Saturday 8th November 2025.
This 3 day event attracts anglers from all over the country who converge on Hereford and boost the local economy. The river was looking in great shape on the days preceeding the match and expectations were that there would be some great catches with unseasonably mild temperatures and the river running at 1.3m late on Monday afternoon. However heavy and persistant rain in Wales on Sunday,Monday and Tuesday meant that the level in Hereford started to rise on Tuesday evening. Match Organiser Dave Roberts was up early on Wednesday morning and walking the match length at 4.30 am to determine if the river was going to be fishable that day, and with the river rising fast, it became apparent that it would be unsafe to fish in flood conditions with the river ultimately over the top of the bank and peaking at 4.19m late on Wednesday evening. But, with the Wye being a spate river and no further rain in Wales it was expected that the river would drop enough and be fishable on the Thursday with a more comfortable level on the Friday.
Day 2 (Thursday)
By the start of the match at 11am the river had dropped to 3.37m, high, but still fishable and the strong current would make it a challenge for most of the 72 anglers taking part on the Belmont and Tennis Courts match length.. With the river still highly coloured and with a strong current most anglers chose to fish for barbel, but as the river dropped, the slacker areas provided the chance to fish for roach and bleak. Overall winner today was Jack Jones who weighed in 34lb 9oz of bleak from peg 43. Runner up was Dan Ashington who was pegged on 95 beneath the Greyfriars bridge. He caught barbel on meat to weigh in 31lb 8oz from an unfancied peg with plenty of snags. Third with an all bleak catch was Brian Rigby who weighed in 27lb 4oz from peg 81 on the Asda bank.
Day 3 (Friday)
The river had continued to fall overnight and by the start of the match was running at around 1.85m. Hopes were high of some good catches with roach,dace, perch, bleak and barbel likely to feature in the days catches. As the festival is initially decided on a points basis, it was essential to try and win your 12 peg section on both days. Going into the day there were 6 anglers who had scored 1 point on Day 2 so a good draw today was essential. As it turned out no angler managed to win their section on both days. Individual winner today was Rory Jones who was on peg 97 on the Tennis Courts section. He weighed in a magnificent catch of mainly roach with some perch to record a weight of 59lb 6oz. Second on the day was Anrew Cranston who caught a total weight of 54lb 5oz from peg 87 on the Asda bank. His catch included an incredible barbel of 14lb 5oz, only a few ounces short of the Wye record. Third on the day was Joe Holloway who was pegged at the bottom end of the Tennis Courts on peg 101. His catch weighed 53lb 14oz. With 4 anglers tying with a 4 point total over the 2 days, it came down to the weight of fish caught, with Dan Ashington finishing top with a total weight of 75lb 10oz. Runner up was Rob Brennan with a total weight of 70lb 6oz. Third overall was Andrew Cranston with atotal weight of 60lb 11ox. Joe Holloway finished in fourth place with a total catch of 70lb 6oz. The river levels were not the best this year but it shows the Wye can deliver when the water level is high. The final day produced a total weight of 1753lb of fish for the 71 anglers who competerd. This equates to an average of over 24lb of fish per angler.
Andrew Cranston took the prize for the biggest fish with his 14lb 5oz barbel, while the Ray South Mystery Teams of 3 was won by the trio of Ngel Evans, Dave Harrell and Joe Holloway. Thanks must go to organiser Dave Roberts, who had a tough week getting the event running, and his team of helpers for running a faultness match and to Hereford Rugby Club for hosting the event. Thanks also to Catch More Media who provided live coverage on the final day of the festival. Video footage of the event can be found on their Facebook page. Next up is the Running Line Challenge match to be fished on Wednesday 12th November on the Belmont match length. Full results below:
