Winter Piking on the River Irwell

I decided to try the River Irwell for the first time this year as the river levels were slowly returning to normal after the recent heavy rains. The water clarity wasnt great but was no longer dirty brown.
As there are so many snags in the river (cars,tyres,motorbikes shopping trolleys etc) i use very cheap spinners when fishing here, and find silver to out perform any other colour.
I only fished 3 swims as is was a short session and had this nice little pike after an hours fishing.
I normally fish bunches of lobworm under a chubber in this section of the river but decided to use a spinner today as i was too lazy to get out my spade and dig bait. I have fed the remnants of yesterdays pinkies to the birds as they were of such poor quality. (shame on you nameless tackle shop owner)
I have a busy week at work coming up and dont expect to get out this week. However Matt is with his mum next weekend meaning a full weekends fishing for the first time in ages (weather permitting).
As ever i saw no other anglers on this stretch of the Irwell and my only companions were the bats wheeling over the river feasting on the evenings hatch.
manchester fishing Irwell Ribble Trout
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