Martin Bowler on dream fishing: The Wilson way

03 June 2008 13:57

Few rivers in the UK can match the Wye for its sheer beauty and sense of wilderness. In the first of a two-part feature, John Wilson joins Martin Bowler on the upper reaches to fish for chub

Streaming through the gorge, an unrelenting flow tumbles down over huge slabs of bedrock, while overhead a buzzard hangs motionless. Hidden within its depth, vast shoals of dace hold station, occasionally fragmented by a dark shadow ghosting across the bottom – its only concern comes from an angler wetting his fly. Alas, I feel I have done this stunning river an injustice as the English language doesn’t contain the words to describe such beauty.

The river, of course, is the Wye, a bastion of wild fishing and stunning scenery. I cannot think of a finer place in which to while away a few hours.

Home of the mighty salmon, locals are quite rightly protective of this environment. Landowner and ghillies alike can be fearful of the ‘coarse’ angler. Slowly but surely, however, these boundaries are being broken and perhaps the time has come when all anglers are equal, for many freshwater species find a home between the rocks and weed.

Leading the way is the Wye and Usk Foundation, which at present controls 80 miles of river. Sure its main clientele wields the fly, but all anglers get a friendly welcome. In fact, the coarse angler is in for a treat, as the foundation is now actively searching for middle and lower river beats to offer barbel anglers chub fishermen and pikers alike!

Set up as an environmental charity, it also boosts the local economy via an influx of eager anglers. It would indeed appear that any man’s money is now acceptable. Please don’t misinterpret this for bad behaviour, as only respectable, responsible anglers need apply. Follow the countryside code though, and you too could be sampling some of the most fantastic fishing this country has to offer.

I was keen to get my own slice of the action, so it wasn’t hard to accept the invitation from John Wilson to appear in an episode of his series featuring the Wye.

John really is the professional’s professional with a career spanning 150 shows and 30 books. He keeps telling me he’s going to ease up, but that’s about as likely as me winning the Lottery!

So a drive through the Brecon Beacons took me to my rendezvous point with John at Builth Wells and the upper reaches. Although a population of barbel do exist here, it was chub which was on the agenda for the first stage of our journey. Filming would commence the following morning, but with Seth and Simon from the foundation offering a guided tour, we would get our first glimpse that evening.

Suspended high above on a stone bridge, we looked down on the sparkling water. In both directions it looked mouth watering, laying across a backdrop of rolling hills and woodland.

Over dinner we excitedly discussed our findings. Chub hanging just below the surface while an occasional barbel twisted, portraying its presence against the boulders. It wasn’t hard to be enthusiastic.

A 5 o’clock alarm call heralded the start of three days fishing and filming. We just hoped we could do the river justice, because if you think fishing is difficult enough, just wait until you bring along the cameras. Imagine trying to creep into position with two cameramen and a soundman. How John has kept it up for so long God only knows.

Although we were both acutely aware that the river required a roving approach to maximise sport, unfortunately this option wasn’t viable within the constraints of filming. Instead, we chose a deep run situated at the end of some boulder-strewn shallows, hopefully giving us plenty of scope. Both of us employed heavy lines combined with strong quiver tip rods. My particular choice was a Drennan Super Feeder Combo.

Even on the virgin coarse waters of the upper river, we trickled in the obligatory halibut pellet, with a banded or hair rigged 14mm variety being our chosen hookbait. It wasn’t long before our tips shook violently as chub started to snatch at the pellets. Obviously the catholic tastes of the chub had been instantly triggered by the fishy aroma.

John’s tip cranked over and he was first to make contact with the chub. Not a big fish, but splendid all the same and in pristine condition. For a while we both found the chub obliging, before the swim began to dry up as predicted. Upper Wye fish live in small pockets, so to maximise the river’s potential we needed to move, even if this meant that the cameramen and soundman followed suit.

Lifting the rods we both tried to reel in, but unfortunately the river bed had decided to eat our leads – a common problem on the Wye. Undeterred, John called on his mahseer experience to solve the problem. Dispensing with the rod, instead the mainline was held and all the stretch within the line was removed by pulling hard. Imagine an elastic band stretched like this – what happens when you let go? It springs back. So, in turn, the force catapults your lead free. Amazingly it worked – a great tip for all anglers fishing in such conditions.

Our move took us to a rocky beach where the river swept round a left hand bend before tumbling over some rapids. Holding station just above here were the barbel and chub, clearly visible in among the streamer weed. By slipping off our shoes and socks, we slowly crept out on to a huge slab of bedrock – true ‘cowboys and Indians’ fishing!

From this vantage point, a bait could be flicked upstream and allowed to waft down into a hungry mouth. Instead of our original tackle, a simple weighted hook would suffice and the bait became a large chunk of Spam.

Poised as ghillie, I watched as John’s line edged backwards with the meat trundling along in tow. A quick pluck was followed by the line zipping upwards. An equally quick strike saw the culprit hooked – 4lb of pristine chub.

Over the course of the day we continued to explore the beat, catching chub to order. Each one special, set to a backdrop which made you feel glad to be alive. No monsters surfaced, but to worry about such matters would be to miss the point. Catching is just a small point of the Wye experience – indeed as the TV series title says…‘Dream Fishing’.

The Wye and Usk Foundation supply both game and coarse fishing with many stretches available on a day ticket. Call 01982 551520 or go to www.wyeuskfoundation.org

» For fishing tackle and tips, visit Woody at Woody’s Tackle, Hereford, Tel: 01432 344644.