River Aire

[john conway]

Section of Fishery or river stretch:...Skipton Area
Date:...12/05/07
Time fished:...11:30 to 17:30 Hrs
Weather conditions:...Sunny, blustery breeze, clouding over at 16:00hrs turning to rain as I left.
Water conditions:...River high but droping fast, plenty of colour.
Air temperature:...15C
Water Temperature:...11.1C
Bait:...North Country Spiders @ 1st but winged wet flies for most of the session
Method:...Wet Fly, 1 dropper and point
Results:...
6 small trout: -
13:05 6" brownie Mallard & Claret-dropper
13:10 10" brownie Wickmans Fancy - point
15:20 6" brownie Mallard & Claret-dropper
6" brownie Wickmans Fancy - point
15:25 8" brownie Mallard & Claret-dropper
6" brownie Wickmans Fancy - point
Brief description of the session & remarks:...This was both a fly-fishing trip and a reci trip for chub fishing later on in the summer. This was the first time I've fished the river Aire and the lower section of the stretch I fished looked very chubby.
All the trout came from the same pool, two on the way down and four on the way back up the river. I've not caught two trout on the same cast for a long time but to catch two sets of two on alternate cast, I've never done that before.
I had a few good pulls at the top end of the section I fished but nothing on the bank, may be I should have changed back onto spider patterns as the river fined down? I also caught all the trout on two very old fly patterns I've not used for almost 30 years!!!

 

[john conway]

Section of Fishery or river stretch:…Skipton Area
Date:…16/08/07
Time fished:…18:30 to 21:hrs
Weather conditions:…Overcast, heavy showers at first brightening at dusk.
Water conditions:…River up about 0.4M ANSL
Air temperature:…15.2C
Water Temperature:…14.8C
Bait:…Worm, bread & sweetcorn.
Method:…Roving with one rod, 2 swan shot link leger
Results:…
18:50 1lb-8oz Brownie - worm
Brief description of the session & remarks:…This was supposed to be a chub trip. After picking up the trout on worm, I changed to bread and sweetcorn but I didn't get a knock for the rest of the session. I need to take a look at this section again when its much lower and running clear.

 

[john conway CSG]

Section of Fishery or river stretch:...Cononley-Kildwick area
Date:...01/09/07
Time fished:...09-00 to 15-00hrs
Weather conditions:...Very changable mainly hot and sunny with a strong breeze
Water conditions:...NSL but carrying a tinge of colour
Air temperature:...18.1C rising to 22.2C
Water Temperature:...17C
Bait:...Slugs, Bread and Cheese paste
Method:...Roving with one rod, swan shot link leger
Results:...Blank
Brief description of the session & remarks:...Our lass was up in the Lakes running so I managed a quick explorative trip on the Aire before she came home. Not the best of conditions a bit too bright but the idea was to have a look at this section of the river, which I had not fished before. Plenty of knocks on bread and paste from smaller fish, I was fishing with rather large chunks of bread. Only one knock on slug, must get black ones next time the big brown/yellowy ones don't seem to produce as well as the black. I must come back to this section either very early morning or better still fish into dusk, fond a nice deep slow section which looked very chubbie.

 

[john conway CSG]

Section of Fishery or river stretch:…River Aire

Date:…05/09/07

Time fished:…17-30 to 21-00hrs

Weather conditions:…Overcast with a strong breeze dropping at dusk

Water conditions:…NSL

Air temperature:…18C dropping to 16.1C

Water Temperature:…15.7C

Bait:…Maggot, bread and cheese paste

Method:…Float and ledger one rod roving down through a few swims

Results:… Loads of minnows and a nice 8" Grayling all on maggot

Brief description of the session & remarks:…Another exploratory trip with maggot, as expected the minnows where everywhere. However, in my last swim at dusk I got a good tip pull round on crust/cheese paste but lifted into nothing. Quite promising but forget the maggot and stick with bread, crust and or cheese paste. Loads of kingfishers on this stretch of the Aire and with all the minnows I'm not surprised.

 

[john conway CSG]

Section of Fishery or river stretch:...River Aire
Date:...15/09/07
Time fished:...16-30hrs to 21-00hrs
Weather conditions:...Bright and sunny
Water conditions:...NSL
Air temperature:...17.9C dropping to 10.4
Water Temperature:...18.4C
Bait:...Bread & Cheese paste
Method:...1 rod ledger, swan shoot or light bomb
Results:... Blank
Brief description of the session & remarks:...This was another opportunity for a few hours on the river and a bit more exploration. The weather was OK when I set off but as soon as I'd settled into my first swim out came the sun and it stayed out all through the session. In my second swim just as I was lifting my soggy crust out of the water it was hit hard by a pike which stripped line through the clutch on its first run and bit though the line on its second run. Very tempting to come back with a few sprats but it’s the big chub I'm after, so may be another time. I found a nice big deep bend that will be worth looking at on another trip. Getting down to the river is quite awkward with steep banks covered with nettles and Himalayan Balsam.

 

[john conway (CSG - ACA)]

Section of Fishery or river stretch:...River Aire
Date:...16/06/08
Time fished:...05-00hrs to 15-00hrs
Weather conditions:...Bright hot and sunny
Water conditions:...NSL
Air temperature:...6.8Crising to 20.6C at mid-day
Water Temperature:...13.9C
Bait:...Bread, slugs, snails, worm & maggot.
Method:...1 rod JW Avon , stick alternating with with side-winder swan shoot or light bomb
Results:... Blank
Brief description of the session & remarks:...Quite a few years since I've spent opening day on another river other than the Ribble. This was also another opportunity to do a bit more exploration. The weather wascrap very bright and we've not had any rain for weeks.I didn't get a single bite all day ,and I tried everything;bread, slugs, snails, worms and I even tried maggot on the stick. I walked a few miles, found some supper looking chub swims, and got nettled to hell, everything's about head high and the banks drop about 5ft into 6 to 8ft of water. This is defiantly one stretch of the Aire were two rods would be an absolute nightmare.
Beautiful day though and superb views of hills to the north of Skipton.