River Tonge 30 March 14

The Tonge was running lower than I expected and Chrystal clear. Fine day with a misty sun but still the chilly wind. Parked in the lower valley, 6'6" rod again and determined to fish dry fly, fish rising or not.

Went to where I caught last week, just above a weir. Greenwell's to start, nothing rising, pricked two fish then nothing. Moved down and hooked one in fast water, didn't get it to the net though. Two Canada geese in the next pool so I moved down to the footbridge, hooked and lost a couple more, getting a little despondent.

At last a fish and not a bad one.

Missed a couple more before caught this small.

Then one a little bigger.

Got out of the river and walked down to the rail bridge and started fishing back up. 

The first fish caught it's self, I hadn't realized that the fly was under the arches whilst I was sorting a tangle, when sorted I found I had this fish on.

The next two were caught in fast water and were my best of the day.

That's it for today don't think I will be fishing tomorrow, but will be on Tuesday.

      

Bradshaw Brook Fly Fishers Beat 28 March 14

Thunder, Lightening and heavy rain last night. Checked river levels on the Environment Agency  and they were all well up from yesterdays levels.

As Bradshaw Brooks flow at is partly controlled by Jumbles reservoir, and close by to my home, went to have a look. It was quite a bit up, Jumbles must be over flowing, but still fishable. There was not much colour in the water but it was fast flowing. Fished the top end above the cricket club.

Doesn't look so bad in the pictures but that is high for the Bradshaw.

No chance of dry fly had to be nymph again, 6'6" rod and a big hairy colourful weighted nymph from my brothers box of old flies. Did not last long before it got snagged on the bottom, hope it likes it down there.

Replaced the tippet and put on two nymphs, the red hairy thing from the other day and one of the ones that Dave Reay gave me yesterday. I fished up across and down, basically any way that I could get them to sink. Had one or two snatches and hooked and lost two others before I landed my first, on Dave Reay fly, thanks Dave the little nymph with the pinkie head. Not very big but at least it's a fish.

Had couple of really small ones, again on Dave's nymph and then one a little better, but not much.

More misses and snatches then nothing for a while. Did some gardening along the bank cutting back the brambles, nothing worse than getting hung up on brambles, always end up bleeding and with thorns in the fingers. As I did whilst cutting them back, must take some work gloves next time.

Took the red hairy thing off and tied on a Goldhead Copper John, the next fish took the Copper John as you can see.

Did a bit more gardening, well quite a lot actually, some big brambles down behind the cricket score board, then called it a day.

OH. by the way DAVE I need some of those pinkie nymphs, what are they called and where did you get them from.

  

Bradshaw Brook 27 March 14

After two blanks I needed to catch some fish so I stayed close to home and fished Bradshaw Brook turned out to be a good decision.

Six foot six inch rod, three inch Young's Beaudex with three weight floating line. Cold and over cast no sign of flies or rising fish, put on a goldhead pheasant tail nymph fished up stream.

Started below road bridge caught small one in the first pool by the path.

Then moved up stream passed the road bridge, missed two in the pool just above the bridge, then lost one in the fast water a little farther up. Too eager to get it into the net.
Moved up to the short glide and cast close to the far bank, second cast had a fish that snagged me in some rubbish, had to wade across to release, thought I had lost it but no, not a bad fish.

Moved up a bit and tried the same again, same result but a better fish. As you can see I have not yet got the hang of taking photos of myself with my new camera stick, at least it was better than the first time. I took my glasses off, last time I looked like a blind man in my Polaroids, Not that it made any difference as you can see.

Couple of fish started to rise but I carried on with my nymph, and to good effect, next two were a smaller ones but not by much.

Moved up and cast under a tree to where one was rising, the result was this one again a good fish for this small stream.

Up to the more difficult bits of the stream caught a couple of small ones, then lost a good fish, not pleased.
Started back down towards where I started without catching  anything, as I went under the bridge I saw that there was someone fishing the pool that I had started on.
Went down for a chat only to find it was Dave Reay, nice surprise as I had not seen him since the first time we met, last year on Eagley Brook when we had a good old natter( see blog "Week ending 13 June 13"), which we did again. Swopped some info on what flies were catching and where we had been lately. He gave me three killer flies, so he said, I just gave him some advise on the stretch above the bridge. I am a tight sod, next time I will give you a couple of the ones that catch for me OK Dave.

Had a few cast to no avail further down stream and then off home.







  

Double Blank. 25/26 March 14

Blank One

Tuesday fished the Roch in Bury river up some and just a little colour, threat of rain but it stayed off.

Nine foot rod floating line two nymphs, no sign of olives or rising fish, not a sniff near the car park which is usually good for a fish or two.
I tried to go up river to my favourite spot , which meant wading across the river, took a few steps then thought the better of it, the other days soaking came to mind.
Moved down river, which I usually do in the water, to much water so down the bank. This reduced the areas that I could fish by over 50%.
Went to where the weir had been taken out and had the usual result, no fish, I will catch a fish there one day, hopefully. Another spot that looks like there should be fish, where I catch nothing.
Moved up to my "guaranteed to catch pool" thrashed it to death with no result, rested and had my lunch, an apple.
Gave it another go and had a take, it came out of the water and was a good fish, would have been my best of the new season, played it for a while without getting it close. Made a run down to faster water then turned and was gone. Had one other snatch which I missed then back to the car.

By the car park there were three boxes of empty carlsberg bottles, at least the retards had not thrown them in the river, put  then in my boot and and took them home for recycling. Better than finding them smashed, or in the river on my next visit.

Blank Two

Wednesday
Intended to fish the Roch again this time at Goshen. When I got there the police were in attendance as travellers had taken over part of the car park. Decided not to leave my car unattended and went to.

 Irwell Springwater Park Whitefield, same as Tuesday river up some and a little colour.
Same rig as yesterday and an even worse result, not a thing, one or two flies came by but again no fish rising. Never mind there is always another day, just have to decide where to go tomorrow.

As I was packing up got into a conversation with a chap called Andy who also fishes the Irwell, swopped some tales and info on places to fish and what Salford Friendly were trying to do to improve the river and keep it free to all.
 

Eagley Brook 23 Mar 14

After last nights rain I wasn't expecting to find a river that was fish able, checked the EA river levels, not as high as I thought they would be.
As the forecast was for showers I decide not to travel to far, but check out Bradshaw Brook and the Tonge where they meet at Leverhulme Park. Both were up and muddy, though not too bad.
Spoke to a chap who was packing up he told me he had a good trout on a Klinkhammer below the road bridge. Had a chat about joining Salford Friendly he said he would.

Decided to go to the Valley and fish Eagley Brook down from Hall i' th' Wood and behind the new flats.  Parked by the cinema and fished dry fly, nothing rising and no takes. Changed to a Nymph and started off down stream.
The nymph I put on came to me last week when I went to visit my older brother, he used to fish for salmon and trout but he is in his eighties and not able to fish anymore. Anyway, he gave me a box of flies, mostly salmon flies and some big streamers, but in the box there was also a few nymphs. Mostly nothing like what I use, anyway one of them was hairy black and red lump. As the stream was murky I though I would give it a try.
Had two takes and missed then both, had a good look at the nymph, which left very little if the hook showing, so I gave it a trim. The next take stayed on, nice fish no photo as I was in the middle of the stream. Had another three before I got to the road bridge, this was the last one.

        
 Moved on down behind the flats, not been there for over a year, had a couple more, still in the middle of the stream so no photos again.

Like the Irwell, Eagley Brook has lots of sewer over flows, in the half mile that I fished was the following.

 Running clear at the moment but not always, the muck above the pipe comes from this below.

When the pipe is full it lifts the man hole cover and sewage goes into the stream not very nice.

Farther down stream is also this one.

Along with the sewer overflows there are also several surface water outlets into the stream.

This one next to the cinema has a sign that says "Outlet" not sure what comes out of it.

Hail and Heavy Rain Send me home Cold and Wet 22 Mar14

The forecast was for sunshine and showers. Went and fished the River Tonge. I used to call it Eagley Brook but it seems that when Eagley and Astley Brooks meet in the valley the result is the Tonge. Anyway I fished between the showers, same tackle as yesterday, river a little murky but not too high.

The path up the river has been improved since last season, about time too, and there is a new wooden fence to stop you falling into the river, which meant that I couldn't get into the lower end of the river where I used to, but, can still get to the river over the footbridge. Walked up passed the two weirs to start fishing, stopped and sheltered from the rain a couple of time on the way.

Above the second weir could see fish rising, got into the river and cast to a rise third cast got me the one below.

Cast to another rise and a fish took again.

Thought, I'm onto a good day here, then put the fly into the trees, when I had another fly on the rain was becoming very unpleasant. By the time I got to some shelter the hail was bouncing off me.
The rain and hail eased after a while, back to my spot, before I could get set the rain was bouncing again and didn't look like it was going to stop for quite sometime, back to the car and home.

OH, DID I MENTION THAT IT WAS FREEZING COLD AS WELL.

Eagley Brook 21 Mar 14

Bright sunny day after yesterday rain, checked the river levels on the EA web site, still a little high from the rain. Decided to go to Eagley Brook which is close by, found it running with just a little colour but not to high.

Six foot six 3 weight Youngs 3 inch Beaudex Greenwells Glory.
Nothing rising, so cast into the fast water at the top of a pool. Missed a couple then I realized I need to strike at the least sign of a take. First fish was small browny followed by two better ones.

Well pleased with these two, not monsters but nice fish from this small stream. Moved up a bit and tried again another two similar size.

I think this one was the biggest of the day.

Tried further down stream and caught four more smallish ones, still on dry fly. Decided to try a nymph, put a Copper John on caught a couple more.

Got back to the car and went a couple of miles farther up stream, back to a Greenwells, spent some time getting my fly out of the branches, and cutting some of them off that seemed to have appeared since last year. caught just the one below.  

Then ended up on my arse in the river, rather wet. Should have had my chest waders at chest level instead of round my waist I would not have got as wet as I did. 

No damage to me or to my tackle, very lucky.  When things are not going right the best bet is to go home or at the least stop and have a rest. Pity I can't remember that when I am out, always trying to do to much.

Irwell at Ladyshore 20 Mar 14

The forecast was for heavy rain after lunch not that put me off. Went first to Mount Sion Road in Radcliffe hoping that the work on the footbridge would be finished.. It was not, another month I was told, which is the same as I was told six weeks ago. Will check again next month.

Next stop Ladyshore, if you have read some of last years blogs, you will know that I visit Ladyshore more in hope than in expectation. As always the river here was looking good, plenty of water and clear.

Fished a goldhead pheasant tail nymph on my ten foot rod, started at the broken weir. After a dozen or so casts had a gentle take about 20 yards down river. Struck and started to reel it in, not much resistance until it got to about 10 yards from me when all movement stopped. I tried changing the angle of pressure to get it to move, didn't help. Thought it had snagged me on some of the rubbish in the river. Tried to wade to the problem but it was too deep, so I gave it some line and waited. The fish started to move again, still didn't feel like a very big fish.
At last I got sight of it and it was a good fish but not that big, it knew how to use the current though and at last into the net.

Far from the best photo of me, though I am an old fart as you can see.

This was my first attempt with a new wading stick that has a screw for my camera on the top. It fell over twice before I managed to get this very poor snap. I just wanted to get the fish back in the water before it came to harm.

This is it resting,

 picture taken under water with my waterproof camera. Trout are beautiful fish are they not.

That was it not another fish to be had, the usual at Ladybridge for me that is. The only time I can remember catching more than one fish their was when I caught two oos trout whilst spinning for pike.

The rain started as forecast at about half past one so I legged it. Glad I did has it came down very heavy soon after.

A new beat on the Irwell and a hour on Bradshaw Brook 19 Mar 14

Late last year I arranged with local farmer to fish half a mile of the Irwell on his land. Today I went to fish it for the first time. The stretch has long deep pools and a long riffle, access to the water is quite good in places and impossible in others. The river bed is rock in places and there is also a lot of silt.

After yesterdays rain today was warm and sunny, the river was coming down and clearing as the day went on. I expected that there would be flies coming off the river and fish rising to them.
No such luck no sign of fish or flies, so put on a nymph and fished across and down, nothing doing all the way up and down again.

 This is looking down river at the bottom end of the stretch.

 This is looking up from the same place.

 Again looking up river at the long riffle near the top of the stretch

 Looking down below the riffle.

Despite not catching or seeing any sign of fish and the excessive amount of silt. I still think there is a good chance that it will fish ok when the weather warms up.  There was a family of mergansers on the river when I arrived, so there must be fish about if they are present.

Decided to finish the day at the Bradshaw  Fly Fishers top Beat, did not look promising as the sun had gone and it was getting colder. Tackled up with a six foot six rod and a Greenwells Glory, not much moving, ended up cutting back brambles as I moved up stream. Caught one nice fish in the new pool above the new sewer pipe weir.

 Not that big, but, it is my first fish of the season from Bradshaw Brook, first of many I hope. 

Trout Season Opening day on the River Roch 15 March 14 & Irwell 16 Mar

At last brown trout fishing in the rivers is back in season, nearly six months since I last cast a fly. Of course the weather decided that it would not help no rain but a very cold wind and little in the way of sun.

Started under and above the motorway bridges, river running quite low and very clear, also very cold.

Yes I did say bridges, there are three (can't count, four forgot the one to the hotel), off ramp on ramp and the motorway its self, very noisy.

Sewer pipes everywhere around our rivers.

The pool above the top slipway bridge always looks like it will hold fish, but I have yet to catch a fish there and today was no different. Eight foot rod, sinking line on a Young's three and a half inch Beaudex. Tried three different nymphs, not a sniff.

Well not quite true about the sniff, I did get one from this disgusting outlet.

Started off down river came upon two fellas, one fishing maggots whilst the other was spinning, wished them luck without meaning it.
 I was surprised to see plenty of weed, the mild winter must have helped with that.


 Despite the cold, further down river a few olives were rising and also a one or two fish.
Quick change of reels to a floating line and an Adams dry fly, more fish on the rise but not to my Adams. Adams usually get results early season but not today, changed to a Greenwells Glory (without hackle) and missed one second cast.

Then I had my first of the season, not a monster but very welcome, slipped out of my hand before I could get the camera out. Couple of casts later was into another one but not for long.
As I moved across the river to get a better angle on what looked like a good fish, a big fish came a couple of feet out of the river and took a fly on the fly. Gave him a couple of minutes to settle and then cast at where he was. Third cast a fish took, not the big one though, got it to net and managed a photo. The poor quality is due the flash working.
 

Where I caught, unfortunately there is also this.

This Storm sewage outlet is dry at the moment, and so it should be,as it has not rained for over a week, the one shown earlier should also be dry  so there must be a problem with it. 

It will go on the list that we are making at Salford Friendly Anglers to get United Utilities to fix.

A bit too big for me but not a bad spot overlooking the river.

On Sunday I went  to Bury Ground, not much doing, only saw two fish rise. Hooked one of them Greenwells again. Good fish that bust my line with a couple of shakes of its head. Nothing else so did not stay very long.