‘The most incredible angling competition ever seen on a river’ is how Angling Times described last weeks River Wye 2-Day Angling festival.
The annual event took place right in the heart of Hereford, with 54 of the very best anglers in country invited to battle it out for the £1500 winners cheque!
The River Wye has been in scintillating form all year, but the sheer amount of fish caught last week, was beyond anything ever seen.
Over the 2 days, a total of 3,944lbs were caught, averaging 37lb per angler, per day.
This stretch of river is no stranger to 100lb catches of fish, but 14 were recorded over the two days with eventual winner, Andrew ‘Spud’ Murphy taking the top weight, with a total of 193lbs on day two.
Despite cold easterly winds making conditions less than comfortable for competitors, it was chub that were dominant species. Fish ranging between 12 ounces and 4lbs making up most of the big catches.
A bit further out of town where there were less chub, some of the rivers’ bigger barbel made for an exciting finish with Welsh star, Bob Giles landing a fish of 10lbs with minutes to go on day two, which catapulted him from nowhere, into 3rd place overall.
The Top 4 anglers all tied on a perfect 2 point score, but it was Murphy’s combined weight of 281lbs over the two days, that saw him lift the trophy from runner Up Chris Stephens (178lbs)
Event organiser Dave Roberts said following the event:
“We’ve seen some incredible fishing on the Wye in recent years, but this has left us all a bit shell shocked. The River Wye is the talk of the angling world once again, but for all the right reasons.
“You won’t hear about this from any of the campaign groups trying to tell the world the Wye is dead, but this is the real face of the River Wye.
“A river that needs protection from many threats, but not destroyed as is so widely reported by those obsessed with chasing corporate poultry money.
“It’s always a tricky time of year to run events, as the weather is so unpredictable, but this has shown that given anything like decent river levels, it’s worth all the time and effort organising it.
“Not only do the anglers get to experience incredible fishing, it also brings business to the Herefordshire tourism economy, at a traditionally quiet time of year.”
