Amazing Day Fishing on the River Wye at Courtfield

My 10lb 6oz barbel was the biggest of the day!

To spend an afternoon fishing the River Wye on an unseasonably warm October day was to prove a very good decision last week! Myself, Jon, Jon's dad Tony and regular visitor to the shop Steve Dyke settled in to some lovely looking swims on the Courtfield stretch of the river at Lower Lydbrook and sport was superb all day! As Jon headed off with his pike rod in hand it was Tony who was first to shout fish on! and what a start, a 9lb 15oz personal best barbel! Myself and Steve were soon in to fish and it wasn't long before we were both weighing double figure barbel, a personal best 10lb 3oz fish for Steve and a specimen of 10lb 6oz for me! Lots more barbel followed and I was soon admiring another beautiful Wye double. Fish of 6lb to 8lb were plentiful with the occasional bigger one showing, Tony landed a further two 9lb plus barbel and for a bit of variety a chub which when weighed took the scales to 5lb 4oz, another personal best! Jon returned reporting that he hadn't had any luck with the rivers predators and decided to put a rod out for barbel and as the light faded on an unbelievable days fishing he added three more decent barbel to our tally taking the days combined catch to well over twenty fish! Similar tactics and baits were used by all of us with simple running leads and halibut pellets proving that you don't need to over complicate things to have a fantastic days fishing! For more information on fishing the Courtfield beat at Lower Lydbrook visit www.lowerwyefishing.co.uk and for all you need to know about the River Wye and its tributaries go to www.wyeuskfoundation.org

Steve with his personal best 10lb 3oz barbel

Tony and his second personal best of the day, a 5lb 4oz chub!