Feedback & Reports

Back on the lovely Wyebank beat again and not the best day I've had there but certainly not the worst. All of the fish came to one rod and interestingly all of the fish were under 2-3lb which is a first for Wyebank considering there are some really monsters in there and the average barbel size is around the 6-7lb mark. We should have probably moved around more but as I was there with my mate it was more of a social vibe so we were happy just catching the odd fish and taking in the scenery. Will return soon!

5 Barbel, 4 Chub

A good day, 8 chub and two Barbel.

8lb freshish hen fish caught on No 3 beat at 0700 this morning on a size 12 Irish Gold shrimp fly. Fly fell out in the net.

1 Salmon

Ed Brown fishing the rocks at Bigsweir, 18lb on a purple shrimp pattern.

1 Salmon

I'm so sorry that you had to send a reminder, for I filled in a form that I thought was the correct one on Thursday evening. Blackpool Brook was a little difficult to find. A grid reference would have helped. It was a sunny morning when I fished, occasionally overcast. The trees provided shelter from any breeze there was, and there were plenty of flies of different kinds to be seen. The brook was very low, and there were signs that within the past two months it had been two or three inches higher, which would have made it twice as deep in some places. On the banks there were areas which obviously were marshy at some times in the year, but were dry and I could walk on top of them. There were also pools with enough water to hold small fish, but I saw no rises and caught no fish. I was using a size 18 grey duster. I suppose that there might be fish in the stream in Spring if we've had a wet winter, but I saw none - not a stickleback or minnow; nor even a tadpole! It was, of course, too late for tadpoles anyway, but I am surprised that this stream is included in the WUF handbook.

Slight drop in the level during the day with a lot less floating weed than the previous day. We caught fish throughout the day even during the afternoon when the sun was on the water. Best barbel was 8.04 and the largest chub was 4-4 although most of the chub were in the 1.5-2.5lb range. As usual all the fish were caught on pellet.

23 Barbel, 24 Chub

River a few inches higher and pushing through slightly quicker than my last visit. Floating weed still a problem but much better than the previous few days judging from other anglers reports. I had a few Chub early morning but had to wait until 09:00 until the first Barbel arrived but at 8lb 5ozs it was worth waiting for. Although I finished with 8 Barbel, there was no sustained feeding spell having to wait an hour or two between bites, my final two coming after 6pm including the best fish of the day at 9lb 2ozs. I knew I was in a productive swim so was not tempted to move around and patience did pay off today. All fish tempted on Elips pellets, best Chub 4lb 14ozs but most other Chub around the 3lb mark.

8 Barbel, 12 Chub

Fished both Weds and Thurs but only mornings until about 10 and afternoon and evenings from about 4.30. River up a little on Weds but dropping back on Thursday. Not ideal conditions but as always its worth persevering on this stretch as the fish are there and can be tempted. Pellet fished on a long hook link behind a feeder did the trick with 7 barbel to 9.05 and 6 chub to 5lb. Nice to meet Rudi who knows the stretch really well and is very open and helpful to visiting anglers. Courtfield is definitely one of my favourite venues and I will be back later in the season.

7 Barbel, 6 Chub

We caught 1 rainbow trout of 2lb, 3 small brown trout, the biggest of 1lb and 2 perch of 3/4lb each. All caught on spinners. All fish returned.

4 Trout, 2 Other

Wasn't able to fish upper /deeper part of beat (nice chap already ensconced). Fished the mid section, not a sausage. Couldnt stay too late which may have been the key to that stretch at that level of flow.