Bradshaw Brook Fly Fishers Beat 29 Aug 17

I fished the bottom beat yesterday and had more fish than today when I fished just the top of the top section. The fish today were of a much better quality and did not take as long to catch.

As well as catching a couple of good fish, for the brook that is, I lost 2 others by trying to net them too quickly. 

The first  good one took quite some time to net as it managed to get in tree roots more than once and was hooked in the back of the trout and took a little time to get back in the water. Which meant I had to keep it upright until it recovered, which it did thank goodness. So I was trying get the next fish into the net as quick as possible, the result we all know, live and learn.

  This one from yesterday, only photographed to show the fingerprints which indicate that fish is in it's first year of life.

Today's first fish is a bit different

No fingerprints and quite a bit bigger.

I had not noticed the fingerprints or known what they indicated until I was fishing with Dave Bendle a couple of days ago when he showed me them and told me what they were.

Dave has a Blog which is well worth a read, link below.

http://irwellfishing.blogspot.co.uk/  

   This was the other decent fish just 12 inches.

River Tonge Deep & Dirty 20 Aug 17

Link to video of trip on youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIVL5YnwhMOgARoD7_1keiw

Worked my way into the Tonge from an industrial estate, down a overgrown bank strewn with rubbish that had been fly tipped. Children's toys, a fridge and what looked like some ones bedding and clothes, along with the usual drink cans and plastic bottles. The river itself was not as bad as I had anticipated mostly river flotsam with some jetsam of course.

Fished a 7 foot 4 weight with a Adams shuttlecock dry fly. 

As with all rivers and streams in Greater Manchester the banks were lined with Japenese Knotweed , Himalayan Balsam with a quite a lot of Giant Hogweed. Along with fallen trees, brambles and nettles.

 

 

  As in the photo above the river was narrow in places and always with snags to the sides and above. It was also deep enough to make me thankful for my chest waders in places.

Anyway it looked promising despite the fact the there were no fish to be seen rising, did not turn out that way for quite some time.

 As you can see from above it did widen out at time but the banks were still very steep most of the time, which meant most of the time was spent in the water.

  With an occasional walk on the bank.

Missed a couple before netting this nice fish.

 A few nice looking runs produced nothing.

And then I came up to an old weir which I did manage to climb, I do mean climb passed it.

 Some good looking bits of water above the weir which did not produce.

also some Giant Hogweed.

and a large sewer outlet, with more Giant Hogweed

This is back where I started, with the fridge on the bank. No I did not climb the wall to get out of the river, there was a lower bit near bye.

Lost three flies in the trees and caught just 3 fish, not sure if I will try there again.

Bradshaw Brook Fly Fishers 15 Aug 17

Started at the top end of our water and caught my first fish above the top sewer weir. Well I lost one and then caught one.

The video of the catch and a lot more is on youtube

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEeSQEaTOwo

 I moved up to a walled section of the brook, although the picture makes it look very bright it a dark stretch under the trees with dappling sun which can make it hard to see a fly on the water

 This one came from the bit above.

 Not that pretty but it does hold fish.

 One from a mucky glide

 Looking back down the brook.

Most of the rest of my day is on youtube apart from the one below which was the last fish of the day.

The brook is always murky clear water we just do not get, well sometimes in the winter which is not much good for us.

Bradshaw Brook Fly Fishers Beat 2 Aug 17

Rained all morning, very heavy at times, most places would be to high to fish. Except Bradshaw Brook of coarse, it's flow is controlled by Jumbles Reservoir, we do get extra water and some colour when it rains but it is usually still fish able on our beats, and so it proved.

The afternoon was fine with some cloud, extra colour in the brook but fish rising to something.

Usual tackle 7 foot 4 weight with a Young's 1415 reel (old but dependable) floating line, 12 foot of tapered leader and tippet with a dry blue winged olive, size 14 to top it off.

 Started  here and straight into very small fish.

 This was the first one of any size.

Moved up above the weir.

 Same again a couple or three small ones, plus a nice one that jumped out of my hand as I tried to take it's photo.

Up to the awkward bit below, need to get the fly close to the brambles on the right and not get caught in the stuff behind. Doesn't look much but it is deep by the bank. That's the whole of the brook going through that narrow bit.

 Managed to get the two below and only have two tangles.

 Moving on up catching nothing until I arrived at the glide below.

 

 Plenty of rises left right and close by me at times.

 This one was almost first cast.

Still getting very small ones and the odd one a little bigger.

As I was casting up stream a fish kept rising about six foot to my left as I stood in brook, I ignored it as I thought it would be a little one in the shallow water. It rose again as I was about to move up to the next pool so I flicked my fly to it. The best fish of the day, below, was the result. Just shows to go you, as somebody said, I think in a film.

 Same old same old from here small small small.

You can see how murky the brook was in the picture.

Finished off here and went home pretty happy.

Fishing up to the Ist of August 2017

Been out and about since my last BLOG, catching some but not always a lot.  I have been filming my fishing on a gopro hero and put some on youtube.

.https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIVL5YnwhMOgARoD7_1keiw

if you would like a look, I hope to get better at it. the filming that is.

The weather in  Bolton has been pretty much rain in the day and rain in the night, but not great amounts of it until today. The rivers have still been OK for fishing most days.

On 23 July I fished the top end of Bradshaw Brook and waded through a nasty walled section that I usually avoid, hard wading and a bit dangerous if you slip. Was expecting to catch something decent as it doesn't get fished very often, well not by me anyway.

 I caught a three fish there best one below. Better luck next time.

 After the bridge and walls the fishing was easier and better, plenty fish but nothing of any great size.

On the 25th I fished Bradshaw Brook but this time much further down, not much doing.

 

Sunday 30th I did my August kick sample at Ewood Bridge on the Irwell. The river was up a bit  with the rain, insect levels were OK but not great.

Went up river for a fish afterwards and filmed it, put on youtube.

31st July Bradshaw Brook again even further down. Film on youtube.

Today I fished a real dirty place and caught just one fish.

Not complaining though it weighed 1 lb 12 oz. and came from a nasty dirty spot. On youtube again if you want. Didn't stay to long thunder, lightning and very heavy rain sent me back to the car.

The End of the River Tonge 20 Jul 17

That's where I fished to today to the end of the Tonge. 

It is not a very long river, starts in The Valley in Bolton where Eagley Brook and Astely Brook meet.

 Astley Brook comes under the bridge, Eagley Brook from the right.

 It ends when it meets the Croal in Darcy Lever just south of Bolton.

 This the Croal where it meets the Tonge. A quite small and often polluted stream, as it was today.

This is the Tonge a much bigger river before it becomes the Croal.

I didn't start at the top of the Tonge but at Lever Bridge not that far from the end. First time that I have been to this stretch this year, in fact I am not sure that I fished it last year. 

Difficult to get into the river and not that pretty when you do, invasive weeds all the way down. Caught one fish on a nymph, going down, and that was it nothing for dry fly coming back up. It's coming back to me why I had not been there for some time, won't be rushing back.

Only good thing was that Bradshaw Brook joins the Tonge not far up above the bridge. Soon into fish there.

 Caught a few like this one and a bit better.

In places like this.

Then this one made my day worth while. Sorry about the photo, was in a rush to get the fish back in the stream.

Dirty Urban Fishing 13 July 17

Went fishing a very dirty urban river with my friend Dave B. I had been for a look at the place Dave said we should go, I had not been impressed by what I saw. Anyway Dave said "trust me" and off we went.
I didn't take photos of the surroundings not just because it was pretty awful with sewer pipes and rubbish, not to mention the smell. We do not want to advertise where it is, when you see the fish we caught you will understand why. We hooked and lost a few, struck and missed others. What we did catch is below.

  This one went 3 1/2 lbs, I am still smiling.

Dave's was not as big but still a very good fish.

Some of the ones that we saw made these two look like nothing, we shall return.

 Not saying where it is, is not just about keeping it to ourselves, wading up stream we found a descent sized dead trout with a mouth full of maggots and a hook deep in it's gullet attached to a few yards of strong line. Not pleased.

Checking the Irwell 12 July 17

Decided to visit Ramsbottom, Summerseat and Burrs near Bury to see if there was any recovery of the insect life after the pollution incident and any sign of trout.

Started at Nuttall Park just below Ramsbottom, got in the river and fished up stream dry fly, where I have caught fish over the years. A good shoal of minnows as I waded in but no flies coming of the water. 
The river bed is very different from when I had last fished there. The repairs to the bank and the grading of the river bed by the Environment Agency had changed the places that used to hold fish. As you can guess I caught nothing and found no insects in the river. Not sure what the minnows are eating. Also saw some very small fry, of what I do not know. 

Moved down the river to Summerseat again the river was much changed by the EA flood work and again no signs of life.

On to Burrs which is not to far down river from the other two places where the river had looked clean and clear. Only to find the water murky and looking quite sick. No insects, flies or fish to be seen as before.

Feeling despondent about the state of the Irwell went for a quick pick me up and a hour on Bradshaw Brook where I had six fish. One, that pleased me no end, was  a nice fish that I had hooked before but never landed from a tricky little spot.  

Bradshaw\ Brook 11 Jul 17

Rained in the night and was forecast for the rest of the day, the forecast was right for a change.

Takes lots of rain to make fishing the brook a problem as the main flow comes from Jumbles reservoir and is controlled. We only get high water when the reservoir overflows which is very unusual in the summer.

Started above Printers Lane, first visit of the year, hard to get to and lots of tree cover and woody debris. not much overhead casting up here.

It was raining quite hard most of the time and when it wasn't it was coming of the trees. Despite the conditions it was dry fly as usual, infact the same actual fly from last week, a battered Coachman.

 Mostly shallow fast water with some deep glides. Nothing until I was passed the branch in the water, where a good fish hooked itself with no help from me and then got off, with help from me.

Never mind was soon into plenty of others, mostly quite small ones, as is usual for the brook.

 

 Caught a few others much the same as the ones above.

 This one is a bit better.

 Came from here.

 Just a bit more room but you need to fish under the trees on the right.

 Couple more much the same.

 

The rain just kept on coming, even though I was dry underneath my face and hands where getting cold and damp, glad I was getting near the end of the stretch.

 Pleased that I carried on though, as the best fish of the day was the second last that I caught. Came from a nasty bit of water with a fallen tree in it, thought I had lost it when my line got stuck on a branch. Had to wade in and get it free. 

 Had one last cast in the same water and was surprised to catch the one below.

 Both with very bright red spots.

I would usualy fish back down the brook but with the rain decided to take the path home. 

Plenty of fish on a miserable wet day very pleased with the results.

The first Coachman fell apart, sad to see it go, replaced it with another one and carried on catching.