The returns on Friday 30th showed Wyebank and Courtfield on 12 salmon and Wyesham on 11. The month ended with both fisheries on 12. This speaks volumes when a fishery at Lydbrook matches the top fishery at Wyesham.

Results

Wyebank: 2 salmon both 15lbs

Courtfield 10 salmon 3 at 10lbs 2 at 15lbs 1 at 18lbs 1 at 24.5lbs 1 at 25lbs conservative estimate 1 at 27lbs 1 at 32lbs.

Also an astonishing 48 kelts between 30″ and 40″ all  exceptionally well mended. I shall be writing a review on the kelts when we see the back end of them at the end of April.

The river is very low but still plenty of water coming through Lydbrook and very little growth in the ranunculus to hold it up. Good rain is forecast over the next couple of days which may help induce some more running fish and there is every chance of more twenty pounders. The total catch for the river as at the 31st was on 104 salmon caught at an average weight of 17.9lbs. The previous 5 year average was 22 fish in March with 35 caught last year.

There is caution in the camp with regards to the level of ongoing recovery this season as the national grilse run was poor last year. However Arthur Hutton in all his long years of research on the Wye was never able to demonstrate any correlation between grilse and 2SW runs other than that a good grilse run was followed by a good 2SW run, whereas a poor grilse run did not presage a poor 2SW run. I am holding onto my confidence that salmon runs are starting to rapidly improve on the Wye and that the next 8 years could show some astonishing increases in the salmon runs as we continue catch and release.

The kelts have been upto 40″ in length (27lbs pre spawning prime) and the fresh salmon upto 42.5″, 32lbs plus on the conversion charts. This has been a staggering start to the 2012 salmon season on the Wyebank and Courtfield fishery and surpasses all previous records for many decades for this water.

Jason Conlon's magnificent 27 lb large springer

Rudi Lighert set it all alight again yesterday with a 15lb fresh fish followed by a huge 42-43″ cock salmon from Legg Meadow estimated at 32lbs plus.

These extraordinary results give  8 fish at an average weight of 20.7lbs. Quite remarkable.

Again I cannot stress how good the condition of all the kelts is and how it augurs for a good sea run of healthy feeding kelts which will add to the stock of large fish over the next couple of years.

Wyebank is the challenging water for the fly fisherman and I have no doubt that fish are lying in the pools and runs.

The river is now dropping sharply with the continued dry weather and although there are undoubtedly plenty of fresh fish still to catch the water temperatures will be rising soon and we may have another week or two before they start to colour up. Everyone dreams of catching a great salmon so now is the time to do it.

Jason also had 5 kelts today between 10 and 15lbs of a quality that could deceive many fishermen and I had one yesterday giving a total of 9 kelts since Tuesday. The fresh fish caught this week now tally at 10lbs, 15lbs, 15lbs, 18lbs, 24.5lbs, 27lbs giving an average weight of 18.23lbs.

38.5inch/24.5lbs Salmon caught on the Courtfield water by Peter Chilton.

I messed up on the chance of a lifetime by losing a fish yesterday in a break, having not retied my lure after being wedged in a rock and the ensuing tug of war. One never thinks that the unbelievable is about to happen, well we ordinary mortals don’t! Its what separates the truly successful fishermen from the average. I paid the price in a way that has sort of made me come of age in salmon fishing terms.

It was like this. I knew from last Saturday  the position on a very big salmon pointed out by a barbel fisherman. That evening it was too bright and although I covered the fish I decided to leave it until more favourable conditions. Yesterday afternoon the conditions were perfect and I covered the look of the lie to perfection with the fish taking firmly exactly at the spot. Two or three massive and crunching rod bends and surges forward left me in no doubt I had hooked a biggie. After a few minutes of being dictated to I attempted to maneuver  the fish so as to get him towards a slack, when he surged to the surface and rolled, exposing a huge black green back and with a whack of an immense looking tail, sending spray like goodness knows what, went down and literally, down river as I struggled to get the drag right. twenty five to 30 yards out and bearing in on snags I had no option but to apply the brake and stop him. Big mistake, as the rod was straining at maximum the line went and I knew my possible 30 pounder was swimming off laughing. I have yet to land a twenty pounder and have lost two mid twenties. This fish was significantly bigger, maybe high twenties like Jason’s today or maybe a thirty.

Big Fish are here!

Yesterday the 13th I had a 15lb fish from Wyebank, upstream from Wyebank crib, on a 2″ black and yellow tube. Today Jason Conlon caught a 10 pounder from Courtfield and lost a 20 pounder and another fish plus a further take on black and silver flying c. Peter Chilton has also today  landed a magnificent 23 lb salmon and a 15lb fish as well as two exceptionally well mended kelts from Courtfield to black and silver flying c.

In two days we have caught half last year’s total of eight fish, the first of which was’nt caught until the 5th of April

The top end swims in Legg Meadow have been the favourites, down to the Bay above the alders. The wood bottom end is also producing. I suspect that barbel will be found throughout the fishery so check the where to fish guide and bring a print out with you, when you come fishing.

I shall be away next week but can always be contacted on 07748534782

Now is the time to make the best of the end of season sport which promises to pick up well over the last fortnight as the fish feed to get into spawning condition. Bookings are coming in pretty fast for Courtfield but there are plenty of days still available on Wyebank which is now getting to a good fishing level as the river falls away and not much rain about at the moment.

Tight lines

Don

My local friends Gareth and George have given the good pike spots a regular going over during the last fortnight. A fish about 20lb and a 15lb from Legg Meadow and a double from the stream mouth at the Tump have been the best. Gareth, not prone to get excited over anything under 30lbs, let on that they lost a pike which was’nt seen and which felt huge in the depths, when the river was around 6-7ft. This is probably the huge fish which was seen by barbel anglers in the autumn and quite likely the 36lb fish caught by George from Little Dean last winter. Rumours have come back to me that this pike was 39lbs – it seems difficult to get exact records of pike weights.

I would say the time is now. After a mild winter there should be some well fed, well conditioned females becoming heavy with spawn. River levels are now back to below 2ft as I write and clear. We have some bookings for pike missions but there are loads of booking opportunities for the rest of this month and February or just book on the day. There is almost cerainly a pike in the Legg Meadow stretch of the Courtfield which is heading for the magic 40lb mark.

Rudi lives locally and is perfectly placed to keep an eye on the Wyebank and Courtfield fisheries and he helps me enormously by looking after fishermen and watching for poachers. He fishes both beats regularly and is very well acquainted with the best places to catch fish. As the feedback pages for both Wyebank and Courtfield show he has had some superb fishing this year, with quality chub, barbel and pike. These pike pictures, in particular,  are stunning and show the wonderful colouration of healthy Wye pike.

Beautiful Chub caught on the Courtfield water

Another good sized Chub for Rudi

Barbel caught on the Leggs Meadow beat in September

9lb 12oz Barbel from Courtfield

Typical Courtfield beat pike

Beautiful Pike caught on Courtfield

Big Pike caught from Courtfield

Last winter Gareth Hart guided his friend George, and down the lower end of the meadow helped him land a 36lb monster. Gareth has the distinction of “years ago”  catching a witnessed 42lb pike from Legg Meadow, possibly the largest pike ever landed on the river by rod and line. Gareth, whom I’ve known for over 30 years, and his friends from Little Dean have quietly fished the “meadow” and many other stretches of the Wye for a lot longer than the piking afficiados and his catches have always been kept quiet from the angling world.

The most famous pike  from Legg Meadow was the fish known as Lydia by PAC anglers Rob Shallcroft and Steve Bown. Renowned as the Queen of the Wye, this fish was caught by Ashley Meek in 2005 when she weighed 36lbs. This fish can be  seen on the  “Courtfield Fishing page” of this site. Subsequently and after many stake outs Steve took Rob to the magic spot, where one late winter’s day Rob caught the magnificent fish when she weighed 33lbs 12ozs.

It is generally thought this fish is no longer alive. Although Steve did not get exact measurements he estimated her length from scaled photographs at  48 – 49 inches. So it is significant that Rudi Lighert’s pike caught in the winter of 2009 at the lower end of Courtfield measured 48 inches.  This massive fish was “well below its potential weight and long and lean”.

The question has to be, was Rudi’s fish Lydia and is it the same fish that Gareth Hart caught at 42lbs? Fred Buller’s table for pike length to weight gives the following for a 48 inch pike. The average variation is shown at 39lbs which is the weight of the massive pike which first showed up on the radar at Leggs Meadow. With an extreme expectation of weight at 53.25 lbs and mean of 44.5 lbs it seems to me that these catches, including Gareth’s 42lb pike, do in fact all relate to the same fish, which against the belief of the members of the Pike Angling Club of Great Britain was still alive in 2009. The second question has to be, is George’s fish of last winter an up and coming contender for the Queen of the Wye crown?

Over the last decade there has been one and possibly two dead pike recorded as being over 30lbs, suggesting that there are other monsters here and pike in the mid to high twenties are caught annually. Jonathan Wright, guided by Gareth Hart had a fine bag several years ago including a 27lb fish and two other doubles to 16lbs and several good jack pike caught in the swims towards the top end of Leggs Meadow. The late Martin Lane of Lydbrook caught many big pike along the Courtfield beat and fell in to the river in recent times whilst landing a  fish in the low to mid twenties. A salmon angler had an 18lb pike this summer fishing the Legg Meadow crib.

If you are a specimen pike angler seeking a big Wye pike then I humbly suggest you give the Courtfield a go this winter. Book as usual for a coarse ticket through the WUF and drop me an email donmacerwright@gmail.com while you’re about it, to plan your trip. If you want to make the added investment for a guide we can probably significantly increase your chances of a lifetime fish.