WHY THE WYE

By Brian Ridley

Brian Ridley with a Wye fish of 10-14

Go to Next Article; Big Baits by Martin Cullen

I got my first look at the river in the close season of 1994 when I was part of a summer recce that visited my club stretch around the Ross-on-Wye area at Symmonds-Yat. We spent a productive day walking the stretch and sampling the local beer. A second visit was organised and a group of intrepid barbel anglers fished most of the stretch available but alas no barbel were caught.

It wasn’t until the summer of 1995 that I visited the Red Lion stretch at Bredwardine that my fishing for Wye barbel really began. I remember that first time quite vividly, firstly standing on the bank thinking that this looks like a barbel anglers’ paradise; the Wye Valley is one of the most outstanding areas of natural beauty I have ever seen. Once I had taken in the magnificence of the scene I pondered where the hell do you start. After spending some time walking the stretch some barbel were spotted ‘flashing’ in the shallows. Ah, he thinks, this looks promising. Once everybody had chosen a peg the fishing began in earnest. It was a memorable day because of the fact that one of the lads fishing the next swim up river to me caught his first ‘double’ on his first visit to the river in the middle of a very hot sunny day. I thought, this’ll do for me. I was under no illusions that it was going to be easy and subsequent visits have proved the case, it isn’t easy, but where is? Many of the swims that scream barbel are devoid of fish. So don’t be fooled by this river, what applies to your local river when catching barbel doesn’t always apply on the Wye. Anyway the day ended with nearly everyone catching except me although I did foulhook one but this obviously doesn’t count. As a consequence my first visit to this stretch ended in a blank but I couldn’t wait to have another go.

Before visiting the Wye I had continually read as much as I could about barbel fishing on the river, mainly from the writings of John Bailey and Roger Miller who had spent a good few years searching out the Wye barbel. I also took every opportunity to talk to an old friend who has also spent many years fishing for the elusive Wye barbel.

Before I continue with my experiences on the Wye I thought you might be interested in a little of the history of the river. It would appear that Wye barbel originated from the Lugg. The barbel were first introduced into the Lugg in the early 1960’s, these fish coming from the Severn. Early reports of Lugg barbel caught were in the 1970’s and the sizes varied up to 8lbs. Eventually they spread down the Lugg to the confluence with the Wye and it was here that the first double 10-06 was taken around 1976. Naturally the great landmark in the history of Wye barbel was the time from the mid 1970’s when they actually appeared in the main river. At first they only spread a short way downstream but their spread upstream, when it came, was far more prolific. By 1984 they were as far upstream as Builth Wells and they were spotted spawning near Hay-on-Wye in the spring of 1982 but the major upstream population seemed to have settled around Bredwardine. The greatest number of fish, however, continued to exist within a few miles of Hereford with particularly large numbers at Fawnhope and Belmont. By 1989 barbel were found throughout the Wye from above Builth Wells down to Tinteon on the tidal section. The Wye has a long history of being one of the top game rivers in the country but with restricted access to coarse anglers. With the decline of salmon on the Wye and the subsequent loss of revenue the riparian owners are continually opening their waters to the coarse angler nowadays.

Here’s a quotation from ‘Big Fish World’ dated 1985 from an article by Bob Jones entitled ‘Why not try the Wye’. “Anglers who fish the Wye regularly know that as a coarse fishery it is head and shoulders above the vast majority of other rivers in Britain. Its range of species, numbers and average sizes are excellent yet as a barbel river it is untapped”.
“The Wye will be the barbel river of the next decade, it will prove to be the best in the country. There is every chance that it could produce a record now. So those barbel anglers looking for a challenge why not try the Wye”.

The Wye has everything; it is 150 miles long, rising in Mid-Wales and running into England to empty into the Severn. It is a spate river and it changes mood from day to day and changes shape whenever you look at it. It can be sixty yards wide in some places, two feet deep in one swim, ten foot in the next. Deep channels rise onto gravel banks, deep gullies and snags galore created by fallen trees, some stretches are fast flowing others are deep and slow where the big fish often lurk, areas of streamer weed, deep holes and rafts, sharp bends - it is a barbel river par excellence.

Just to talk a little about the Wye barbel themselves. They are in pristine condition and they fight like the devil. I would imagine that on some of the stretches where barbel are caught, they haven’t seen an angler’s bait before because some of the areas are so remote.

I’ve caught most of my barbel on meat but they are caught on numerous baits such as dyed corn, particles and lobworms. Baiting with hemp can also be very productive. As well as having quite a few barbel in the river there are also lots of chub and some big ones at that. Using maggots in the summer can be a bit of a trial as the river is full of minnows. Ledgering is the main method either using a straight lead or swimfeeder, but for those connoisseurs who like using the float I would imagine in the right areas that this method could also produce a barbel or two.

As far as the Bredwardine stretch is concerned the barbel fishing is well documented and many people have fished it. For those that haven’t here is some information that may be of use to you. Bredwardine is the village and consists of the Red Lion Hotel, a church and a phone box and that’s it. If you want bait, tackle etcetera you will have to go into Hereford although Mike at the Hotel does have an arrangement with one of the tackle shops that will deliver bait to the Hotel if enough is ordered. Bredwardine is about 7 miles outside Hereford. The Hotel itself is an “oldie worldy” renovated 17th century coach house. The food is good and so is the ale. It obviously caters for the discerning angler but it doesn’t have a secure tackle shed which is unusual as many of its patrons are anglers. At the end of a days’ fishing you either have to leave your gear in the car at the back of the Hotel or take it back to your room that can be a bit of a ball-ache.

The Red Lion stretch is better known as the Moccas Fishery and is famous for its salmon fishing (or used to be!) The stretch is 8 miles long and consists of 10 beats. A days’ fishing is £6-00 (2000 prices), tickets obtainable from the Hotel. If you fancy a days’ fishing then you’ll more than likely be put on either beat 1 or 6. Beats 2 to 5 is reserved for Hotel guests and beats 7-7a are barbel syndicate waters with 9-10 being reserved for salmon anglers only. If you stay at the Hotel for more than 3 nights your fishing will cost you £20 but you will have the run of the stretch, e.g. beats 1-6. John Bailey runs his barbel fishing breaks from the Hotel and can be seen from time to time ‘tear arsing’ about up and down the river in his Land Rover coaching his protégés in the arts of barbel fishing. If you don’t fancy fishing the Red Lion stretch then there’s always Letton Court that is opposite (nicknamed Letdown Court after the a Barbel Catchers fish-in!), this will cost you £4.50 (2000 price) for a days’ permit but make sure you ring up before you go because it is heavily salmon fished and they obviously pay a lot more and have priority on the fishery.

After that first day back in 1995 on the Wye I have spent numerous days, weekends and even weeks fishing for Wye barbel. Up till quite recently the river had not been a lucky one for me with my biggest being about 8lbs. Like anywhere else hours on the bank and continually trying I landed my first double in September of this year. It had taken me two years so I was obviously well pleased. There are some very big barbel in the Wye and there’s also a lot of small ones as well. This year’s fishing trip produced an abundance of barbel in the 1/2 to 1 1/2 pound bracket and it was nice to see that the barbel have settled in the area.

Although when the Barbel Catchers held their annual fish-in on the Wye, most of us blanked, including me, there is an abundance of barbel there but it’s like anywhere else it’s up to us to catch them. It’s not easy, I’ve had my share of blanks over the years on this river just like everybody else. What makes me keep going back is the potential of the place and the surroundings. The river is set in beautiful countryside and the wildlife is as varied as you will get anywhere plus the thought of once again doing battle with a Wye barbel that will test your fishing skills to the limit.

The truth is out there!
Or should I say the barbel are.
Good luck.

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