Ribble: River Ribble Fishing Reports

[john conway (CSG - ACA)]

Section of Fishery or river stretch:...Above Preston
Date:...06/09/09
Time fished:...19:0hrs to 22:30hrs
Weather conditions:...Overcast & showers.
Water conditions:...Rivercall at 03:15hrs @ NJR 0.38M ANSL and steady.
Air temperature:...14C throughout the session.
Water Temperature:...14.1C
Bait:...Bread, Sweetcorn, Hal Pellet & Curry Paste.
Method:..2 rods, upstream rod sweetcorn with liquidised bread, micro pellets and sweetcorn in feeder. Downstream rod halibut pellet with PVA bag of micro pellets & dry ground bait plus loose fed Hal pellets.
Results:...4 Chub three over 4lb best 4lb-8oz
Brief description of the session & remarks:...Very good short session. I lost a big Chub just as it was about to slide over the net. Three Chub taken on sweetcorn and one on halibut pellet, the Chub were still biting when I had to pack up; I needed an early start to work after a week’s holiday.

 

[john conway (CSG - ACA)]

Section of Fishery or river stretch:...Above Preston
Date:...11/09/09
Time fished:...21:0hrs to 05:00hrs
Weather conditions:...Light cloud with a very bright half moon drifting in and out of the cloud after mid-night.
Water conditions:...Rivercall at 16:14hrs @ NJR 0.14M ANSL and steady.
Air temperature:...13.7C dropping to 8.5C.
Water Temperature:...15.5C
Bait:...Bread, Sweetcorn, Hal Pellet & Curry Paste.
Method:..2 rods, upstream rod sweetcorn with liquidised bread, micro pellets and sweetcorn in feeder. Downstream rod halibut pellet with PVA bag of micro pellets & dry ground bait plus loose fed Hal pellets.
Results:...3 Chub best 4lb-4oz
Brief description of the session & remarks:...The river was low and seemed very quiet, although there were a few anglers on the river. Didn’t get a single knock, pluck or quiver until after midnight and then there were long periods between the odd single and very sharp knock, I tried touch ledgering and swapping baits, but only managed to hit while touch ledgering the other two hooked themselves. Two came to sweetcorn and one to halibut pellet.
Absolutely fantastic sight as I was driving home; just as I was dropping down onto the Ribble flood plane just south of Settle, the whole flood plane was shrouded in mist with the odd tree poking up through the mist and the hills on the horizon just beginning to blush with the first rays of the sun.

 

[john conway (CSG - ACA)]

Section of Fishery or river stretch:...Above Preston
Date:...18/09/09
Time fished:...20:30hrs to 05:00hrs
Weather conditions:...Clear sky up to midnight then started to cloud over with the odd spot of rain at the end of the session. No moon or wind.
Water conditions:...Rivercall at 15:15hrs @ NJR 0.05M ANSL and steady.
Air temperature:...13.9C dropping to 12.7C.
Water Temperature:...11.9C
Bait:...Bread, Sweetcorn, Halibut Pellet.
Method:..2 rods, upstream rod sweetcorn with liquidised bread, micro pellets and sweetcorn in feeder. Downstream rod halibut pellet with PVA bag of micro pellets & dry ground bait plus loose fed Hal pellets.
Results:...5 Barbel to 10lb-4oz and 1 Chub 4lb-8oz
Brief description of the session & remarks:...The river was low and very quiet. I lost a big fish within a few minuets of casting in; it just wrapped the rod tip round then bang, snapped off at the hook. The rest of the fish were well spread out almost one every hour. All the barbel came to halibut pellet and the single Chub to sweetcorn. A very pleasant session, the weather is feeling very autumnal now, wont be to long before the leafs start to drop.

 

[john conway (CSG - ACA)]

Section of Fishery or river stretch:...Above Preston
Date:...25/09/09
Time fished:...21:30hrs to 05:00hrs
Weather conditions:...Overcast and no wind, but the sky cleared for about three hours after mid-night then the cloud moved in again.
Water conditions:...Rivercall at 03:15hrs @ NJR 0.03M ANSL and steady.
Air temperature:...13.8C dropping to 12.7C.
Water Temperature:...13.8C
Bait:...Bread, Sweetcorn, Halibut Pellet.
Method:..2 rods, upstream rod sweetcorn with liquidised bread, micro pellets and sweetcorn in feeder. Downstream rod halibut pellet with PVA bag of micro pellets & dry ground bait plus loose fed Hal pellets.
Results:...1 Barbel 6lb
Brief description of the session & remarks:...Very quiet hardly any movement on the rod tips, no plucks or pulls just one big rap round from the 6lb Barbel. There were a few anglers on the river when I arrived but no one had caught. On the drive down at dusk a Roe Deer that ambled across the road, stopped and had a look at me, then elegantly popped over a hedge into the woods, what beautiful animals they are.

---------- Post added at 20:20 ---------- Previous post was at 20:02 ----------

Section of Fishery or river stretch:...Above Preston
Date:...02/10/09
Time fished:...20:30hrs to 03:30hrs
Weather conditions:...The odd shower and extremely windy.
Water conditions:...Rivercall at 15:15hrs @ NJR 0.04M ANSL and steady.
Air temperature:...14.3C dropping to 12C.
Water Temperature:...13.7C
Bait:...Bread, Sweetcorn, Halibut Pellet.
Method:..2 rods, upstream rod sweetcorn with liquidised bread, micro pellets and sweetcorn in feeder. Downstream rod halibut pellet with PVA bag of micro pellets & dry ground bait plus loose fed Hal pellets.
Results:...Blank
Brief description of the session & remarks:... Took me ages to sort out my brolley and gear etc. I thought it was a wee bit windy when I arrived but by 03:00hrs I was hanging onto my brolley with two hands and if I had made contact with a decent barbel then it would have been a choice of loose my brolley or my rod. I never had a bite all through the session and when big branches started snapping and falling in the woods around me I thought "John what the hell are you doing"
I was stopped by another Roe Deer again at dusk on the drive down.

 

[john conway (CSG - ACA)]

Section of Fishery or river stretch:...Above Preston
Date:...09/10/09
Time fished:...20:30hrs to 05:00hrs
Weather conditions:...Overcast with one or two very heavy showers, in the last hour of session the sky cleared showing a big bright half moon.
Water conditions:...Rivercall at 15:15hrs @ NJR 0.12M ANSL and steady.
Air temperature:...13.1C dropping to 10.6C.
Water Temperature:...10.2C
Bait:...Halibut Pellet & Paste.
Method:..2 rods, upstream and downstream rods both on halibut pellet with PVA bag of micro pellets & dry ground bait plus loose fed Hal pellets.
Results:...1 big eel 2lb plus 3 Barbel to 8lb-6oz and 1 Chub 3lb-12oz
Brief description of the session & remarks:...Very difficult to see what the river was like when I arrived and left in the dark but it looked to be carrying a wee bit of colour. All the fish were well spread out over the session. On two occasions after absolutely no bite indication, I picked up the eel and the biggest barbel when lifting my rod to reel in for a bait change, also as I was reaching down to reel in my last rod ready to pack up, it slammed over making me jump and I landed a nice barbel at 7lb-12oz. Now the water temperatures dropping the returned barbel are off like a shoot.

 

[john conway (CSG - ACA)]

Section of Fishery or river stretch:...Above Preston
Date:...16/10/09
Time fished:...21:00hrs to 03:30hrs
Weather conditions:...Clear sky, no wind and a new moon, loads of shooting stars. At about 02:00hrs it started to cloud over and the temperature rose a wee bit.
Water conditions:...Rivercall at 03:15hrs @ NJR 0.05M ANSL and steady. Just before midnight, a river mist moved in and it was difficult to see the far bank.
Air temperature:...5C dropping to 2C then rising to 4.5C with the cloud cover.
Water Temperature:...12.8C
Bait:...Halibut Pellet & Paste.
Method:.. 2 rods, upstream rod sweetcorn with liquidised bread, micro pellets and sweetcorn in feeder. Downstream rod halibut pellet with PVA bag of micro pellets & dry ground bait plus loose fed Hal pellets..
Results:...1 Barbel to 7lb-4oz and 1 Chub 4lb
Brief description of the session & remarks:.. The barbel came within 5 minutes of casting in but the chub didn’t come until 02:15hrs and there was very little in between to keep me awake other than the occasional eel messing about and some incredibly noisy owls. Managed to get myself very cold and my feet wet, which didn’t help, winter woollies from now on.

 

[john conway (CSG - ACA)]

Section of Fishery or river stretch:...Above Preston
Date:...15/11/09
Time fished:...14:00hrs to 19:30hrs
Weather conditions:...Sunny intervals with a light breeze.
Water conditions:...Rivercall at 03:15hrs @ NJR 0.61M BNSL and falling. It’s now this time of the year when you get that horrible black slime on feeders and swivels.
Air temperature:...13C dropping to 7.5C.
Water Temperature:...8.8C
Bait:...Sweetcorn, bread, cheese, 3-B boilies & Paste.
Method:.. 2 rods, upstream rod sweetcorn with liquidised bread, micro pellets and sweetcorn in feeder. Downstream rod 3-B boilies & curry paste with PVA bag of micro pellets & dry ground bait plus loose fed boilies.
Results:...1 Chub 4lb-6oz
Brief description of the session & remarks:.. Its now four weeks since I was last on the Ribble, work commitments and lousy weather when I did get the opportunity, so it was good to be back on the bank again and also to meet up with a couple of friends. As the river is now settling down a wee bit after the floods it’s also the time of the year when you get that horrible black slime on feeders and swivels. Nothing at all until dusk then a few taps and a good wrap round on the downstream 3-B boilie rod and a very welcome 4lb plus chub. Then it was dead quiet again. I’m trying some new boilies this winter one of my CSG mates is selling, however, I’ll always have bread and cheese on the upstream rod.

 

[john conway (CSG - ACA)]

Section of Fishery or river stretch:...Above Preston
Date:...22/11/09
Time fished:...13:30hrs to 19:30hrs
Weather conditions:...Rain and very windy.
Water conditions:...Rivercall at 03:15hrs @ NJR 0.87M ANSL and falling.
Air temperature:...8.5C rising to 9.5C.
Water Temperature:...9C
Bait:...Bread, cheese, 3-B boilies & Paste.
Method:.. 2 rods, upstream rod bread flake or crust & cheese with liquidised bread and micro pellets in feeder. Downstream rod 3-B boilies & curry paste with PVA bag of micro pellets & dry ground bait plus loose fed boilies.
Results:...1 Chub 4lb-12oz
Brief description of the session & remarks:.. Arrived at the river between showers and took some time setting up my brolly in very gusty conditions. The rain came around dusk in very heavy showers and very windy dropping off between showers. The river looked OK with few leafs and twigs snagging the feeder. The chub came at dusk on crust and cheese paste but around 18:30hrs I was snapped close in to the bank by a big barbel that managed to lodge itself behind a sunken log/tree. By 19:30 I was fed up of holding on to my brolly so I went home to watch Match of the Day. The drive back was very wild and wet with quite a lot of standing water on the roads.

 

[john conway (CSG - ACA)]

Section of Fishery or river stretch:...Above Preston
Date:...05/12/09
Time fished:...16:00hrs to 23:00hrs
Weather conditions:...Overcast to begin with then at dusk the rain and wind moved in.
Water conditions:...Rivercall at 03:15hrs @ NJR 0.35M ANSL and steady.
Air temperature:...7.5C rising to 10.5C.
Water Temperature:...7C
Bait:...Bread, cheese, 3-B boilies & Paste.
Method:.. 2 rods, upstream rod bread flake or crust & cheese with liquidised bread and micro pellets in feeder. Downstream rod 3-B boilies & curry paste with PVA bag of micro pellets & dry ground bait plus loose fed boilies & Hal/pellets.
Results:...3 Chub 2 over 4lb, best 4lb-8oz, 2 trout about 1lb each and a 11lb-14oz Barbel
Brief description of the session & remarks:.. The walk down to the river after all the rain we’ve had was almost as bad as it was walking back in the dark, however, I did make it to the river in daylight and between showers. The first fish, a trout, came at dusk the rest came in the last couple of hours of the session. The Barbel didn’t look that big until I lifted it out of the water, then I know I had something special, it was beautiful and in really good condition. I’ll be glad when that horrible rotting slimy jelly like weed stops clogging up my feeders and swivels, terrible stuff to get off your line.

 

[john conway (CSG - ACA)]

Section of Fishery or river stretch:...Above Preston
Date:...12/12/09
Time fished:...16:30hrs to 23:00hrs
Weather conditions:...Sunny afternoon with clouds moving in at dusk then clearing when it got dark, no wind no moon.
Water conditions:... Rivercall at 03:15hrs @ NJR 0.28M ANSL and falling.
Air temperature:... 3.7C dropping to ZeroC.
Water Temperature:... 5.5C
Bait:...Bread, cheese, 3-B boilies & Paste.
Method:.. 2 rods, upstream rod bread flake or crust & cheese with liquidised bread and micro pellets in feeder. Downstream rod 3-B boilies & curry paste with PVA bag of micro pellets & dry ground bait plus loose fed boilies & Hal/pellets.
Results:... Blank
Brief description of the session & remarks:… It was quite a pleasant walk down to the river and it seemed that five other anglers had the same idea. After throwing in a handful of boilies and a walk down the river to catch up on a wee bit of local gossip I settled down to a winters night chubbing on the Ribble. Unfortunately all I got were a couple of very light taps towards the end of the session and by then I was very cold and ready for bed. A couple of the lads had the odd chub but by 21:00hrs I had the river to myself. This was one of many, and probably more to come, hard winter night clubbing blanks. Still when the big ones do turn up you really do feel like you’ve earned them. At various times, a freezing fog drifted down the river but not quite thick enough to obscure some very bright meteor trails.

 

[john conway (CSG - ACA)]

Section of Fishery or river stretch:...Above Preston
Date:...17/01/10
Time fished:...15:30hrs to 22:00hrs
Weather conditions:...Light cloud, no wind and no moon.
Water conditions:... Rivercall at 03:15hrs @ NJR 0.83M ANSL and falling.
Air temperature:... 5.5C dropping to 2.4C.
Water Temperature:... 4.3C
Bait:...Bread, cheese, 3-B boilies & Paste.
Method:.. 2 rods, upstream rod bread flake or crust & cheese with liquidised bread in feeder. Downstream rod 3-B boilies & cheese paste with PVA bag of micro pellets & dry ground bait.
Results:... 2 Chub best 4lb-1oz
Brief description of the session & remarks:… Because I was snowed in over the Christmas break, its been over a month since I was last on the river, so it was great to be on the bank again even though there was still some snowmelt in the river. With the exception of my two fish, my rod tips never moved in the 6-1/2hrs session. After dusk four young swans sat at the waters edge with me through most of the session, they didn’t move much while I landed my chub either. Although it was very pleasant on the bank, in the car park I was up to my ankles in sheep sh*t, mud and pee. My van didn’t half stink when I got home, still I was well chuffed with my 1st 4lb + Chub of the new year.

 

[preston96]

Nice post John, FM needs them big style at the moment!...............you are lucky to have a fishing van, mine is also the family "tourer" ........i get lots of comments on it's "vapours"

 

[john conway (CSG - ACA)]

Section of Fishery or river stretch:...Above Preston
Date:...23/01/10
Time fished:...14:30hrs to 23:00hrs
Weather conditions:...Overcast, misty, dank and cold with no wind.
Water conditions:... Rivercall at 03:15hrs @ NJR 0.56M ANSL and falling.
Air temperature:... 4.7C dropping to 3.6C.
Water Temperature:... 4.7C
Bait:...Bread, cheese, 3-B boilies & Paste.
Method:.. 2 rods, upstream rod bread flake or crust & cheese with liquidised bread and micro pellets in feeder. Downstream rod 3-B boilies & cheese paste with PVA bag of micro pellets & dry ground bait. At start of session, I throw in several large balls of scalded ewe nuts and hemp and a few loose fed boilies.
Results:... 1 Chub best 3lb-4oz
Brief description of the session & remarks:…Once again it was good to be able to get on the river, 20 canoeist and several walkers all had the same idea. However, come dusk there was just me plus a couple Ribble old timers settling down for another evening session on the Ribble. I lost one Chub an hour into the session whilst I was bringing it to the net and the one that made it to the net came whilst I was talking to one of the lads just on dusk. She was a very long slim fish but clean with no signs of flood damage, she fell to crust and cheese paste. After that, it was just the odd knock. In the last couple of hours both rods never moved. The four swans of last week came back for a short while and they seemed to have picked up another very juvenile swan that’s not yet got it’s white plumage. The walk back to my van through the woods and the long up hill drag was hard work and slow going. I’d to stop a few times to get my bearings in the mist which was quite thick come mid-night. Ho for the joys of mid-winter fishing.

 

[ryboyd]

Hi John,
It was nice to speak to you just before christmas.
Hope to bump in to you before the river season finishes.

Tony.

 

[john conway (CSG - ACA)]

Section of Fishery or river stretch:...Above Preston
Date:...30/01/10
Time fished:...16:30hrs to 22:00hrs
Weather conditions:...Bright and sunny, no wind and a full moon.
Water conditions:... Rivercall at 03:15hrs @ NJR 0.24M ANSL and falling.
Air temperature:... 0.7C dropping to -4C.
Water Temperature:... 1C
Bait:...Bread, cheese, 3-B boilies & Paste.
Method:.. 2 rods, upstream rod bread flake or crust & cheese with liquidised bread and micro pellets in feeder. Downstream rod 3-B boilies & cheese paste with PVA bag of micro pellets & dry ground bait. At start of session, I throw in a few loose fed boilies.
Results:... 3 Chub all over 4lb best 4lb-8oz
Brief description of the session & remarks:…Beautiful late afternoon/early evening session on the river, just me and the “Bad One” we thought it might be a one or two fish session with the fish coming at dusk into dark. We both did better than that, however, by 21:00hrs the “Bad One” left followed by me an hour later. I caught my last chub bang on 21:00hrs while saying good night to the “Bad One”. I decide to stay on a wee bit longer but my rods never move and by 22:00hrs the full moon had risen well above the tree line and it was as bight as day light over the full length of the river, absolutely beautiful, but bad news for Chubbing on the Ribble. Having said that, I have to say that quite a few CSG members do catch on a full moon, but they are mostly fishing small rivers and roving about. The walk back to the car park was lovely, I never had to use my head torch once and the sheep toilet of a car park was frozen solid, minus 6C back at my van.

 

[john conway (CSG - ACA)]

Section of Fishery or river stretch:...Above Preston
Date:...07/02/10
Time fished:...16:00hrs to 22:00hrs
Weather conditions:...Overcast, cold and damp, no moon showing.
Water conditions:... Rivercall at 03:15hrs @ NJR 0.23M ANSL and falling.
Air temperature:... 5.6C dropping to 2.8C.
Water Temperature:... 4.3C
Bait:...Bread, cheese, 3-B boilies & Paste.
Method:.. 2 rods, upstream rod bread flake or crust & cheese with liquidised bread and micro pellets in feeder. Downstream rod 3-B boilies & cheese paste with PVA bag of micro pellets & dry ground bait.
Results:... 3 Chub, best 4lb-0oz
Brief description of the session & remarks:…Typical, cold damp February afternoon. There were a few lads on the river but I’m not sure if anyone else was catching, my three Chub came after dusk over a period of about two hours. Around dusk about 500 geese arrived down river, then over a period of about an hour they swam in small groups up through my swim, congregated about 50M up stream then flew off creating a great disturbance. My last chub came at 19:50 hrs followed shortly by the four resident swans that took up residence under my rod tip, occasionally venturing on land to nibble up crumbs dropped from my feeder.

 

[fishin4bites]

Section of Fishery or river stretch:...Above Preston
Date:...05/02/10
Time fished:...13:00hrs to 17:00hrs
Weather conditions:...cloudy almost flat calm
Water conditions:...a couple feet up but dropping, nicely coloured
Air temperature:... mild
Water Temperature:...cold
Bait:...maggot,bread
Method:.. feeder with crumb and ledgered bread
Results:.. 2 chub about 3lb and a trout about 2lb

all fish came to maggot

---------- Post added at 10:10 ---------- Previous post was at 09:59 ----------

Section of Fishery or river stretch:...Above Preston
Date:...09/02/10
Time fished:...11:00hrs to 16:00hrs
Weather conditions:....cloudy with sunny spells,brisk ne wind
Water conditions:... almost normal level and clear
Air temperature:... cold
Water Temperature:... cold
Bait:...maggot and bread
Method:..feeder with bread crumb,ledgered bread
Results:...blank not even a bite

 

[john conway (CSG - ACA)]

Section of Fishery or river stretch:...Above Preston
Date:...13/02/10
Time fished:...17:00hrs to 24:00hrs
Weather conditions:...Cloudy with sunny intervals, no wind and no moon.
Water conditions:... Rivercall at 03:15hrs @ NJR 0.11M ANSL and steady.
Air temperature:... 3.8C dropping to 0.5C.
Water Temperature:... 3.1C
Bait:...Bread, cheese, 3-B boilies.
Method:.. 2 rods, upstream rod bread flake or crust & cheese with liquidised bread and micro pellets in feeder. Downstream rod 3-B boilies & cheese paste with PVA bag of micro pellets & dry ground bait.
Results:... 3 Chub, best 4lb-6oz
Brief description of the session & remarks:…Lovely February afternoon with a nice sunset to close the day also enjoyed by a couple of other lads on the river. Fist chub, just under 4lb, came as usual after dusk followed by what I thought was a smaller chub until it came to the net and it was huge. However, I lost it when it dived into the banking cracking 6lb line as though it was cotton. “Closing the door after the horse had bolted” I went back to my usual 8lb BS. After having a little paddy, everything went dead until about 11-o-clock then another two chub. All the chub came to something wrapped in cheese paste. The grounds drying up nicely now so the walk back was OK but somehow those Bl**dy sheep had managed to leave nice dark green makers all over the bonnet of my van.

 

[POLO]

Ribble Fish in

Hi John! I've not been on your page for sometime now and I was wondering when is the next fish in is on the ribble?

 

[seaapprentice]

Hello, new to this site. Great reports, fished the Ribble for two seasons on the Ribchester card beautiful place to be at dawn and dusk. Reading your reports brought back a lot of fond memories.

Cheers Andrew