friend a barbel, but best was only 3 1/2lb. Next day we fished Backney, the rain had finally stopped and it was warmer. Overnight the river had risen a couple of feet, was highly coloured and pushing through like an express train. We struggled to find many fishable spots but eventually settled in acouple of swims near the bottom of the length. My friend had 2 barbel around 6lb, I had a barbel of 7lb14oz, a 3lb chub and to my surprise a 13lb 9oz common carp. All fish were caught on 8 or 10mm hallibut pellets, meat and boilies were also tried without success. I would like to try both fisheries again under more normal summer conditions and Backney in particular was a lovely tranquil spot. Many thanks to all at WUF, the maps and directions were excellent. You are providing a great service and we'll be back next year.

Like all of us waiting for the rain to arrive and found we were lucky with a foot of water on the river! Started to fish at the top end of the field in the deep slower water. Was bit slow to start catching chub most of the day and ending up with 12 chub from 2lb to 4lb followed up with 4 barbel between 5lb and 8lb loosing 2 (with a shake of the head) all caught on the meat and pellet! However my fishing buddy done much better catching 10 barbel all between 5lb and 8lb and loosing 2 also! caught steady on pellet! even with the 20 or so swans feeding infront of us!

1 barbel and a few chub between three of us. Very hard and the river as low as I have seen it.