Autumn fishing on the River Wye: not quite a masterclass!
Day 1: Autumn calm
It has now become ritual to go away for an autumn fishing weekend with either friends or family. On this occasion it was with my brother, and we were off to fish the upper Wye. As ever the build-up was as fun (to us at least!) as the fishing with endless messaging about bait, tackle, likely catches, current river levels, and exhausting all u-tube videos with “fishing the river wye” in the title.
In was now late November and for the past week the river had been up and down like a yo yo so we were not sure what conditions would await us. After departing my home in Northamptonshire we arrived at the fishery gate near to the town of Hay on Wye, and were very kindly greeted by the bailiff, Dave. This was the Llanthomas Fishery and like all the waters we would fish this weekend, new territory for us. Dave very kindly gave us a guided tour of the fishery which was set in peaceful countryside and a stunning backdrop of both the Black Mountains and Malvern Hills. Being a little less known than other waters we were also the only anglers today! With the river still up but dropping we opted to start in a huge slack at the top of the fishery. The beat held every species you could imagine from trout and grayling to barbel and chub. The latter were today’s quarry but having never caught a grayling over a pound they remained on the agenda for the weekend if conditions improved. The upper Wye is famed for its grayling sport.
Although the colour was dropping out of the river it was still too turbid for float fishing, thus feeder fishing was the order of the day. We tried a variety of baits from maggots and luncheon meat to boilies and paste. For the next couple of hours we caught steadily with dace, roach, small chub, and brown trout gracing the net. Although enjoyable we got the feeling the larger fish were not at home so wandered halfway down this one mile beat and found some marginal slacks, right next to pacey water (in the summer months this is a huge gravel bar that you can wade out on to enjoy a spot of trotting or trundling a freelined bait down). On settling into this new spot, it just felt right. I delicately plopped my feeder and paste wrapped dumbbell boilie right on the boundary of the slack and fast water. Within 5 minutes the tip hooped over, and I was into to one of then several better chub up to around 4 lb. My brother was having equal luck with simple lead and meat tactics.
Dusk came all too soon, and we headed off very happy anglers to our accommodation for the weekend which was a barn converted with anglers in mind at Clyro Hill Farm (website listing here). This was less than 10 minutes’ drive from the fishery, set up in the hills overlooking the valley, and the accommodation owner Jim had recommended and even booked the fishing for us. Jim is a keen angler and was on hand to advise in the lead up to and during our stay. The accommodation was perfectly placed for our weekend and ideally kitted out for anglers including a separate tackle and bait store.
The river had continued to fall on our first day of fishing so, as we could not get grayling off our minds, my brother booked a beat (called Ty Newyyd) situated further upstream, near to Builth Wells. This area is known to be a grayling mecca so surely our luck would be in.
Day 2: The end of the calm!
An early morning frost greeted us but also the sight of overnight rain…not ideal given how responsive the river can be, and the need for clear water for the grayling, a well-known sight feeder, to be catchable. We were however now committed, having booked the beat through the Wye and Usk foundation, so stayed optimistic in the hope we could find a fish or too willing to feed.
We arrived at the fishery car park, set on the edge of beautiful beech and oak woodland. We set up with trotting tackle amidst the autumn leaves and wandered off down the valley. On arrival at the riverside it was simply stunning and every bit the classic upland game fishing river. It had however risen, along with carrying a steady stream of fallen leaves. My brother had a look at the beat map on his phone and looked up at me stating “it says here this beat is fly only”! With only maggots at hand we said a few expletives and trudged back up the hill to the car. What were we going to do now? It was Sunday so there was no way to contact the Wye and Usk Foundation and ask to move beats (incidentally they did sort us out the following week), so instead we headed back to Llanthomas where we could grab a day ticket on the bank.
Coming back was nice as this beat was now familiar territory and although it had risen with the overnight rain it was looking good for more bites. I caught steadily again through the afternoon with chub and the odd trout but nothing huge and no barbel in sight. I think the icy overnight rains and early frosts were always going to make the barbel fishing tough but at least the chub were obliging. For my last swim of the day I settled into a real gem amongst reeds and huge willows that draped into the water’s edge creating a beautiful slack that screamed fish. Again the paste wrapped boilie landed with a satisfying plop and I sat watching the tip eagerly.
I did not have to wait long and was soon into a very powerful fish taking line and heading under the overhanding trees. Could this be a barbel I thought, but as it then spent the next couple of minutes trying to get into every snag I knew a chub was more likely. Suddenly, the most enormous white lips and head of a chub rose to the surface. Its head was so big I let out a gasp and quickly slid the net under it. I looked down at the net to what was the biggest chub I have ever seen in my own net. It was certainly over 5lb and maybe nudging 6lb…fish up to 7lb had been out of this stretch in previous weeks.
I placed the net in the margins for the fish to rest up and gave my brother a call to come over and take pictures. “Have you weighed it” he asked. “Not yet I said”. “Well weigh it before I head over” …he was clearly rooted in a spot himself so was not keen to move unless my predictions were correct. Just as I was about to hang up (in mild annoyance at having to negotiate him to come and weigh said fish) I heard a loud splashing and turned to see the large back of a chub sliding over the top of my net. With phone in one hand I leapt toward the fish and tried with the one available hand to scoop it back into the net. It was a hopeless comedy effort and I watched this monster slide into the margins and away. “What’s happened” I could hear a voice on my phone say. “You can stay put I said, its gone” I abruptly stated. The next half hour was quite low but somehow, I pulled myself out of this, reminding myself of how lucky I was just to be in such a place, and ventured on trying a couple more spots before finally calling it a day. We then headed off for a pint at a local pub and watched one of the world cup games whilst doing my best not to dwell on what an utter wally I had been with securing my fish in the margins.
Day 3: Calm restored?
Now the dilemma of trying again for grayling or keep focused on the chub, in the hope of another monster or maybe a barbel willing to feed. We were on the upper river after all so could not resist one more go at the lady of the stream. We again booked a Wye and Usk beat, this time a stretch called Abernant (not fly only!), and again woke to frost and evidence of overnight rain (we were in Wales after all). We stood outside our accommodation gazing at the amazing views across the valley and said our farewells to Jim, who had been pike fishing the day before himself. The drive down the valley that morning was stunning, in fact we even pulled to car over to take photos. Theis new beat was again stunning but alas the river was not a level you would want and there were heaps of fallen leaves tumbling around in the flow. We gave it a couple of hours on the float, but we knew it was in vain. By some miracle I managed a trout however by late morning we decided it was time to accept defeat and take the long drive home.
Like every trip it was an adventure. We learnt lots, saw new scenery and places, met new faces, shared stories, and enjoyed life and the pleasures that I believe only angling in the great outdoors can provide. We would be back for sure, and this time armed with a bit more common sense when it comes to grayling conditions, a bit more time to explore Hay on Wye and Builth Wells, and additional training on how to retain personal best fish before weighing them!
Thankyou the River Wye, we will be back!
Accommodation during this stay – full info here.
Beats fished – Llanthomas, Ty Newydd, and Abernant.
More Wye accommodation here.
Full Wye Valley overview here,
