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Wye Barbel

David Potter

David Potter

Senior Member
I originally asked this question on the River Wye tread a few days ago but had no answers

Can anyone tell me how widespread the Barbel are around the Builth Wells area if at all ?
As I maybe able to coarse fish one of the Salmon beats next season
Regards
Dave
 
I dont know much about the Wye, but i know Sir Bob Roberts, bases his guiding and fishing for barbel here. The hotel he uses is Caer Beris Manor.
Hope this helps.
 
I think that you will find that Bob's weekends are based around the chub with a barbel trip farther down the river on the last day.

Jon. There are a few barbel up around Builth but not many, the main barbel population starts around Glasbury although there are a few pockets of them between there and Erwood.

If you have access to a section of river that has not been coarse fished you are in for a hard time if it is the barbel you are targeting. Virgin barbel can take a long time to switch onto baits and are a real challenge, great fun if you have the time, frustrating if you are after a quick return.

I would suggest that going after the chub is your best bet, there's a fantastic amount of specimen chub throughout the river and they are well worth the effort. You may spot some barbel or hook one whilst chubbing which will give you an area to concentrate on.
 
Dave Burr is right David,
the Barbel numbers taper off from Glasbury upstream. Salmon anglers occasionally hook Barbel in pools upstream and I was told of Barbel being seen as far upstream as Doldowlod but for a realistic chance of a Barbel fish from Hay downstream. Your prospects improve around Hereford and Ross as there are many more fish down there. Llyswen is the change point on the river, rocky, game fish water upstream of there, Builth is about 10 miles up from Llyswen so while Barbel are scarce around Builth the Chub and Grayling fishing is still OK.
Paul.
 
Thanks guys for your input and help, I have just spent the holiday weekend walking up and down the banks of the Wye just above Builth Wells and what a beautiful bit of river it is, some of the Salmon pools look perfect for Barbel fishing but talking to the locals they reinforce what you all say so I am probably in for a hard time on the Barbel front!

The Chub, Dace and Grayling fishing sounds superb and I am very fortunate to be able to fish some 5 miles of the river when ever I like, might even try a bit of Salmon fishing but whenever I am fishing in that part of the river I will have a Barbel rod out so we will have to see what happens

While I was there I did visit the Caer Beris Manor Hotel it’s well worth a visit and very interesting as you say they run fishing breaks and courses and I believe the owner of the hotel has caught over 100 double figure Barbel from the Wye

Thanks Again

Dave
 
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Does anyone know when the shad season starts? I remember reading somewhere that Bob Roberts caught a few on the fly around may a couple of years ago.
 
I am under the impression that there is no season for Shad and it is illegal to deliberately target them! Can anyone confirm this ?

David
 
That's interesting Ade, I though they were caught whilst spinning.

There was an article in the Angling Times in the past I think specificaly about how to catch them.

I think it was later confirmed that it's actually a CRIMINAL offence.

Graham
 
"Both the allis and twaite shad are listed on Appendix III of the Bern Convention and Annexes II and V of the EC Habitats Directive. Both species are also included in Section 9(4)(a) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981), (amended April 1998), which makes it an offence to intentionally obstruct access to spawning areas, or to damage or destroy gravels used for spawning. The allis and twaite shad also continue to be protected under Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981) in respect of section 9(1) so it is an offence to intentionally kill, injure or take specimens."

This is the current position, going back to the 90's there was a massive run up the Wye each year, Peter at Caer Beris and myself have been friends since being at school together and I used to go down late May/early June to try for them. The Wye/Irfon confluence pool above Builth bridge used to be full of them, great sport on light tackle with a small Mepps, or fly-fishing with any silvery lure. They are spectacular fighters, going airborne several times and often throwing the hook.

They suffer near 100% mortality after spawning, the bed of the river used to be littered with them as the run came to an end.

To answer Dave Potter's query about barbel, the vast majority of Peter's fish came from the Red Lion stretch at Bredwardine in the days when John Bailey ran courses based there. As others have said there are pockets of fish from Glasbury up to Erwood, Llyswen probably one of the better areas. The local bailiff at Builth told me last season that there have been a few out along the Groe but it is predominantly chub around there.
 
I caught about a dozen of them on flying c's when salmon fishing near Ross the past season. I purposely held them on a short line as after a couple of jumps they would throw the heavy spinnner and get away without being touched.

Graham
 
Yes I can confirm that it is an offence to deliberately target Shad on the Wye as they are a protected species. Bob Roberts was not aware at the time of his articles that this was so, but an awareness day was held in Hay-on Wye a couple of years ago by the E.A. to re-enforce the message, do not fish for Shad. If you accidentally catch one whilst fishing for other fish that's a different matter, but in any event who would want to target or disturb any fish during their spawning season, especially an endangered species? Not great P.R. for us anglers.
Paul.
 
Just to put the record straight on this thread.

The Allis Shad is a protected species, you may not target the fish or harm its habitat. However, the Twaite Shad does not share the same level of protection. It has only the protection of its habitat from deliberate or reckless damage.

The legislation being used to protect the Twaite Shad comes from an umbrella law that states that it is an offence to damage either by intent or through a reckless or negligent act, any species who's protection goes to create a SSSI. This act includes all of the flora and fauna of that SSSI

It appears to be legislation created to prosecute those that pollute or damage habitat that can escape specific charges relating to individual species. The EA are using a sledgehammer to crack a walnut. Why? Because a handful of people spin for salmon on the Wye (usually around Symonds Yat and Monmouth) without a license. When asked for said license they claim to be fishing for shad which are not named on our licenses thus getting away with not having one.

This problem has been ongoing for a long time and the EA in its infinite wisdom has decided to blunder down a road of alleged conservation to stop a handful of salmon being poached.

My opinion (for what it's worth) is this. The salmon is probably in more danger of extinction than the shad but catching and killing them is still allowed and great resources are used to continue the sport. The shad however, is still quite plentiful and the number caught each year is minimal. They used to be harvested for their roe but that has long since stopped.

If there is concern over the shad, what better way of gaining support for the species is there than allowing us to fish for them. Ask most anglers and they have never heard of them, let them catch a few and their value will increase along with a voice to protect them.

It is a ridiculous application of the law and has not stopped any of the regulars from fishing for them, even the EA say that the chances of a prosecution are slight.

Sorry to go on :rolleyes:
 
Mike,
Pastimes such as Bob Baiting:D
 
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