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First time on the Wye

Gavin Burt

Gavin Burt

Senior Member
Just come back from four days on the Wye with a mixture of the Fishing Passport and HDAA day ticket.

The Creel - Had my first Barbel of the season on my second cast in the middle of the day, then another one about an hour later. I also lost one which was a frustration. My mate also lost one but had about half a dozen 4lb+ chub. We also fished this on day two but only had chub between us. Lots of great wildlife though with kites, woodpeckers, buzzards and owls.

Foy Bridge - We mainly spent time wading / trotting with the pin and picked up a stack of chub. Weather was great too and was surprised how quickly the water temp increased even towards the end of the day. Mate lost an absolute clonker (back on the feeder) just after sunset which almost pulled him into the river.

I was amazed at how little the rain effected the river, we had a torrential downpour Saturday evening and it rose about 2” !!!

Final day we went into Hereford and got some £10 HDAA day tickets from Woody. A wealth of knowledge and he put us on the fish and associated bait / tactics.

We arrived on the river at 11:30 and by 15:00 my mate had had x4 barbel and lost one !!! I had one late evening but ran out of ground bait so couldn’t get much more attraction in the water and after four days fishing I was ready for the sofa anyway.

This is definitely the place to go fishing on the Wye as there such more choice in terms of swims and you can get some good local knowledge.

IMO the Fishing Passport really isn’t worth the money they charge for a day ticket (£25 per person + booking fee). Whilst the “Catch Report” is good and the exclusivity a bonus there just isn’t enough bankworks carried out to make it a comfortable and safe place to fish. Recent comments from other angling look to echo this.

The Creel has approx 3/4’s of a mile of water but there were only about three pegs that could be fished from. These involved clambering down the bank and if we would have had anymore rain they would have been treacherous to fish from. Landing fish wasn’t fun either. Foy Bridge wasn’t much better with only two pegs (and a gravel patch) to fish from but at least they call that out on the website. We doubled-up on the one peg towards the end of the day.
 
I also find that is the trouble with with some of the exclusive stretches of the Wye. While I do not expect cut out pegs with platforms, access is often a problem when the water is low. A couple of years back I booked a stretch and after walking the whole length could not find any swims I could safely access apart from two which had other anglers already fishing in. I left without even getting my tackle out of the car.
 
Same here John, visited Woody's, and he gave me and a pal a little map. I think his granddaughter must have drawn it, it was so vague. We eventually found the stretch, fine if your a billygoat getting down, but the thought of getting back up, we thought naaagh. Think we ended up somewhere on the Severn.
 
Derek Funcks said:
Same here John, visited Woody's, and he gave me and a pal a little map. I think his granddaughter must have drawn it, it was so vague. We eventually found the stretch, fine if your a billygoat getting down, but the thought of getting back up, we thought naaagh. Think we ended up somewhere on the Severn.
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Yeah some of the swims are a bit dodgy.

I thought Woody was super helpful. He got my phone, opened up Google maps and “pinned” exactly where to park and which swims to try and how far out to cast.
 
Gavin Burt said:
Yeah some of the swims are a bit dodgy.

I thought Woody was super helpful. He got my phone, opened up Google maps and “pinned” exactly where to park and which swims to try and how far out to cast.
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woody is the man , very helpful.
 
Trouble is putting folk on fish is hardly going to help stocks is it? It does however put a few quid in his till...whatever happened to the concept of Angling not just catching is it? Oh! and surprise surprise a spate river has high steep banks...then take a rope and spike.
Sorry but the Wye has got its own problems with pollution when as Anglers will we ever not strangle the life out of every river that had a few Barbel?
 
Neil Smart said:
Trouble is putting folk on fish is hardly going to help stocks is it? It does however put a few quid in his till...whatever happened to the concept of Angling not just catching is it? Oh! and surprise surprise a spate river has high steep banks...then take a rope and spike.
Sorry but the Wye has got its own problems with pollution when as Anglers will we ever not strangle the life out of every river that had a few Barbel?
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😳.. blimey
 
Neil Smart said:
Trouble is putting folk on fish is hardly going to help stocks is it? It does however put a few quid in his till...whatever happened to the concept of Angling not just catching is it? Oh! and surprise surprise a spate river has high steep banks...then take a rope and spike.
Sorry but the Wye has got its own problems with pollution when as Anglers will we ever not strangle the life out of every river that had a few Barbel?
Click to expand...
I think friendly, enthusiastically helpful tackle dealers are an asset to us all. Most ‘visitors’ just want a few ‘pointers’ so that they don’t go home disappointed. If we aren’t careful we will be left with buying all our fishing needs online. Surely nobody wants that?
G.T.
 
The Teme went the same way too much celebrity shows on the best barbel river in the country vibe, then it was the Gt Ouse now the Wye , the Trent is a big river but its just a matter of time.
We don't manage our rivers do we? The biggest angling clubs in the country don't have an expert on board as far as I know, The Teme surely could be managed better, with creating pools for juvenile fish, planting oxygen giving plants and just improving habitat, all very well being value for money Club if the fish have all buggered off.
 
I think river management is the least of our worries, especially for the Wye. Agricultural run-off (aka chicken sh1t) is the worst offender. Next, on the Wye, are the canoe hire businesses and the drunken yobbos they allow into their canoes, complete with barrels full of beer, and ghettos blasters.

If I were a fish I wouldn't stick around with all that to contend with.
.
 
Kevin Steele said:
I think river management is the least of our worries, especially for the Wye. Agricultural run-off (aka chicken sh1t) is the worst offender. Next, on the Wye, are the canoe hire businesses and the drunken yobbos they allow into their canoes, complete with barrels full of beer, and ghettos blasters.

If I were a fish I wouldn't stick around with all that to contend with.
.
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Yes Kevin. Its got so much worse the last 10 years. Once it was a few canoes, now its bloody mayhem.
 
Neil Smart said:
The Teme went the same way too much celebrity shows on the best barbel river in the country vibe, then it was the Gt Ouse now the Wye , the Trent is a big river but its just a matter of time.
We don't manage our rivers do we? The biggest angling clubs in the country don't have an expert on board as far as I know, The Teme surely could be managed better, with creating pools for juvenile fish, planting oxygen giving plants and just improving habitat, all very well being value for money Club if the fish have all buggered off.
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The Teme…
The Teme and it’s lack of Barbel had nothing to do with angling ‘pressure’ in my opinion . Over a very short period of time the fish had simply ceased to exist.
Angling pressure will cause fish to move not completely disappear.
G.T.
 
Graham Tremble said:
The Teme…
The Teme and it’s lack of Barbel had nothing to do with angling ‘pressure’ in my opinion . Over a very short period of time the fish had simply ceased to exist.
Angling pressure will cause fish to move not completely disappear.
G.T.
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correct ..... and we have no idea why ? lots of theories but nothing conclusive unfortunately
 
Graham Tremble said:
The Teme…
The Teme and it’s lack of Barbel had nothing to do with angling ‘pressure’ in my opinion . Over a very short period of time the fish had simply ceased to exist.
Angling pressure will cause fish to move not completely disappear.
G.T.
Click to expand...
The Teme is a river the barbel congregated to spawn, the lack of suitable habitat and the ridiculous June 16 th start and if you wish target spawning fish and trample the redds is in your opinion nothing to do with us in your opinion...what?
Tell that sort of thinking to a well managed chalk stream trout fishery .
Of course predation plays a huge part in decline, but nothing is done to counter that because we don't manage / care do we?
Of course any spawning barbel will not return if it is not a suitable environment.
The decline was catastrophic and yet there is no conversations within angling as to how to fix it, just the odd barbel pictured on fb to fool us it's all ok.
Can you imagine a tackle shop sending folk to a swim that was hot and what bait to use and where to cast? These areas our vital for the future and should be left at least until well after spawning.
Same as Fladbury on the WA a hugely important weir peg for spawning barbel and chub gets hammered bivvies etc and all day and night. These places should be out of bounds but try that at the AGM as an idea?
I could take you to the Bristol Avon and show similar, all unprotected...and we wonder why our sport is in decline and I wonder why those that 'liked' your rebuff of my post have the answers then.
 
Looks like we're opening a can of worms, but I'd be interested to hear how we define 'angling pressure'. Anyone?
.
 
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