Day 1
We arrived at our pre-determined campsite at Whitney, Jeff and I were expecting the perfect pitch next to the Wye that we had been shadowing for sometime, but as we pulled in from the main road we were welcomed by a wooden 5ft palisade fence surrounding a mass of canoeist and their tents - living up to its name 'the pound'. We were directed in to a tiny slither of the campsite, the only spot that was left, where we pitched up. Jeff and I were eager to see what the fishing was like as we were told that we could fish in front of the pub - heaven or what? We rounded the front of the pub to find a group of canoeists hauling their steeds up a set of wooden steps with the rest of the waters edge fenced off. To the left and right of us were long stretches of picturesque river that looked like they needed fishing.
Whitney on Wye - The pound campsite
We were disappointed with the setup so Jeff and I went on a search for a good spot whilst kate and Judy popped into Hay on Wye to get provisions for the evening - yes wine!
With Molly in tow we headed down the road towards the toll bridge about half a mile away, the whole route was lined with wrought iron railings adorned with 'no fishing' signs. When we arrived at the toll bridge we crossed to the midway point to view the river conditions and spot any possible fishing locations. We could se the river bed - it was 3-4 feet deep and every few seconds a flash of silver, then another, then another -FISH! We couldn't identify the species but I would gauge them at 12-16oz. That was the easy part, we couldn't see anywhere to fish along this stretch, Jeff suggested the town waters but this would limit us. We headed back to the campsite to meet with the girls to tell them the bad news.
Day 2
After an evening of drowning our sorrows we awoke to a hive of activity around us from our fellow campers. Molly had been active all night - visiting the neighbors tents and scavenging left over BBQ food. This was to be a god send as one of the canoeists told us about a fabled campsite in a farmers orchard next to the river about 12 miles away. Judy made the call whilst we studied the map. Like a well drilled team we packed up the tents and belongings, packed the cars, had our fried breakfasts and headed off to find the promised land. Our saviour had passed on a print out of an OS map which we had to cross reference to the road map - Kate and me took the lead car and navigated the way to Bycross farm.
We arrived on the site and made our way through the apple orchard and parked up. Jeff and I darted out of the cars and headed bank side. The campsite was right on the river edge about 20ft higher than the current water level. Jeff spotted a parting in the undergrowth and we headed down. The river was crystal clear with patches of green plant life and golden sand/pebbles to either side. In front of us was a darker area where the river dropped of to 7/8ft as it formed the bottom of its ox bow. There was just enough room for us both to fit in the peg. We returned topside to setup camp and ready ourselves for an afternoon of fishing. We paid up with the farmer an probed him for info on the fishing, he mention that trigger word that starts Jeff's pulse racing - barbel! Kate and Judy left for a shopping trip to Hay on Wye whilst Jeff and I setup.
The Bycross farm swim
The weather was lovely, nice sunshine and very little wind. The swim was interesting, the main flow of the river was left to right, however there was a back flow for the 25 feet. We both decided to have a crack at those barbel, I set up a feeder with 8lb main and a 5lb size 10 hook length. Jeff went for a ledger on two rods. We were casting about 35-40 feet out in the faster water, I quickly changed to a 1.5 oz ledger as the flow wasn't strong enough to take out the ground bait I had. There were fish rising ad jumping all around us, even in the shallows there were hundreds of minnows and fry. I decided to set up on a stick float with a size 16 hook to see what was closer in. The float wouldn't stay still, fish were attacking the bait and float as soon as it hit the water. Bleak were coming out on every cast, so I increased to 5 maggots, they still were taking the bait. I tried sweet corn which lost most of the bleak and Jeff and I got 6/7 small chub on the bounce. I did lose two good fish, this was probably down to hook size.
Jeff had joined me in the stick float approach after loosing 5/6 ledgers on a unseen snag in front of his position. The bites dried up on the corn so we switched to lob worms. Jeff hooked into a fish that was putting up a good fight, as it neared the surface we spotted it green stripes - perch. Jeff got 5 in total with the best around the 1.5 lb mark. The afternoon session was great fun and we caught a nice steady amount of fish!
Bag of Perch
The girls returned from Hay with some nice salmon fillets to BBQ. Jeff and I fetched the fir wood and built a campfire at the top of the bank where we were fishing. The food was excellent - thanks Kate/Judy- and we had some liquid refreshment before we carried on for a few more hours.
Jeff struck at a good bite and was in on a reasonable fish, I jumped up with the landing net in hand to see a lovely chub rise up from the dimming waters. It was in beautiful condition, maybe 3 lbs or so. This would turn out to be the fish of the trip and what a cracker it was. We retired to the campfire where Jeff and I set put our aims for the next day - Jeff, his first bleak - myself, anything over 2lb as I seemed to attract quantity not quality in the fish world!
Jeff's Chub
A warming sight after a pleasant day
Day 3
We awoke to the sound of rain around 7am on the Monday morning, a quick wash and a cuppa got me ready for action. Jeff joined me on the bank, we had switched sides from the day before to vary the swim. The rain was on and off and heavy enough to make the float disappear under the droplets in the river. I switched to my ledger rod and put the brolly up, set for a long day. Jeff realised that he didn't have his brolly with him as Judy had borrowed it for the gallery. He headed up to the tent when the rain got heavy. I was fishing with chopped lob worm to ration the last tub we had for the day. First cast had me into a small chub on the drop, promising I thought! The next cast was a little short and ended in lost tackle. After a fresh hook and ledger, and a short visit from Jeff between the showers, I got a bit that differed from all the others during the trip so far, this one went through the whole rod - at last my decent fish? After a short but reasonable fight I landed my prize, not the 2 lb + fish but my second barbel - ever! - another youngster around the 1 lb mark. I shouted up to Jeff as I landed it but he didn't hear me, once the baby barbel was safely in the keep net I rushed up to Jeff to confirm that there was his nemesis in our presence. Needless to say Jeff was quickly down the bank and under a makeshift brolly - my golf umbrella strapped to left over fire wood from the campfire.
Barbel no 2
We persevered with the terrible weather which along with Molly, was quickly changing the bank into a dangerous quagmire. After a nice 1 lb perch - possibly a PB for me, we gave up the ghost. The girls were wet through and there was no sign of a break in the weather. A trip to the same pub we visited on the way down warmed us enough to go home satisfied that we had found a little treasure on the Wye. We will return!
A very muddy Jeff
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