With thanks to Brian Joseph.

I was on Holme Lacey beat four after salmon. I went down to the bottom pool, known as the Pot, just above the boundary with the Golden Mile, armed with my fly rod. As I began to lengthen line out, a red float popped up in the middle of the pool, circled around and disappeared.  A few minutes later it bobbed up again and skimmed upstream.

I guessed there was a salmon attached, lost by a shrimp angler, and began casting the fly to land past the float and draw back looking for a hook up. I had a touch and a sharp pull, but no success and the float disappeared again.

I fished on down to cover the lip at the tail of the pool, and was just reeling in when the float bobbed up yet again. This time my cast got lucky, the line drew tight and I had a fish on. A few minutes of hard deep pulling and I was sure I had a bonus salmon, but first roll on the surface showed the green flash of a good pike. Disappointed was an understatement of what I felt.

A few minutes later I beached a fish of about fifteen pounds, my fly neatly wrapped round the line beneath the float. A good float plus a quality  size eight treble were minimal consolation.

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Pike record for the Wye as far as I know is 37-1/2lb caught from The Warren at Hay on Wye.

However had a call yesterday regarding a pike that was found dead on the middle river which when recovered two days later was 38 -1/2lbs   I was told it was set up and was in the offices the EA had in Monmouth.  Has anyone ever seen it as it must have been over 40lbs when fresh.

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Report of some good shoals of smolts being seen by a regular at Bigswier. Also plenty of Cormorants and Gulls.  Having survived te huge winter floods they now ace the bass in the estuary and heaven knows what else.