If anyone out there has some watercraft – please lend me some!
Spent the day crashing through undergrowth and splashing about in the river – the end result was six brown trout, a chub and very wet feet.
I explored the new river a little further and found some fantasticly overgrown swims. Casting a fly in this tree lined river is virtually impossible in many places so i used worm as hookbait. There are areas where flyfishing will be possible and i intend to try these runs out during the coming week.
I did a little bit of rock turning to see what invertebrate life inhabited the river bed, and compared to the Ribble and some of the other local rivers there seemed to be very few bugs under the stones.
This river is so small that it seems as though it can be jumped across and in general is very shallow with very few slower deeper runs.
Despite being virtually in a city centre i didnt see another person all day – fantastic.
manchester fishing Irwell Ribble Trout
Well done Mike looks nice ! the Trout look in good nick all the over hanging trees should give a suply of food anything topping?
Fish were rising in nearly every pool – mostly small stuff but still fantastic.
I am hoping to upstream it during the next week, i doubt the water will go over my knees – flow isnt too powerfull so i will be happier wading than when we visited the Ribble.
Nice pictures and very beautyful rivers.
Tha last fish is a Leuciscus cephalus?
Regards
I had a go at a local river during the week, I know vitually nothing about river fishing but i had a great day. The fish were smaller than i was used to but they were almost suicidal in their attempts to get the fly. I’ll definatly be having another bash at it.
Jose – thanks for your comments , its amazing to find water like this in a city! I am a fly fishing beginner but i find it great fun. One of the hardest parts is not to get stuck in the trees – i am slowly getting better.
Andy- as i have written above, i am very much a beginner at river fishing. I live in the River Irwell catchment area, which used to be one of the most polluted river systems in Europe.
In the last 5-10 years the water quality has been improved to the point that it holds a substantial stock of brown trout and coarse fish. Very very few anglers bother fishing these rivers as they either think that they are not worth bothering with or are not used to fishing running water, or they are not aware of the opportunity on their doorstep.
The fish are suicidal in these rivers too, which is a help to me as i am clumsy and crap when fishing running waters.
What does make me laugh though is that many anglers pay small fortunes to join clubs and syndicates on big name rivers whereas with a little leap of faith they can have better fishing for free right on their doorsteps.
How long this situation lasts before these rivers become popular with anglers i dont know, in the mean time i intend to make the most of it!
Thanks for taking the time to leave comments on my blog – i do appreciate it.
Mike,
Your watercraft can’t be too bad if you’re catching a few fish. Fly fishing on waters like that is a nightmare though – 6′ #3 rods and crawling about on yer knees!!
Matt
Hi Tony.
As you prob guessed i am fairly new to fishing .so i am assuming fly fishing for trout is ok in closed season.Might have to buy some new gear next year.Great blog by the way Pez.
Sorry Mike as you can see blogging is new to me as well,called you Tony by mistake (read above bloggers name)
no worries. I dont know any Tonys i’ve ever disliked, now if you’d called me Trevor it would be a different story.