Tony and I fished Square Lodge in Hindley this afternoon, and caught some lovely fish. I fished two lines, a pinkie line and a pellet line.
Mad About Fishing
by Mike Duddy
by Mike Duddy
It an unusual feature of this stream that the fish often have a very silvery hue at this time of year.
by Mike Duddy
I caught fish from this run last year, its now as dry as a bone!
by Mike Duddy
So there I was, soaked to the skin before I’d even cast a line – what a great start to the new season.
Luckily for me despite being piss wet though I hadn’t put the fish down, as about 5 minutes after starting fishing I had my first ever river brownie on a self tied fly. It was a typical fish for the river, well marked and about 12oz. The fly was a tungsten beaded, hairs ear finished with red copper wire.
Heartened by this initial success i made my way slowly upriver.
Only about 10 yards further upstream, my minicon darted forwards, and i struck into what i thought was going to be another 12oz fish. After a heart stopping 5 minutes, Phil did the honours for me and this cracking fish graced the net.
To say i am pleased is an understatement. a 2.75lb wild brownie on a fly I’ve tied myself. What a fabulous way to start the season!
The rest of the afternoon was spent searching about a few swims I’d never really spent time on before, but no more fish were forthcoming. To be honest i didn’t really care – that fish was a cracker and here’s some more photos of it.
One sleeve was blue and the other red as i fell on my left side and was soaked from my shoulders to my toes, and i was making a vain attempt to dry out.
by Mike Duddy
After spending a large part of last season chasing trout on my local streams and rivers, it has become more than obvious that shop bought flies are not as effective as those tied by my friends. Rather than constantly badgering them for “samples” i decided that during the winter months i would learn to tie my own. Phil-K persuaded me to join Bolton Fly Tying Club whose members have been very patient with my cack handed ineptitude. The talks and demonstrations they put on during the dark winter evenings have been both informative and thought provoking. In addition to the talks, demos and tying the club also organise trips to fly fishing venues throughout the north of England and the occasional competition.
So last Tuesday the evening was spent tying three flies for their first competition of the year -a three fly challenge at Foxhouses Lake near Lancaster. The rules of the competition being that you are only allowed to use three flies all day which you must tie during the club meeting. Rather than tying imitative patterns such as buzzers, nymphs i made three big brash lures thinking that freshly stocked early season Rainbow Trout would be aggressive and likely to be attracted to large bright lures. I think some of the members were amused at my dayglo lures – more suited to mackerel fishing than trout fishing.
Phil-K in typical rod bending action.
Lets hope that the weather is better than Sunday. This is a picture of Chris from Bolton Fly Tying Club – he was using an olive damsel nymph pattern which he’s promised to teach me how to make. Whilst fishing is often a solitary pastime – meeting other likeminded souls has really revved up my desire to get out fishing on some new waters and catch some fish. Oh by the way I won the match:)
by Mike Duddy
I have spent my last three outings on the lower Irwell close to the city centre and blanked on each occasion. My intention has been to have a crack at some of the roach which shoal up in the city centre during the winter months. Bags of 60lbs of roach have been common during the last few winters, but this winter has been something of a disappointment as far.
Undeterred by rumours that the river has been “Cormoranted Out” i have attempted three usually productive swims using 3 different tactics, (stick, feeder and waggler). End result not even 1 bite in 10 hours fishing.
Next weekend is the last chance i will get to fish the Irwell until the season re-starts on June the 16th so am going to give it one last try opposite the Lowry Hotel and i will then be able to find out if patience is to be rewarded – or i am just a chump fishing water devoid of fish.
At i get into my feed, cast, trim, feed, reel in trance, my mind might wander to a dream about Melanie Sykes coming down the river on her gondola, delivering me a pint of Manchesters finest! What a girl – now that would be suitable compensation for 4 consecutive blanks:)
by Mike Duddy
by Mike Duddy
February always seems to be a miserable month for fishing and this year I’m getting those same old February blues. Blank sessions always seem to be the main feature of this month interspersed with morale boosting trips to commercial fisheries. This year is no different.
Last Sunday i took a trip to the Ship Canal for the last couple of hours of the day. A few unproductive hours on the tip with a groundbait feeder didnt even see me get a bite. I ended up feeding some pellets to a hungry swan – when it didnt want anymore I took it as a cue to pack up and go home.
Tuesday saw me taking a trip to Twin Lakes in Croston. After a slow start i ended up catching a small roach a chuck and ended up with a couple of dozen small fish. Despite trying casters and worm i couldnt catch anything bigger than 2oz fish. It was my first trip to Twin Lakes and was impressed with the set up – especially the lovely breakfast in the onsite cafe.
Today I spent a full day on the lower river Irwell – most of the morning was spent searching through swims with a stick float – the afternoon sitting behind on the tip near the City Centre. It was a long day without a bite, and has made up my mind to have another day at a commercial tomorrow.
Other than Pike fishing, theres not really much coarse fish action at this time of the year as water temperatures are so low. The trout season starts on the 15th March so at least I have something to look forwards to.
by Mike Duddy
I hope you like the photo i have used in the new title header above. I came across it whilst searching through other peoples photos of my local rivers and lakes on flickr.
The photo shows one of my favourite weirpools on the River Irwell, an area where no major redevelopment has taken place, and where evidence of Manchesters dark satanic mills still remains.
The IRA bombing of Manchester City Centre in 1996 was the catalyst for the most intensive period of change since the city was built in the 19th Century. However this corner of Salford seems to be largely forgotten. This photo was taken only last year and imagine my delight when on closer examination i discovered that it showed from left to right, my son Matt, Big Dave, me, Nick (anglingforsomething) and Tom (whatsthecatch).
My blog post on the day http://manchesterfishingfiend.blogspot.com/2008/02/perfect-day-nearly.html was entitled “perfect day nearly” its wonderful that someone has captured the moment with such a lovely photograph.
by Mike Duddy
I had a free couple of hours earlier in the week and took the opportunity to find a few new access points to the Ship Canal in Trafford Park. I’ve found some promising pegs with easy access and am going to have a bash for a few hours after Matts rugby match tomorrow.
The Ship Canal has a bit of a magnetic effect on me. No one really knows whats in there, or how big the fish get, its one of the largest but least fished areas of water in the North West. I had an amazing session one morning last year when i took a tremendous bag of roach, but have struggled every other time I’ve fished here. If theres any piece of water in my local area which is going to throw up a real surprise then i reckon this is the place. Theres a month to go before the trout season re-opens so i will have a go at unlocking some of this waters secrets. There are rumours of big carp, tench, pike and some massive shoals of roach and bream. Maybe pre-baiting Ireland style with corn and crumb might be an effective tactic. Hopefully water temperatures will increase making fishing easire as the coarse season draws to a close.