The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

Nice story Snape, I've never managed anything over 4lb

That's exactly how I fish some parts of the wye, in chest waders to get the line right. It's also very exciting! There's a little, tucked away bit that I know where I frequently catch chub of over five pounds, and the largest was 6/6. I'm sure there are larger ones.

Now you know there are bigger!

There is also a story of 2 boys catching a double figure chub from the Wye many many years ago and keeping in a net while one of them went to phone the the angling press who said they would dispatch a reported forthwith. After several hours and in failing light they realised the paper had not believed them and no-one was coming so they released the fish.

Snape wrote:Now you know there are bigger!

There is also a story of 2 boys catching a double figure chub from the Wye many many years ago and keeping in a net while one of them went to phone the the angling press who said they would dispatch a reported forthwith. After several hours and in failing light they realised the paper had not believed them and no-one was coming so they released the fish.

I think I'd have sat there all night and made several trips to the phone box!! Having said that, we must thin of the fish, so I guess the right decision was made.

That doesn't surprise me at all. There are some absolute monsters in that river. Proper battle scarred old veterans!

To be truthful though it's not a patch on the Dorset Stour, big chub wise.

Never fished it, so don't know. Tell ya what tho, the biggest group of the biggest chub I ever did see was off a bridge over the teme in worcester. I've never seen so many big chub together in one place!

The Wye is a great river, sadly spoilt these days by too many screaming adults in canoes, why they cannot just paddle downstream quietly I will never know. I first visited the river back in the late 1940's with my father and grandfather who would be on the river a couple of days a week salmon angling both fly ands spinning depending on the water levels. I was fortunate to meet a lot of fine gentlemen and ladies. Some of these ladies were great salmon anglers catching more than their share of fish. I have many memories of fishing the river from well upstream where it was wild trout fishing, a 12 ounce brown trout was a good fish. Downstream to Symons Yat and dozens of villages and towns in between. Hereford was one place where I spent a lot of time. In the 50's the market town of Ross was a delightful place, today it could do with a good lick of paint. Our coarse fishing quarry until the 1990's were roach, perch, chub, and pike. At Hay in Wye Valley I had permission to fish a delightful stretch of water for chub and pike. Often on my return from a trip abroad, I wouldn't bother in going home but head up the Wye valley, in the summer I often slept under the stars slipping into the water around dawn for a quick swim and a wash down. In those days I used water directly from the river for drinking, cooking and shaving.Roach were always my first choice fish, even today that's true but sadly the cormorants have done the damage to the roach shoals. I well remember fishing for roach in the 1980's often fishing the river for a week to ten day sessions. One day as I sat quietly trotting the stream, a lady out walking stopped to ask what I was catching. I explained roach, then mentioned the tackle and bait I was using. During our conversation I mentioned I wasn't happy with my B&B and did she know of anyone who had some B&B accommodation. Janice was her name said "You are more than welcome to stay at my place I have a spare bedroom and live in that white cottage you can see upstream. Why not call in when you finish fishing" I explained I usually fished until 9 or ten o'clock in the evening. "No problem she said" I stopped off for a mug of tea, leaving gone midnight agreeing I would stop at her cottage on my next visit. After exchange phone number I went on my way. Two weeks later I'm back on the river staying at the white cottage for another weeks roach fishing. Not only did I have some great fishing I had a woman to look after me and if I wanted I could sit in her back garden and fish as she owned several acres of ground. I had a long affair with Janice and the river catching my share of two pound roach. Baits were usually bread crust or flake. I notice today many anglers are fishing pellets and nothing else for barbel, I still get my share of fish on cheese paste, bread and sausage meat. If I could afford a gallon of gentles I would do so, then spend the day trotting the stream and I reckon it would be most enjoyable. Of all the rivers I fish today I reckon the Wye is probably the easiest of river and the Loddon is the toughest,.in fact this latter river has given me more blanks than any other water. Its an enigma. Some three weeks ago on my last visit to the Wye I met up with St John what a delightful lad, He was fishing upstream of myself, we both caught barbel and chub that day. He was with Mike Evan the Ross AC bailiff who I haD invited to fish with me on the River Kennet I also suggested St John come along at the same time.I will look forward to hosting these two people who do a lot of work on the river. Hopefully one day when we can cull the cormorants the roach will return.

That’s a lovely account Martin.

You're too kind Martin. Now, about the roach. This will upset some people, and it is only a theory. I don't catch little roach, let alone large roach, and I don't think that a cormorant cull is going to be as big a factor as we think. They do take fish, but hear me out. Am I right in thinking that spawn on marginal plants and weed beds. They're apparently tolerant to pollution. The amount of barbel in the river wye has grown over the last three decades (they were apparently released in the lugg in the sixties, and found there way into the wye). Just as the roach population dropped. I want to find out how much the barbel are to blame. We all know they are opportune feeders, and their pallet is large. They are detested by salmon anglers for feeding on salmon spawning beds, and eating the eggs. Is there anything in this. I spend at least two days a week on the river,and although I see cormorants, I don't see that many, and i don't see how they ALONE can be responsible for depleting stocks of what was once a major species in the wye. Barbel are not a native wye fish. I taking a degree in environmental science at the mo, and i plan to look into this.....!
P.s I do love barbel!