wye waste my time?!?

[Jim Crosskey 2]

So it looks like the weather is going to stay coming at us from the north/east for the rest of the season. Day time temps will barely break 7 degrees, night time will do well to get over freezing. Given these conditions, does anyone here think a barbel trip to the wye is a realistic ambition?

Normally I'd just go.. but for me the wye is enough of a trip that I'll probably look to book accommodation somewhere the night before (£30) and the wye and usk foundation isn't cheap (£20 day ticket) and there's petrol (at least £25) and bait (probably best bit of £20). Chuck in dinner at the pub the night before and we're talking a £100+ trip.

So, worth the bother or not?

(Incidentally, if anyone on here is a long range weather forcaster who knows about a nice big south westerly blow coming in before the season ends then I'm all ears!! )

 

[rubio]

I'm not a forecaster but I feel certain a fat warm south westerly will blow in sometime just after the season ends. (If it does really end)

 

[meat63]

I was in the same kafuffle as you going to the River Trent , it costs me about 30 quid with two of us going thats each , still not cheap really, we got there and the lakes opposite were frozen and we thought oops could be a bad move this , we carried on regardless and stopped and talked to an angler as we did , he got a run resulting in a nice barbel,that boosted us up no end , conditions were cold , river was up about 6ft and well coloured , so to cut a long story short we blanked I lost several feeders and rigs as you do , we packed up in the end and stopped on way out to talk to the same angler and he'd had 12 fish all barbel , so that made me think wrong peg selection even though I moved three times , it was a learning curve though and we got some very good information that we wouldnt of if we hadn't been there , which will put us in good stead for the next time we visit. If you can afford it do it , it you cant fish closer to home , but even one barbel in bad conditions can make your day , even if it costs you 100 quid I really want to get back on it but am going to wait till last minute if I have to to see if weather turns favourable , if it dont then Im going to bite the bullet and just go .

 

[chav professor]

So it looks like the weather is going to stay coming at us from the north/east for the rest of the season. Day time temps will barely break 7 degrees, night time will do well to get over freezing. Given these conditions, does anyone here think a barbel trip to the wye is a realistic ambition?

Normally I'd just go.. but for me the wye is enough of a trip that I'll probably look to book accommodation somewhere the night before (£30) and the wye and usk foundation isn't cheap (£20 day ticket) and there's petrol (at least £25) and bait (probably best bit of £20). Chuck in dinner at the pub the night before and we're talking a £100+ trip.

So, worth the bother or not?

(Incidentally, if anyone on here is a long range weather forcaster who knows about a nice big south westerly blow coming in before the season ends then I'm all ears!! )

take some cheese paste and a few loaves of bread and find a chub shoal

It was very low and clear weekend just gone - mostly got takes well into darkness. Feeder or float fishing maggot would have been the way to go in day light mg:

Great venue mind....... Got to be in it to win it!

 

[aebitim]

Never know with the Wye, fishing Sunday and Monday next, With the river low the chub will more than likely feed and the barbel are probably going to make an appearance. The weather, though cold, has been reasonably settled which is a good sign and temperatures are forecast to rise slowly over the next few days.

 

[Michael Loveridge 2]

I was on the upper Wye weekend gone ..... river in very good condition , but very cold !

 

[Jim Crosskey 2]

Looks like I probably better go then!

 

[split shot]

A big change on the way, should arrive around the 6th.

 

[chav professor]

Looks like I probably better go then!

TAKE MAGGOTS.....lol.....

I love the Wye... you wait, I'll take 4 pints of maggots and it will be 9ft up and over the bank next year.....

 

[Jim Crosskey 2]

You didn't say what kind of change! Could be snow and ice judging by the luck we've had so far this season!!

If that is a change for the better then its game on.

Chub? Cheesepaste? Bread? Love em all to bits, and that's what I'm generally doing this time of the year on the Thames, which runs through the town where I live. So if I wanted to go for chub, then somewhere closer to home would be a good choice.

(In fact it makes it harder... To contrast the trip i mentioned above, at home there's a river I could walk to, on a permit I get for free for being a town resident, bait bill of a fiver... And a good chance of a six pounder at least... But no Barbel, or at least nothing like the numbers in the wye)

---------- Post added at 00:50 ---------- Previous post was at 00:38 ----------

And Meat, you're right in as much as whatever I learn on the trip could be useful for the next...

just checked again and it IS looking like it might get just a little bit warmer...

 

[geoffmaynard]

I just had a couple of guys fish our bit (Nr Hay-on-Wye) for two days. The grayling have taken over. No chub nor barbel but the grayling fishing was very good with avg fish 1lb to 1lb 4ozs, up to maybe 1.12; so they concentrated on them and they both had several dozen plus quite a few trout to just under 3lb. The river is the lowest it's been all winter and all the colour has finally dropped out so if you come you might need to fish finer than you are used to. Bring a pike rod too as they are very active right now. The weather says the icy wind is dropping by the weekend but I think it's still too cold for serious barbel fishing - but who knows!

 

[cg74]

TAKE MAGGOTS.....lol.....

I love the Wye... you wait, I'll take 4 pints of maggots and it will be 9ft up and over the bank next year.....

No excuses now:

I'll be on the Wye next week and looking at this:
BBC Weather : Hereford
This:
Farson Digital Watercams - Hi-def webcam on River Wye, at Hereford
And this:
Environment Agency - River levels station data

It'll feeder fishing with maggots for me, 3 on a size 12 and 2 on a size 14 hook, either a Kamasan 983 or Drennan Carbon Specimen.

 

[aebitim]

I just had a couple of guys fish our bit (Nr Hay-on-Wye) for two days. The grayling have taken over. No chub nor barbel but the grayling fishing was very good with avg fish 1lb to 1lb 4ozs, up to maybe 1.12; so they concentrated on them and they both had several dozen plus quite a few trout to just under 3lb. The river is the lowest it's been all winter and all the colour has finally dropped out so if you come you might need to fish finer than you are used to. Bring a pike rod too as they are very active right now. The weather says the icy wind is dropping by the weekend but I think it's still too cold for serious barbel fishing - but who knows!

Thanks for the info, it will be interesting to see if the barbel feed, I have caught them before in these conditions, but wouldnt put money on it, interesting about the chub though, fortunately I have grayling on my beat and some good sized perch to keep me amused if the going gets tough.

 

[Rich P]

Jim - the medium range forecast is changing almost every day. so there's still reason to be optimistic. Good luck and I hope you catch.

 

[Jim Crosskey 2]

Thanks for the encouragement chaps! I'm meeting up with an old mate who I used to fish with regularly who I don't see so often now, so the trip has now become more of a night in the pub (with a days'sfishing) rather than a day's fishing (with a night in the pub)... its all about the priorities!!

Geoff, I'm heading quite a bit further downstream, a few miles above Monmouth, where I believe its a bit wider and deeper... so possibly better given the low water conditions. However, I'm taking heed of all the advice, I think I will have a barbel rod (which might also double as a spinning rod if I come to do a bit of lure fishing), a lighter quiver tip feeder rod for fishing maggots and a float rod... giving me the options of fishing lighter if needs be.

Whatever happens, it does look like the weather might have improved just a little before the end of the season. Good luck and tight lines to anyone getting out and making the best of it... and thanks again for the words of encouragement, whatever happens its a beautiful place to visit and take it all in.