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So Near Yet So ………………………………Far
I spent a very enjoyable evening with Phil fishing of the mid-river lengths of our local river, it was especially memorable evening for me as my father who lives only a couple of hundred yards away decided to come and watch us fish for a few hours.
It was my dad got me hooked on angling when i was only 7 years old, so its a pity that he rarely picks up a rod these days. After a couple of hours watching Phil and me catching a chub a chuck he is now raring to go fishing this weekend. Hopefully there will be three generations of my family out fishing together for the first time in ages.
This evening I was the first to arrive and caught a nice wild brownie first cast. However i very nearly packed up in diusgust 20 minutes later when i hooked and then lost the mother of all trout. I hooked into the fish and its initial run bent my rod over like a hoop and stripped 20-25yds of line off the reel. It then performed some acrobatics, and proceded to swim back up river towards me. I felt great as i was gaining line on the fish, but as soon as the fish saw me and the net it turned a ran again this time snapping my 3.5lb hooklength. I was gutted. Even though i saw the fish i am not going to estimate its weight other than to say it was big.
Despite loosing that fish I was getting bites steadily all evening fishing maggots and using my new bait dropper to feed the swim. The swim i had chosed to fish was at the confluence of the main river and a smaller shallower tributary. Where the smaller river joined the main river there was a shelf and drop off so i fished this drop off as it seems as though its a natural fish holding area.
When Phil came he fished slightly upstream of me, and caught steadily too, though he had no luck with the trout he caught chub for fun all evening long.
Midway through the evening i decided to try the swim behind the island to see if i could tempt one of the larger chub that i think might reside there. After only couple of runs through, the float buried and after some more acrobatics i landed another brownie of about half a pound.
My dad was chuffed to bits to watch me catch this lovely little fish, amazed that the river, once so polluted can support a thriving population of oxygen loving fish such as trout and minnows.
As the evening drew to a close i re-joined Phil, and we caught a few more fish together. I didnt fish on until dark as the mosquitos were out in force, ignoring the DEET which i have finally resorted to using.
If i hadnt hooked that big fish in the first place i would be sitting here at home now feeling great after a very enjoyable evenings fishing. Seeing as though i lost the biggest trout i have ever seen from this river i am sitting here wishing i had tied a different knot, used a stronger hooklength, held my rod higher, set my clutch slightly lighter etc etc.
Gutted.
manchester fishing Irwell Ribble Trout
Great place for a bit of stick and pin fishing.Look forward to fishing it again soon.
‘the one that got away’ is the one that haunts all us anglers.
“…It was my dad got me hooked on angling when i was only 7 years old…”
Also my father got me into fishing, but he fished with worms… Now he is to lazy to walk the river with me, he likes to stay near the fire playing cards with others “old fishermen” and drinking “mate” (national drink).
“…I hooked and then lost the mother of all trout…”
Was it a brown trout? Here in Argentina we say when you loose a big trout, “Don´t worry, it will be waiting for you next time”.
“…The swim i had chosed to fish was at the confluence of the main river and a smaller shallower tributary…”
The most excellent spot for fishing with nymph.
I’ve not fished for many years, but have got the urge again recently. This time though I wanted to try river fishing as I’ve only ever fished still waters previously.
I knew the local rivers were getting better water quality as I used to go with pinkies and gilt 22s minnow bashing on the Croal at the back of the Volunteer pub in Darcy Lever 20yrs ago.
I’ve bought the waders and done a few rodless fact finding trips along the banks, and thanks to yours and Phil K’s blogs think I have an idea of some likely spots and methods of catching my first Chub and river Pike.
Hi Bill,
even though i have fished there only once, and that was in January, I reckon if you tried the river at Stoneclough outside the Lord Nelson, you might be able to catch both species in one afternoon – without wading!!!
Glad to welcome you back to the fold, hope you catch.
Thanks for the tip,
I noticed plenty of sweetcorn in the water near the Lord Nelson, so somebody has been there recently. I had a couple of hours spinning under the footbridge that crosses to Clifton Marina last night, but the only bites I got were midges.
The water was about a foot higher and quite murky than last time and I couldn’t make out any swims for targeting a waggler.
You mentioned fishing a point where another river joined, if that’s the Croal, how the heck did you get there without walking miles as the footbridge from Cemetery Rd is closed off now.
Hi Bill,
double figure pike come out of that swim near clifton marina!
As to the location of my favourite swims – i am sorry i am not going to publicise their locations on here but if you send me an email i will gladly put you onto a few of the better spots.
The midges are terrrible at this time of year on the river.
mjduddy@yahoo.co.uk