Section of Fishery or river stretch... near Ribchester
Date...................02 Feb 02
Time fished............8.30am-Noon
Weather conditions.....Very Windy, Mild, Heavy rain mid morning
Water conditions.......River was up about 2 feet but falling slowly. Temperature - 8deg C
Bait ..................Bread Flake Method ...............Quiver tipped mash feeder in one swim - a nice slack with some shelter from the wind.
Results ...............6 chub from 12oz to 4lb 5oz.
Brief description of the session and any remarks............I picked the best time to fish. When I left the wind was rising and more rain was on its way. The best fish had an enormous tail and I thought it might go 5 but it was a little on the slim side.

Section of Fishery or river stretch... near Ribchester
Date...................16 Feb 02
Time fished............9.00am-1215pm
Weather conditions.....Dull, Mild,
Water conditions.......River Low Temperature - 5 deg C
Bait ..................Bread Flake/worm Method ...............Quiver tipped mash feeder in the same swim as on 2nd
Results ...............Blank, just a single bite that I wasn't ready for.

Section of Fishery or river stretch... near Ribchester
Date...................02 March 02
Time fished............7.30am-Noon
Weather conditions.....Frosty start, light wind and occasional light showers
Water conditions.......River was low.
Water Temperature - 4 deg C
Bait ..................Bread Flake
Method ...............Quiver tipped with mash feeder
Results ...............Blank
Brief description of the session and any remarks............ just one bite, first cast - which raised my hopes but this became an identical session to my previous visit. (PS Nobody else fishing the Ribble?)

Section of Fishery or river stretch...near Ribchester
Date...................8.03.02
Time fished............7.30am - 8pm
Weather conditions.....v.windy and rising. generally cloudy but dry until dark when heavy rain set in.
Water conditions.......only slightly up and fairly clear.
Water Temperature......at start was 7C
Bait ..................alternated maggot and bread in feeder with matching hookbaits.
Method ...............Feeder
Results ...............6 v.nice dace to 10oz(all on maggot) and one chub of exactly 5lb, pb from the Ribble.
Brief description of the session and any remarks............overall less activity than I expected given the milder conditions but both the Dace and the Chub were exceptional, moved swims part way through the day after just 2 bites and one lost fish in what I thought would be the better location - wrong again!.

Section of Fishery or river stretch...Samelsbury
Date...................7.03.02
Time fished............9.30am - 3pm
Weather conditions.....v.windy generally cloudy but dry
Water conditions.......about a foot up and nicely coloured
Water Temperature......not taken
Bait ..................paste and sweetcorn.
Method ...............straight ledger
Results : Really hard fishing conditions with the wind howling up the river. I had to fish the avon top of my fox barbel rod due to conditions. One bite at @ 13:00 resulted in a lovely barbel of 9lb 12oz.
No other bites ,and would have fished on into dusk but the wind just made it too difficult.

Section of Fishery or river stretch: Above Preston.
Date: 12 March 02
Time fished: 5pm - 9pm
Weather conditions: Light breeze, sunny, then big temp drop later.
Water conditions: Normal level, slight colour.
Water Temperature: 42 deg F
Bait: Flake and cheese.
Method: Cage feeder to feed bread mash then a swap to link-legered bomb.
Results: Chub 4.10,4.10, 4.13, 5.5 and 5.8.
Brief description of the session and any remarks: See Digital Diary

Section of river:Above Ribchester
Date:17 April 2002
Time fished:0730hrs to 1400hrs
Weather conditions:Warm, Bright and sunny
Water conditions:Low and clear
Water Temperature:Not taken
Bait:Various wet flies
Method:Across and down wet fly
Results:2 Brown Trout, 1 Grayling
Brief description of the session and any remarks:Fished various patterns, the fish fell to a partridge & Orange and to a Greenwell's Spider.

Section of Fishery or river stretch: Upstream of Ribchester.
Date: 19 June 2002.
Time fished: 14:00 to 23:00.
Weather conditions: Warm, bright and sunny turning cloudy late evening.
Water conditions: Normal level and clear.
Water temperature: Not taken.
Bait: Caster and hempseed, red & white maggot, luncheon meat, breadflake.
Method: Blockend feeder and link-legered bomb.
Results: several dace to 8oz, one eel to 1.5lb, one chub to 4lb 10oz.
Brief description of the session and any remarks: Less activity than expected for the conditions, possibly due to bankside activity. Caught chub at 22:10, several hours after it had quietened down.

Section of Fishery or river stretch: Upstream of Ribchester.
Date: 20 June 2002.
Time fished: 16:30 to 21:40.
Weather conditions: Warm, bright and sunny turning overcast late evening.
Water conditions: 6" - 8" under normal level and clear.
Water temperature: Not taken.
Bait: Caster/hempseed, red/white maggot, meat and breadflake.
Method: Blockend feeder/lead and link-legered bomb.
Results: 1 eel
Brief description of the session and any remarks: Slow, I think the fish had all gone down Blackpool for the England/Brazil game Friday morning; Big-screen TV down there! But heh! who cares, the sound of running water,sun and watching wrens in the sycamore and hawthorn. And I wonder why Fish!

Section of Fishery or river stretch..Balderstone
Date...................19.06.02
Time fished............7.30am - 4pm
Weather conditions.....cloudy but dry
Water conditions....... normal summer level just a touch of colour
Water Temperature......not taken
Bait ..................paste, pellet and boilie.
Method ...............straight ledger
Results : 3 barbel . 5lb 12oz, 5lb 12oz and 8lb 12oz.
All gave ripping bites , had quite a few unhittable chub knocks and lost 1 barbel ran into a snag, a good start to the river season

Section of Fishery or river stretch..Balderstone
Date...................20.06.02
Time fished............5.30am - 2pm
Weather conditions.....bright and sunny
Water conditions....... normal summer level colour gone from yesterday
Water Temperature......not taken
Bait ..................paste, pellet and boilies.
Method ...............straight ledger
Results : 2 chub . 1 at 5lb 0oz and 1 about 2 lbs.
No barbel bites all session and the chub knocks were really hard to hit, the bites died off significantly after about 11 am.

Section of Fishery or river stretch..Samlesbury
Date...................21.06.02
Time fished............11.30am - 10.30pm
Weather conditions.....sunny spells and clouds
Water conditions....... normal summer level maybe 3-4 inches down
Water Temperature......not taken
Bait ..................paste, pellet and boilies.
Method ...............straight ledger
Results : 1 barbel 81b 8 oz and 1 chub @ 2lb , a couple of eels .
No decent bites until the barbel at 7:00 pm then a few more cagey bites till dark.

Section of Fishery or river stretch..Samlesbury
Date...................22.06.02
Time fished............14.30 - 21.30
Weather conditions.....sunny spells and cloudy with a fair wind
Water conditions....... as yesterday
Water Temperature......not taken
Bait ..................paste, pellet and boilies.
Method ...............straight ledger
Results : 2 common carp. 1 at 12lb 12oz and 1 at 9lb 14oz.
Ive never had a river carp and today i get 2 with no chub or barbel around still musnt complain.
Bite detection was quite difficult with the wind but the carp bites looked just like barbel bites as they smashed the rod round. I just cant figure out this fishing game at times.

Section of Fishery or river stretch..Elston
Date...................28.06.02
Time fished............14.30 - 23.00
Weather conditions.....cloudy with a fair wind
Water conditions....... typical low summer level
Water Temperature......not taken
Bait ..................paste, pellet and maggot
Method ...............straight ledger
Results : 1 bootlace eel and 1 chub 4lb 12oz.
New stretch of the river that I've never fished before so i was happy to catch. Only a couple of bites on big baits and fishing maggot was a problem with the wind but worth another visit .

Section of Fishery or river stretch... near Ribchester
Date...................05/07/02
Time fished............8.00pm-Midnight
Weather conditions.....Clearing after rain
Water conditions.......River was up about 18 inches but falling quite quickly and clearing as it did so.
Temperature - 12.5deg C
Bait ..................Pellet and meat alternated
Method ...............Quiver tipped with feeder
Results ...............Blank, apart from one bootlace eel.
Brief description of the session and any remarks............This was one of those sessions I find hard to understand. Conditions seemed perfect but the fish didn't show. Still it was nice to be back on the river - first visit this season.

Section of Fishery or river stretch..Balderstone
Date...................08.07.02
Time fished............17:00hrs - 01:00hrs
Weather conditions.....Cloudy with sunny spells, Air Temp 21C dropping to 11C
Water conditions....... Slightly coloured Rivercall @ Samlesbury 0.04 and falling
Water Temperature...... 17C
Bait ..................paste, pellet and boilies.
Method ............... Quiver tip with running leger
Results : Blank
First time on the Ribble for 30 years. Couple of rod bouncing bites but no contact with the barbel. Very pleasant session spent in the company of Jim Hinchley, can't wait to get back.

Section of Fishery or river stretch..Samlesbury
Date...................05.07.02
Time fished............14.30 - 17.00
Weather conditions.....cloudy
Water conditions....... River was 3-4 feet upand falling slowly
Water Temperature......not taken
Bait ..................paste, pellet Method ...............straight ledger
Results : Blank
Needed 6 oz of lead to hold bottom and with plenty of weed coming down river fishing was very difficult. Had one bite which i missed but it was close to unfishable.

Section of Fishery or river stretch..Above Preston
Date...................07.07.02
Time fished............04.30 - 09.00
Weather conditions.....Lovely summers morning
Water conditions....... 18 inches above summer level
Water Temperature......not taken
Bait ..................paste and pellet Method ...............straight ledger
Results : 1 barbel at 10lb 6 oz , 2 chub 1 at 5lb 5 oz and 1 about 3 lb.
Bites died off during the session but i went home happy.

Section of Fishery or river stretch..Balderstone
Date...................13.07.02
Time fished............04.00 - 08.00
Weather conditions.....Lovely summers morning
Water conditions....... normal summer level
Water Temperature......not taken
Bait ..................meat and pellet Method ...............straight ledger
Results : Blank and no decent bites , very few cagey chub bites also. Conditions and time of day were good i suspect this area is just getting a bit pressured.

Section of Fishery or river stretch..Balderstone
Date...................13.07.02
Time fished............06.00 - 12.00
Weather conditions.....Lovely summers morning, Air temp 11C to 19C mid day
Water conditions....... Rivercall at Salmesbury 03:00hrs normal summer level and steady
Water Temperature......15C - 16C
Bait .................. Pellet & worm, Hemp/fish meal and crumb ground bait
Method ...............one straight ledger with PVA bag, second rod swimfeeder
Results : Blank
No bites at all , same comments as Jim "conditions and time of day were good i suspect this area is just getting a bit pressured."