• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Fishing Fiend

Mad About Fishing

Fishing Fiend Ltd Logo
  • About Me
  • The Anglers Challenge

Lunch Hour

19th November 2008 by Mike Duddy

I sometimes wish i owned a set of scales – this one measured 27inches and came from a small river in inner city Manchester.

Full report to follow

One of my local rivers has been so polluted for so long that even by Mancunian standards its considered a lifeless sewer. However a few weeks ago whilst on one of my lunchtime walks i spotted a shoal of small roach from a bridge, and decided that i would give it a try some time during the next few weeks.
So this today i had a relatively light workload, so decided to take a long lunch.
The first run which i tried for about 15 minutes claimed two hooklengths so i decided to move downstream about 100yds to a deeper steady glide above a weir.
In this new swim my float buried on the first run through, and what i thought was a good chub smashed me after about 5 seconds. I stepped up my terminal tackle from a 0.10 hooklength and a fine wire maggot hook to 0.13 and a forged size 16 chub hook.
A fed another half dozen maggots then let the float follow them down the river, in exactly the same spot as my previous bite, the float buried and i hooked into what i at the time thought was a good chub. However, at the end of the fishes first run of about 20yds it leaped out of the water and i realised that i had a big trout on. The fish made at least 4 more strong runs, the last of which saw me running after it as my Abu506 seized up. After more than a few last minute surges away from the net i had this cracker on the bank.

By far and away the best Brownie i have ever caught, and to catch it from a river that has been so recently devoid of life is astonishing. This fish must have survived many pollution incidents on the river, the most recent being only 3 years ago when a local soap manufacturer let thousands of gallons of detergent into the river which resulted in in a 6 foot layer of suds covering most of the river. Amazing really.
I have looked up scales which show that a 27inch trout should weigh 7lbs, but i think it weighed rather less. I have never owned a set of scales to weigh the fish i catch and think that i am a good guesser. My guess when i saw it was 5lb so if we split the difference and call it 6 then i will be more than happy.
My first fish from that river – how can i ever go back? You know i will, and am looking forwards to sharing my secret river with you.

manchester fishing Irwell Ribble Trout

Filed Under: Uncategorised

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Matthew Eastham says

    19th November 2008 at 5:12 pm

    Mother of Mary, that’s the biggest wild river trout I’ve ever seen in the NW Mike!!
    What do you reckon? 5,6lb?

    Fair play to you, that is a real fish of a lifetime, well done!

    M

  2. Tony says

    19th November 2008 at 8:07 pm

    Bagsy going on that glide with my fly rod in the new season first , fantastic looking beast if that had been caught on any river it would be a fish of a lifetime to think it’s on our doorstep and a lancastrian fish is well unbelievable well done!!
    ps when are you taking me?

  3. Mike Duddy says

    19th November 2008 at 8:36 pm

    I will take anyone anytime they get in touch.
    All you need is a fishing rod, a peg for your nose, and a hoody to fit in with the locals.
    But i promise you Tony that your the next one on that swim.

  4. Nick Carter says

    20th November 2008 at 7:41 am

    OMG…jesus christ… that is one mother of a lunker!!! I’ve run out of superlatives to describe that fish… see you next ‘lunch hour’

  5. Nick Carter says

    20th November 2008 at 7:45 am

    I’ve just been staring at it open mouthed again – it looks like a bleeding Taimen!!!

  6. phil-k says

    20th November 2008 at 12:32 pm

    Although I know you were fishing for chub on this occasion it puts you in a difficult position with the EA.

    You need to careful if going there again with maggots as you could be accused of deliberately fishing for trout out of season!!!

    What do you do???

  7. Mike Duddy says

    20th November 2008 at 12:49 pm

    I have thought about that Phil, and the fact that the fish i caught, wasnt the one i lost the previous cast, nor the one i saw leap out of the water a few hundred yards upstream. Makes me think that i have unwittingly found a brown trout redd.
    So on that basis i wasnt going to fish that swim again until next March.
    However there are lots of other interesting swims to explore, which may also hold surprises.
    Being close to home i have walked the banks of this stream many times over the years and never seen anyone fishing. In fact most of the locals will laugh if they see anyone fishing there. So we have some virgin water to try, which hopefully will throw us a few more surprises.
    Please bring hoody and stab vest with you.

  8. Tony says

    20th November 2008 at 4:37 pm

    A bit of a hard question the out of season one .It’s impossible to fish any river without occasionally catching Trout with the methods we use? ( float and fly ) seeing the EA have lengths of river which you can fish any method after they think migratory fish have run and we hardly ever see a EA officer I would say they have little concern for non migratory fish at the moment ? This is a issue left to true river fishermen we are the guardians of the waterways and I would say the fish Mike caught is now safer …. because he walks and now fishes the stream , he knows fish are present the next time a pollution incident occurs it’s the likes of him who will see and report it . We all know areas were trout are the only thing we are likley to catch and out of season these areas are not fished .

  9. Nick Carter says

    21st November 2008 at 7:48 am

    f**Knhell!!! you know its a monster when its back bows under its own weight!

    ps. we’ud all rather see you see you catching an out of season trout than some cnut chucking a trolley in th’water

  10. Mike Duddy says

    21st November 2008 at 9:06 am

    Cheers Nick,
    Thing is i wasnt fishing for trout, i was trotting a size 18hook with a 2lb bottom for roach or chub. Its not my fault a greedy trout got my bait instead of a 2oz roach is it?
    However, like i said, i think i might have stumbled across the loveshack of those big lunkers that we all know inhabit the ship canal. There are plenty of other runs in this river for me to target roach and chub so am more than happy to leave them well alone to do their business.
    I cant imagine my capture of this fish would bother the EA at all, as they sell tickets to coarse fishermen to fish their best beat in the NorthWest the day after the salmon season closes, so that people can catch grayling using maggots. I have fished this beat with maggots twice this season now, and have caught more out of season trout than grayling. On that basis i dont think they can be bothered. If they are bothered then i’m in real trouble as i have already sent a picture, together with date and location of capture to Kevin Nash at the EA in Warrington who has a particular interest in the river system that we fish. Hopefully he wont beat me up with a big stick!

  11. Tony says

    21st November 2008 at 5:32 pm

    The thing I dont get with the breeding thing is migratory fish ,we actually only target them why they are in the river to breed and they to my knowledge are more endangered than Brown Trout or coarse fish . I very rarley take a fish these days and although the Seatrout look like they would go down very well with some white wine and crusty bread I would not take one especially if it was for example a Hodder fish they are sparse enough already .
    I contacted Pete who is a fountain of knowledge with all things fish he does not think it’s behond reson that fish like that are in a lot of lightly fished streams and they are not in for breeding .

  12. Nick Carter says

    21st November 2008 at 8:43 pm

    i'm with mike on the tip that these lunkers treat the shippers like some inland sea & go ferox for a while then tip up in the little tribs to scare the shit out of people trotting maggots for roach!!!

  13. Anonymous says

    21st November 2008 at 10:45 pm

    Bloody hell, Mike – that’s a biggun ๐Ÿ˜‰ And out of that sewer? Blimey.

    (Dad told me to come and have a look, so I did)

    I don’t remember if I told you that I sometimes read your fishing exploits but if you didn’t know before, you do now. I think those magazine chappies should give you a column.

    little blister
    x

  14. Mike Duddy says

    21st November 2008 at 11:56 pm

    Hi Angie,
    That would be like homework as rules would be attached. This is far more fun!

  15. bill says

    22nd November 2008 at 3:39 pm

    Fantastic fish Mike, and well deserved for all the detective work you have done on the local rivers.

    Fair reward for knowledge you have shared with us all on this blog and in emails.

    I’m made up for you Pal. Now let’s get those 18 fish ladders sorted and we can Salmon fish in Manchester!

  16. Kev says

    22nd November 2008 at 8:01 pm

    Good god that’s a big brownie, from a small river too! Not sure I could have gone back to work afterwards.

    Kev

  17. beruk-kunyuk says

    24th November 2008 at 8:21 am

    nice fish…

  18. Anonymous says

    25th November 2008 at 9:13 am

    Superb fish!

    Retiarius

  19. Anonymous says

    27th November 2008 at 2:20 pm

    mike

    i’m in argentina at the moment trout fishing the crystal clear rivers of patagonia. nice, but….

    that lunker made me wish i was back in manc!

    well done, that is the fish of a lifetime.

    off to dump a trolley in the river now!!!

    tom

  20. Mr.K says

    22nd December 2008 at 10:38 pm

    Awesome fish Mike! * turns green with envy *

    ๐Ÿ™‚

  21. ste w says

    10th January 2009 at 1:40 am

    Alright mate

    I know this post is late for this thread but i’ve just got in fron from the pub and looked at this pic for inspiration for my trip down to the mersey tomorrow. By the sound of the place you caught this it sounds very similar to the micker brook i mentioned too you a while ago. Some of these smaller streams hold the larger fish and never get fished that is why their there. I’ve heard people say some people have got on to the fact there are fish like this in the micker and have been keeping them. This makes me angry cause i know in the micker there must be only one or two biggies (maybe not that big) if that, in each of the few decent runs there.

    Anyway as i said i’ll give you info on the micker but we’ll wait until the weather gets a bit bit better and maybe if you wanna have a crack you could come down.

    Ste w

Primary Sidebar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOM-emZ1Wkw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEJLElb6HUc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEQlDACC1WI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cne7QOilerQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rm0KDPjP1J8&t=9s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7ZAuuDTsQs

Archives

Tags

5 Bar Gate Agecroft Pond Anglers Challenge Anular Bream ashton canal Bass Beach Fishing Birkenhead Dock fishing Bitterling blank Bradshaw Hall Bread Punch Bream Bridgewater Canal Bridlington Carp cheshire ring Chub Cleveleys Cod Common Blennie Common Comber Cornwall Crucian Carp Dab Dace Drinkwater Park Drop Shot Dropshot Drop Shotting Dusky Grouper European Eel FC United Fenix Flounder fly fishing Football Fuerteventura Fuerteventura Fishing Githead Bream Gynn Wall Heaton Park History Holiday Fishing Ide Irwell Isome Issos Beach Corfu Kelzo Labranda Beach Fishing Lesser Spotted Dog Fish Lesser Weever Live Bait Liverpool Docks LRF Lure Mackerel Madeira Goby Madeira Rockfish maggot Mariners Wharf New Brighton Old River Irlam Ornate Wrasse Painted Comber Pandora Perch Perch Rock Pike Pilsworth Pollack pollution Pollys Flash Prison Pond Rainbow Wrasse Roach Rochdale Canal Rockpool Blenny Rudd Salford Quays Sand Smelt Sarga Sea Fishing sewage litter Smoothhound Starry Smoothound Steenbras Striped Sea Bream Tench Three Bearded Rockling Tope trout walking Wallasey Dock fishing wallasey docks Whiting Worm YoZuri Minnow

recent posts

  • Back On The Bank 12th December 2022
  • The Fenix Trophy Final 2022 14th November 2022
  • FC Utd And The Fenix Part 2 17th October 2022
  • FC Utd And The Fenix Part 1 16th September 2022
  • Fishing Issos Beach Corfu – Summer 2022 3rd September 2022
  • A New Logo – time for a refresh 14th August 2022
  • Fishing For Big Perch At Bradshaw Hall 24th December 2020
  • El Blanko And Sancho Phil Ride Again 14th December 2020
  • Chasing Perch On The Worm Dropshot 23rd November 2020
  • Pilsworth Fishery Dropshot 9th November 2020
  • Fishing Cures The Blues 26th October 2020
  • Fishing Salford Quays – Smash And Grab 10th October 2020
  • Fishing Liverpool Docks 6th October 2020
  • Artists On The Irwell 1st October 2020
  • Drop Shotting Wallasey Docks and Salford Quays 29th September 2020
  • Its Like February Again 26th September 2020
  • Drinkwater Park Again 20th September 2020
  • A Summers Evening Fishing Drinkwater Park Lake 1st September 2020
  • Holiday Fishing Cornwall 24th August 2020
  • Ashton Canal Fishing Free Parking 20th August 2020
  • A Good Read ? 31st July 2020
  • Driving Me Up The (Gynn) Wall 30th July 2020
  • I Smelt A Record But Let It Go 27th July 2020
  • Out Fishing Again 19th July 2020
  • Attack Of The Killer Crabs 3rd July 2020
  • An Evening On The Prison Pond 27th June 2020
  • Bitterling and Bream 6th June 2020
  • Out On The Ocean Wave 1st June 2020
  • Only Mad Dogs And Englishmen 29th May 2020
  • Back In The Saddle 27th May 2020
  • Excitement Turns To Disappointment (again) 15th March 2020
  • New Season Excitement 14th March 2020
  • Waiting For The Tide To Turn 8th March 2020
  • An Anglers Challenge 29th February 2020
  • Piss Off February 24th February 2020
  • Fishing Fiend Species Hunter 2020 1st February 2020
  • In Search Of Pike 21st January 2020
  • Fishing Fuerteventura (again) 12th January 2020
  • Bringing Things Up To Date 11th January 2020
  • Tackle Shed 26th December 2019
  • The Friendly Anglers Fund 2nd July 2019
  • Dace Fishing On The Irwell 27th June 2019
  • Happy Times 25th June 2019
  • Parklife Fishing 9th June 2019
  • New Kit 6th January 2019
  • A Little Perspective – Pike 30th December 2018
  • Irwell Barbel Quest – Part 12 – Utter Frustration 23rd December 2018
  • An Artists Palette 15th December 2018
  • Hungry Pike 10th December 2018
  • The 2 Hour Rule 3rd December 2018
  • Black Death On The Irwell 30th November 2018
  • Using A Pole Float For Trotting The River 27th November 2018
  • My Most Successful Lure This Year 25th November 2018
  • Washed Up On The Beach 19th November 2018
  • Fishing At Monton Lighthouse 27th August 2018
  • Out With The Kids 17th June 2018
  • Winter Bream 5th February 2017
  • Manchester Grayling 31st January 2017
  • Pleasure Fishing Bradshaw Hall Fisheries Lake 7 25th January 2017
  • A Fish At Last 19th January 2017
  • A Bit Rubbish – Part 2 3rd January 2017
  • A New Year – An Old Challenge 1st January 2017
  • A Bit Rusty 10th November 2016
  • A Bit Rubbish 1st November 2016
  • Holiday Fishing Tenerife 5th July 2016
  • The Irwell Imp 22nd May 2016
  • Daddy Daddy Lets Play Fishin Lod 21st April 2016
  • Scratching The Itch 29th March 2016
  • A Great Day 25th March 2016
  • Holiday Fishing Fuerteventura 11th March 2016
  • Mersey Salmon Video 31st January 2016
  • Fishing On Christmas Day 25th December 2015
  • Going Fishing With My Dad 10th December 2015
  • I’m Still Here 6th December 2015
  • Walking The Cheshire Ring Pt2 1st April 2014
  • Walking The Cheshire Ring Part 1 31st March 2014
  • Is Back On The Bank 19th January 2014
  • A Stolen Hour 28th October 2012
  • A Day Out At Gingham Fishery Nr Horwich 30th September 2012
  • Irwell Barbel Quest part 11 13th August 2012
  • Full House 1st August 2012
  • Back On Th’Irwell 30th July 2012
  • Warning – Fishing Pox 19th July 2012
  • Your help needed 23rd June 2012
  • Duchy Lagoons 5th June 2012
  • All Quiet 31st May 2012
  • Right On My Doorstep 1st May 2012
  • Longer Evenings 17th April 2012
  • Shore Fishing Tenerife 15th April 2012
  • Trout In Dirty Places 2nd April 2012
  • Caddis On Steroids 29th March 2012
  • Irwell Pollution 19th March 2012
  • Fishing and Blogging With The BBC 15th March 2012
  • Always A Wag 2nd March 2012
  • Long Overdue 29th February 2012
  • Roach 23rd February 2012
  • Hooked 22nd February 2012
  • Trout Fishing At Pendle View 19th February 2012
  • The Quarry 18th February 2012
  • An Impressionist On The Irwell 5th February 2012
  • Angling Research – The Social And Community Benefits Of Angling 31st January 2012
  • Casting About 22nd January 2012
  • Church Gardens 21st January 2012
  • Golden 15th January 2012
  • A Different Kettle Of Fish 13th January 2012
  • Not A Just Reward 7th January 2012
  • Blanking On The Quays 4th January 2012
  • On The Rocks In Lanzarote 14th December 2011
  • Bloggers On The Box 23rd November 2011
  • Irwell Barbel Quest Part 10 15th November 2011
  • On The Canal In Manchester 5th November 2011
  • Roaching On The Ribble 31st October 2011
  • Fishing On The Ship Canal With The BBC 28th October 2011
  • October Kick Sampling With The Riverfly Partnership 15th October 2011
  • Angling Trust North West 11th October 2011
  • Donegal 6th October 2011
  • Rochdale Canal Tench 19th September 2011
  • 8th October Match – River Irwell Old Course Irlam – Top Hat Optional 17th September 2011
  • Canal Tench 10th September 2011
  • Pommie Bashing 2nd September 2011
  • River Irwell Old Course Match Aug 2011 29th August 2011
  • Road Trip 25th August 2011
  • On The Canal 19th August 2011
  • Starlight Express 15th August 2011
  • Bitter – ling 11th August 2011
  • Ouch 28th July 2011
  • A Warm Glow 18th June 2011
  • Inspiration 22nd May 2011
  • Not Another Bloody Blog 17th May 2011
  • River Irk Polluted Again 14th May 2011

Copyright © 2023 ยท News Pro on Genesis Framework ยท WordPress ยท Log in