My Favourite River, The Derbyshire Derwent

The Derwent at Matlock Bath

The Derwent is a spate river rising in the Peak district. It is a game river in the upper reaches and is joined by another lovely game river, the Wye near Rowsley.

In the early days matches where always won with chub with such names as Frank Barlow and Jan Porter being regular visitors. Match weights were regularly around 50 to 60lb.

Around this time the Derwent would be my favourite river, with the Trent, the Idle, the upper Witham all coming close; but the Derwent reigned supreme. I enjoyed many days taking the proverbial ton of chub all caught by the same method, the stickfloat with a large piece of bread flake bulk shotted about 10inches from a size 12 hook.

I was an engineer at a large food company so I used to get all the old bread from the canteen, drop it in a bucket, add water and leave it overnight until it softened but would be stiff enough to introduce just above my swim in balls the size of lemons.

John with a Derwent chub caught on the last day of last season

It was always the same; 12 balls of bread into the swim, tackle up and then wait for the first bite, and the rest would follow, chub between 2lb to 4lb and plenty of them.

In the summer months the river would be infested with minnows so bread did not work so well. So I changed tactics and fished tares with much the same result.

What a bonus a digital camera would have been in those early days. I had a black Pentax ME Super and an old Praktica but it had to be said I was never much of a photographer, and besides, I just took it for granted I would take a big catch such was the level of my confidence.

In the eighties my worst nightmare was realised when the lower Derwent suffered a massive pollution from the giant Courtaulds plant and all fish life disappeared due to this man-made destruction. It was here that the ACA, led by Alan Edwards, won one of its greatest battles against polluters. They won a major battle yet the river took years to recover and many anglers like myself moved to other venues leaving great memories of the Derwent's halcyon days behind us.

About 5 years ago I went back to the Derwent in its higher reaches around Matlock Ambergate to fish for grayling. Ron Clay and myself had a couple of decent outings at Matlock Bath catching plenty of grayling and trout, and it became a ritual to go back every year mainly for the grayling.

So that's where he gets his secret maggots from; a pony's ear 'ole!

The grayling in the Derwent don't grow to the size of the chalk stream fish of the Test and Frome: a 1lb fish is a good one, a fish of 1lb 8oz excellent, and a 2lb fish a specimen, yet if there is a river with more grayling in than the Derwent I have yet to fish it.

Last year I took my friends Mike Townsend and Mick Howson to the Derwent and Mick and I decided to target the chub over the last four weeks of the season. And we did rather well in extreme cold and dry low water conditions.

My approach this time would be totally different to the old Amberston Borrowash days. I used the spider line approach to good effect on the Idle which also used to amuse old Ron. Ron used to get amused with my 12oz bottoms and size 24 hook and 1lb 8oz reel line, with floats shotted with groups of No.8 with a size 10 dropper.

The Derwent near Ambergate - fast and pacy typical grayling water

I must confess to fishing heavier 2lb reel line, 1lb to 1lb 8oz bottom, size 18 hook, with the best stick float ever made to man; the Baggio 6 to 8 No.4s (sadly this float is no longer made).

I have to admit a liking for the longer rods, in fact I don't own a rod for float fishing under 14ft and usually set up a Preston Innovations 15ft Carbonactive rod if chub are in the swim, or the Shimano Stradic spliced tip for grayling. Reels are usually the Daiwa 2500 or Shimano Stradic 4000, although I must admit double handled reels are no favourites of mine.

Every angler has his own preference with lines and I am no different, sticking to the tried and tested Bayer or Drennan and always Force for my hooklengths, hooks being always Kamasan B520 or Drennan Super strong Spades for big chub; I never use eyed hooks on the stick.

The lower Derwent, tree lined deeper and very chubby

The Derwent is a beautiful tree lined river, but in places not very accessible and certainly in places devoid of anglers, so at times you can have the river to yourself.

The mid Derwent gets a little deeper and a little chubbier, with swims in the 5 to 6ft region holding chub to over 6lb and double figure barbel. And maybe the barbel will be my next target.

"For Christ's sake John take the bloody photo and pass the toilet roll" "Mick, it said on the label, take one laxative every four hours, not four every hour!"

Mick and I adopted the little and often method, trotting up to 25yds, feeding on the trot, and at the end of the trot. Feeding to a rhythm is most important in keeping the fish in the swim. Miss feeding for a few minutes and the fish will move away.

Grayling will move up and down the swim, sometimes close to your feet, and the worst thing you can do with grayling is overfeed. Keep them competitive and you can end the day with a nice bag.

Typical winter chub catch from the middle reaches of the Derwent

Mick really did have some good catches of grayling and Dave Beecroft (Beecy) who had never never caught a grayling, came along and had more than a dozen; not big fish but I can tell you he went home happy.

As for me it was the chub I wanted and it was chub I caught, one day waiting around three hours for the first fish and ending up with ten to just over 5lb. Other days getting bags of up to eight chub plus numerous grayling, not the huge bags of the early Amberston days but at least we made a start.

My mate Mick after another night on the laxatives - god bless him

One thing is for certain, Mick and I cannot wait for the cold weather just to see what this fine river can produce, because all the fish we caught last season were under appalling conditions.

Come February 2007 I will be taking some of my fellow FM members grayling fishing to sample the delights of this beautiful Derbyshire river and I am certain, conditions being favourable, they will not be disappointed.