Feedback & Reports

A great day brought to an early end when a group of canoeists decided to practice their watercraft in the swim which I had been building all day.

5 Barbel

No fish at all until evening. Then it went crazy. 14 barbel to 9lbs 10oz. Lost one barbel well in excess of 10lbs. 3 chub to 3lbs 9oz. Method used swim feeder and pellets.

14 Barbel, 3 Chub

Booked the Rectory, ready for the rain which was forecast at the end of the week, wrong!! I sat and watched Shaun try all the likely lies which were drying up as quick as he could cast! Nice to be on the river though.

3 Trout

After an 8 a.m. arrival, fish started rising about 30 minutes after the rain stopped, but what "rise" there was effectively ceased at 10 a.m., and from then until a 5.30 p.m. departure only a few oncers (or twicers!) appeared. A few PWs in the morning and some midge and sedges from mid-afternoon proved insufficient to get the fish very interested, and the wind veering and strengthening from west to NW in the afternoon probably didn't help much either. It has blown unrelentingly since early May - will it ever stop? Damned Jet Stream! In spite of a July "Dog Day" feeling, I found five trout, the best 14 and 16", the latter a plump 1.5 pounder, and seven ladies, all 12" Most fish were taken on HE emergers but a couple of grayling seen on the gravels in the Channels were "induced" with a GRHE nymph. Nothing on nymphs apart from them. I was probably out-fished on the day by an adult female and four adult-sized goosanders which flew up and down the beat several times during the day (as well as disturbing them in the river on the way up and back). Are there any plans to do anything about these? A much better way to spend the day than watching the cricket - ouch!

5 Trout, 7 Grayling

Fished 9 am - 3.00 pm. Not ideal time of day but fairly productive, steady bites for most of morning then tailed off later in day. Canoes dislodged a lot of weed which was a nuisance at times. Barbel 4lb - 7.5lb's, most chub 2 -3lb size bracket.
Discarded tackle found in some swims. To whoever: I understand your baiting needle had broken, but why fling it on the floor!? Some comments have said this stretch is a ''tackle grave yard''. To be honest I have never lost a rig on here.... On this occasion I hooked up several times with other anglers tackle through vast lengths of trailing mono in the water. I retrieved multiple feeders and rigs, some with with barbed hooks. Some of these rigs were very crude, with bulky swivels guaranteed to find a snag, and with hooklinks clearly much stronger than the mainline. On one tangled mess there was a decomposed chub attached. My first barbel had a length of mono and a swivel trailing from it's mouth.. There really is no need to use ridiculously heavy weights and huge 80 gram feeders in summer flows, no wonder you keep snagging the bottom. Use common sense and don't blast your feeder into thick weed on the far side! You can catch fish by dropping your bait into the near side, into a clear slot just yards out... try that first. I would urge anyone targeting barbel to do some research into how you make your rigs, so they don't become death traps for the fish. Plenty of information online.

7 Barbel, 5 Chub

Just a couple of hours after barbel fishing on the Wye earlier that day. This beat does what it says on the tin - great for a short session. I fished it all and then a few of the lower pools again in 2.5 hours. Not an ideal afternoon it was 23 degrees and bright. Water almost stagnant in most of the pools, fish very nervy. Landed 5 small trout 6 - 10 inches all on the klink and dink duo. Lost a few, and spooked numerous grayling in the deeper pools, some in 15/16 inch size class. Despite dropping nymphs on their noses they simply were not feeding... will be back in the autumn to have another go!

5 Trout

First time on this Beat, and a lovely spot. Thought I'd get there early to miss the Canoes, which did indeed come and spoilt the party mid morning. However, had a few hours of enjoyable fishing, The neck of the Maddox Pool looked like the best bet, but no fish seen. Did see a coloured fish jumping about in the Vanstone, but very difficult to present a fly in such slow running water. Will bring a spinning rod next time, which I think you need to get the best out of the beat.

Thank you to Mick, for his kind advice and direction. I will be using his services next time I come.

Comments made in my feedback on 18 July. We did better today, although conditions were as tough!

9 Trout

Late decision to fish and arrived at 5pm. Fish showing and I hooked a couple on spinner and on a fly, both self released after 10 seconds or so. A few more takes on the fly but no hook ups. Packed in at 8pm. By that time I had the water to myself and it was a beautiful evening.

4 Trout