Ribble: River Ribble Fishing Reports

[john conway (CSG - ACA)]

Section of Fishery or river stretch:...Above Preston
Date:...16/06/09
Time Fished:...00:00hrs to 08:00hrs
Weather Conditions:....Clear sky, big half moon put in an appearance about 01:30hrs, early morning very bright and warming up fast. Water Conditions:..Rivercall at 15:15hrs on the 15/06/09 @ NJR 0.28M ANSL & Steady,
Air Temperature:...11.5C @ midnight dropping to 3.8C about 03:00hrs then climbing to 13.3C by 08:00hrs
Water Temperature:...14.8C
Bait:...Sweet Corn, Hal Pellet & Curry Paste
Method:..2 rods, upstream rod Sweet corn with liquidised bread, garlic and sweet corn in feeder, downstream rod halibut pellet and curry paste with PVA bags of pellet and micro pellets.
Results:...7 chub (best 4lb-12oz & 4lb-6oz) one eel and one trout. Two chub taken on Pellet and paste the rest fell to sweet corn including both 4lbers.
Brief description of the session….This was the usual 00:00hrs start for the 1st day of the coarse fishing season and I noticed the odd light from other Ribble anglers with the same intensions. I don’t normally do very well on opening day but today was OK with two decent chub. I’d decided to pick a shallow swim, about 3ft deep, with a decent flow and targeted the chub. It was good to be back on the river.

---------- Post added at 01:42 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:39 PM ----------

Date:...19/06/09
Time fished:...21:30hrs to 06:00hrs
Weather conditions:...Overcast and breezy till dusk, started to rain about mid-night and was on and off right up to dawn.
Water conditions:...Rivercall at 15:15hrs @ NJR 0.25M ANSL and Falling.
Air temperature:...13.7C dropping to 11C
Water Temperature:...13.7C
Bait:...Bread flake, Sweet Corn, Hal Pellet & Curry Paste.
Method:..2 rods, upstream rod Sweet corn with liquidised bread, garlic and sweet corn in feeder, downstream rod halibut pellet and curry paste with PVA bags of pellet and micro pellets.
Results:...5 Chub (3 over 4lb) and one Barbel 9lb
Brief description of the session & remarks:...The river looked very much the same as on opening day, except it was overcast and the weather was very unsettled. All the 4lb Chub looked a bit battered and felt quite empty, as did the Barbel. The barbel was OK on release but it just sat on the edge of the flow for a good half hour before drifting off into the main channel. Plenty of bat bites during the night and at dawn I watched two herons fishing on the far bank.

---------- Post added at 01:43 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:42 PM ----------

Section of Fishery or river stretch:...Ribchester area
Date:...21/06/09
Time fished:...18:15 to 22:15hrs
Weather conditions:...dry, mild and light winds
Water conditions:...Marginally above NSL
Air temperature:...N/T
Water Temperature:... N/T
Bait:...Hemp, Caster and corn
Method:..Waggler
Results:...2 barbel, 5 big chub, 2 trout and about 10 chublets
Brief description of the session & remarks:...Short evening session to kick off the new season. Surprisingly few anglers about. Had a great start with a 4lb barbel 3rd cast and then a chub of 3.5lb minutes later. Had 2 more chub of 4lb and 4.5lb in the first hour, before lots of tiny chub moved in and were attacking the bait on impact, not letting it settle before shelling the double caster. Switched to corn on and off, but just trout taking a fancy with one at 1.5lb. Had a number of small chub 4 to 6oz with one about 1.25lb, before finishing with another 4.5lb chub and a barbel. Plenty of better fish showing, but just lacked the medium size chub that used to nicely fill in the gaps between the bonus fish! Lots of mink about on the far bank too.

---------- Post added at 01:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:43 PM ----------

Section of Fishery or river stretch:...Above Preston
Date:...26/06/09
Time fished:...21:00hrs to 04:00hrs
Weather conditions:...Light cloud, no wind no moon.
Water conditions:...Rivercall at 15:15hrs @ NJR 0.13M BNSL and Falling.
Air temperature:...18.1C dropping to 17.5C
Water Temperature:...21C
Bait:...Sweet Corn, Hal Pellet.
Method:..2 rods, upstream rod Sweet corn with liquidised bread, garlic and sweet corn in feeder, downstream rod halibut pellet with small PVA bag of Hal pellets and loose fed Hal pellets.
Results:...6 Chub to 3lb-10oz and 4 eels, best about 2lb
Brief description of the session & remarks:...The river was very low and warm. Both rods tapping away all night but most of the chub were small and I was pestered by eels. The four eels all took sweetcorn, which I thought I'd use to avoid them???? Got home at 05:0hrs and had a couple of hours sleep before our Lass and I where on the road up into the Lakes to a wool and felt event/exhibition (our Lasses hobby). By the time we hit the M6 I was away with the fairies, until I shot out of my sleep to pick up my rod which was banging away. This was triggered off when our lass flicked on the indicators to over take. This happened three time before I really dosed off. Never had this happen to me before!

---------- Post added at 01:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:44 PM ----------

Section of Fishery or river stretch:...by Preston
Date:...29-30/06/09
Time fished:...19:00hrs to 09:00hrs
Weather conditions:...Light cloud, no wind,very little rain not enough .
Water conditions:...very low
Air temperature:... hot
Water Temperature:...not taken
Bait:... Hal Pellet,bread,slug.
Method:..4 rods, 2upstream rods halibut +bread in margins, 2 downstream rods halibut +slug
Results:...blank
Brief description of the session & remarks:...The river was very low and warm.It looks that need some rain to relise the fish from hiding holes.Had one bite and hooked what it felt like a good double fig.barbel and lost it due to hook line snaped.It was my 3rd session on the ribble this year ,no barbel and just had too many eels till i changed the bait.

---------- Post added at 01:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:44 PM ----------

Section of Fishery or river stretch:...Above Preston
Date:...04/07/09
Time fished:...21:30hrs to 05:00hrs
Weather conditions:...Overcast and showers, some very heavy but short lived, moon low in the sky behind cloud.
Water conditions:...Rivercall at 16:15hrs @ NJR 0.05M ANSL and Steady.
Air temperature:...18.1C dropping to 16.1C
Water Temperature:...18.2C
Bait:...Sweet Corn, Hal Pellet & Curry Paste.
Method:..2 rods, upstream rod Sweet corn with liquidised bread, hemp and sweet corn in feeder, downstream rod halibut pellet with PVA bag of micro pellets & dry ground bait plus loose fed Hal pellets.
Results:...5 Chub to 4lb-6oz, one barbel 9lb-3oz and 1 eel.
Brief description of the session & remarks:...The river was very low and warm, however there was just enough rain to put a tinge of colour in the river. Fish spread out over first 5.5 hrs of session last, couple of hours everything went dead. Also lost one decent fish to a badly whipped hook. 3 chub and eel on sweetcorn, 2 chub, including the 4 pounder and the barbel on halibut pellet and paste. The barbell was the same barbel I had two weeks ago but 3oz heavier, same soars around the anal fin, left flank.
Nothing much happens on these through night session except the usual slug invasion and ten minutes watching a small mouse helping it's self to my sweetcorn. It didn't seem to mind my head lamp.

---------- Post added at 01:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:45 PM ----------

Just playing about copying some Ribble post from old site. This venue report doesn't work like the old site????

 

[Paul C]

Section of Fishery or river stretch:...Ribchester area
Date:...09/07/09
Time fished:...19:00 to 22:00hrs
Weather conditions:...dry but blustery
Water conditions:...Marginally above NSL and a bit of colour
Air temperature:...N/T
Water Temperature:... N/T
Bait:...Hemp, Caster and corn
Method:..Waggler
Results:...3 small barbel, 6 chub to 2lb and an eel & lost one barbel.
Brief description of the session & remarks:...The river was busy so it took me longer to get going than it should as there were people on the pegs on the preferred stretch, so plan b was further down river, and a long walk from the car in waders!
Very difficult conditions for the waggler as the strong cool wind was making it impossible to present the float well. Had odd bites when the wind dropped, but only got going in the last of my 3 hours, when the wind blew itself out and I got it running through without it being dragged downstream by the firm downstream wind.
This was an area that's never let me down, but it's never produced any quality fish either. Had conditions been kinder I think it would have been decent with plenty of bites, but the wind is always problematic when it's strong unless you can find a sheltered area that produces the goods.

 

[john conway (CSG - ACA)]

Section of Fishery or river stretch:…Above Preston
Date:…10/07/09
Time fished:…20:30hrs to 01:30hrs
Weather conditions:…Overcast clearing at dusk when the temp started to drop, big moon coming off full low in the sky, no wind.
Water conditions:…Rivercall said the river was at 0.33M ANSL and falling but I must have miss heard or it was yesterdays reading. The river was about NSL low and clear.
Air temperature:…14.9C dropping to 5.4C
Water Temperature:…17.1C
Bait:…Bread, sweetcorn, pellet and paste
Method:… 2 rods, upstream rod Sweetcorn with liquidised bread, hemp and sweetcorn in feeder, downstream rod halibut pellet with PVA bag of micro pellets & dry ground bait plus loose fed Hal pellets.
Results:…6 Chub all under 4lb, 2 Barbel again both under 4lb and an eel.
Brief description of the session & remarks:…I was expecting the river to be just about right, however, I must have miss heard the Rivercall readings or they were yesterdays? At the start of the session the river was low and clear, still I thought, at least it’s not bright and sunny, but that also changed at dusk to a clear sky with a big moon just starting to rise. When the moon rose to about 15 degrees above the horizon the bites completely dried up. I’d also not expected the temperature to drop as low as it did and therefore I’d only brought a light weigh fleece and coat and by the time the bites had dried up I was absolutely freezing, so I packed up at 01:30hrs. By the time I’d got back to my van the temp had dropped another degree. If I’d not got so cold, or I’d been better prepared, I’d have sat it out until dawn. However, I couldn’t complain, so long as the bites kept coming there was always the chance of a decent fish!

Note last week I said that the 9lb-3oz barbel was the same as one I'd caught earlier, but when I looked closely at the photos they were different fish, the markings around the anal vent were the same but a miror image.

 

[Wiktor z Polski/Dr. Wodka]

Barbel and chub

Section of Fishery or river stretch:...above Preston
Date:...09-10/07/09
Time fished:...20:00 to 08:00hrs
Weather conditions:... dry and very slight wind
Water conditions:...little colour and slightly rising
Air temperature:...18.2
Water Temperature:... 16.4
Bait:...halibut pellet,bread and fish boilie
Method:..2 rods down and 1up the stream with above +micro pellets in feeder
Results:...1small barbel at about 4lb, one at 9lb and 1 small chub to 2lb and lost good fish again!All on halibut pellet
Brief description of the session & remarks:... Lovely session with warm but not too hot whether,specially after 3 previous unproductive hot whether sessions.Little rain day before dragged fish out to start feeding .Shame lost good fish again.

---------- Post added at 06:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:29 PM ----------

Is there a way to link this ribble threads replays to the previous posts from the old site?

 

[Wiktor z Polski/Dr. Wodka]

Barbel and chub

Section of Fishery or river stretch:...above Preston
Date:...13-14/07/09
Time fished:...23:00 to 10:00hrs
Weather conditions:... rain before start fishing,around midnight stopped,some breeze
Water conditions:...little colour and **** coming down, slightly dropping, then in the morning drastically rising
Air temperature:...14 at 5:30am dropped more before 5:30
Water Temperature:... 17.4 at 5:30am
Bait:...halibut pellet,spam and fish boilie
Method:..2 rods down and 1up the stream with above +micro pellets in feeder
Results:...2 barbel at about 3lb and 8lb, 1 small chub I caught barbel on spam and chub on hal pellet. Lost a fish again in the snag!!!!!!!!!!Many snags where I fish and not much space to play fish.I going to have to go stupid with the line strength,20lb or more to see if will be any better.Anybody have a good suggestions for me to not to loose a fish again ?will be appreciated.

 

[Mr Cholmondeley-Corker (PaSC)]

Corker's Catch

Section of Fishery or river stretch: Ribble – Above Preston
Date: 24th June 2009
Time fished: 18:00 – 23-30
Weather conditions: Warm, clear, calm and sunny.
Water conditions: 0.07 ANSL & falling, very clear.
Air temperature: 25°C
Water Temperature: Not taken
Bait: Boilies & paste, Pellet, flake/crust
Method: 2 rods with cage feeders.
Results: Leather carp 9lb 4oz, 2 Eels (the usual size…)
Brief description of the session & remarks: This was my first river trip of the season. It was very warm and there was very little flow on the river. There was someone fishing in the shallow, more oxygenated pegs that I was going to fish, so I settled for deeper swim, but with some flow on the far side. Lots of bites, but many missed. The carp came as a bit of a surprise. As did one of the eels, on a piece of crust bigger than its head.

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Section of Fishery or river stretch: Ribble – Above Preston
Date: 2nd July 2009
Time fished: 18:00 – 23-30
Weather conditions: Hot, clear, calm and sunny.
Water conditions: NSL & steady, clear.
Air temperature: 32°C
Water Temperature: Not taken
Bait: Boilies & paste, Pellet, crust
Method: 2 rods with cage feeders.
Results: 1 chub 3lb 8oz, 1 Eel approx 2lb.
Brief description of the session & remarks: Again lots of missed bites. The paste wrap on my pellets/boilies was often stripped off without a hook up. I suspected that chub were the culprits. I changed to my lighter rod and fished a popped up crust. Within a few minutes I hooked what felt like a good fish, but lost it as the line broke at the knot, doh! There were loads of bats out providing a brilliant aerial display and often hitting my line.

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Section of Fishery or river stretch: Ribble – Above Preston
Date: 16th July 2009
Time fished: 18:00 – 23-00
Weather conditions: Warm, clear, breezy and sunny.
Water conditions: 0.23 ANSL & steady (it came up an inch), a nice colour to it.
Air temperature: 23°C falling to 15°C
Water Temperature: Not taken
Bait: Boilies, Pellet, groundbait.
Method: 2 rods with cage feeders.
Results: 6 Chub 4 x 3-3.5lb, 1 X 2lb, 1 x 1lb, 3 Barbel 4lb 10oz, 2 x 2lb, Eel (the usual size…)
Brief description of the session & remarks: Well I hit more bites this time after tweaking my baits and rigs. I still missed lots of bites and lost a couple due to hook pulls. All fish came between 1850 and 2130, then the bites dried up. I couldn’t find the fish after that. All in all, an enjoyable session.

 

[john conway (CSG - ACA)]

Section of Fishery or river stretch:...Above Preston
Date:...18/07/09
Time fished:...20:00hrs to 05:00hrs
Weather conditions:...Overcast, damp, light breeze, no visible moon.
Water conditions:...Rivercall at 04:15hrs @ NJR 1.23M ANSL and falling, at 20:00hrs the river was about 0.7M ANSL and falling to about 0.4M by the end of the session.
Air temperature:...14.6C dropping to 13C
Water Temperature:...15.3C
Bait:...Sweet Corn, Hal Pellet & Curry Paste.
Method:..2 rods, upstream rod sweetcorn with liquidised bread, hemp and sweet corn 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 5lb, 2 Barbel 7lb-4oz.
Brief description of the session & remarks:...The river was dropping fast with very little debris coming down. The lass on Rivercall said the river was 1.23M below normal summer level, which meant there should have been no water in the river where I was fishing??? Started fishing mid river but half an hour into the session a very big chub rolled right in front of me no more than a rod length out. I baited up this area with hemp and micro pellets and fished it for an hour with no results so returned back to mid river were I eventually picked up the two Barbel. At mid-night the mid river swim died, I persisted for about three hours eventually switching back to the near bank swim I’d earlier baited up with hemp. Shortly after switching back I picked up all four Chub until this swim died at dusk. All the fish came to my upstream rod on sweetcorn. I had a very pleasant walk back to my van, tiered but very pleased with my three 4lb plus Chub.
PS forgot to mention the three 4lb plus Chub all came to touch legering.

 

[Wiktor z Polski/Dr. Wodka]

barbel, chub,eel and roach

Section of Fishery or river stretch: Ribble – Above Preston
Date: 19-20/july
Time fished: 20:00 – 08:00
Weather conditions: warm mostly overcast then some clear sky, light wind
Water conditions: a bit on high level, dropping slowly over night
Air temperature: not taken
Water Temperature: Not taken
Bait:Hal pellet,spam
Method: 3 rods: 1 up the stream- sleeper rod with 30mm pellet (did nothing), 1 in front and 1 down with micro pellets inside feeder
Results:7barbel 9lb biggest, 2chub 4lb biggest, 2 Eel approx 2-3lb and 1 nice roach!
Brief description of the session & remarks:
4 species of fish in quick overnighter,it never happen to me on ribble before. I sat in new peg with lots of mod all around me. All my gear inc. sleeping bag was covered in it and was very glad I had few fish. The magic double was one thing missing( i`m just getting bit greedy);bp

 

[john conway (CSG - ACA)]

Section of Fishery or river stretch:...Above Preston
Date:...24/07/09
Time fished:...20:30hrs to 05:00hrs
Weather conditions:...Overcast clearing at dusk, no moon.
Water conditions:...Rivercall at 16:15hrs @ NJR 0.27M ANSL and rising, although the river dropped during session.
Air temperature:...14.2C dropping to 11.6C
Water Temperature:...17.2C
Bait:...Bread Sweetcorn, Hal Pellet & Curry Paste.
Method:..2 rods, upstream rod sweetcorn with liquidised bread, micro pellets and sweet corn in feeder. Downstream rod halibut pellet with PVA bag of micro pellets & dry ground bait plus loose fed Hal pellets.
Results:...3 Chub best 3lb-13oz, 3 Barbel best 5lb-10oz.
Brief description of the session & remarks:...River looked OK and it turned out to be a pleasant night session after all the heavy rain during the day. The fish came at all times throughout the session and on both upstream and downstream rods with 2 to sweetcorn, 2 to bread and 2 on pellet and paste. At dusk I'd a visit from a rather large mink which looked at me for a short while then turned and wandered off, as much as you are supposed to dislike them they are beautiful creatures.

 

[john conway (CSG - ACA)]

Section of Fishery or river stretch:...Above Preston
Date:...31/07/09
Time fished:...21:30hrs to 06:00hrs
Weather conditions:...Overcast, heavy showers and gusty squalls.
Water conditions:...Rivercall at 15:15hrs @ NJR 0.28M ANSL and falling.
Air temperature:...14.1C dropping to 13.1C
Water Temperature:...15C
Bait:...Bread, Sweetcorn, Hal Pellet & Curry Paste.
Method:..2 rods, upstream rod sweetcorn with liquidised bread, micro pellets and sweet corn in feeder. Downstream rod halibut pellet with PVA bag of micro pellets & dry ground bait plus loose fed Hal pellets.
Results:...2 Chub best 3lb-12oz, 2 Barbel best 8lb.
Brief description of the session & remarks:...**** day at work which made sitting in the dark, mud, wind and rain seem rather pleasant. The action was very slow with the first fish, a Chub, not coming until 00:15hrs. The 8lb Barbel gave a good account of it’s self, as most Ribble Barbel do of this size, however, waving a big specimen net about in the middle of a gusty squall with the Barbel pulling like hell nearly had me in the river. The long walk back to my van wasn’t too bad considering the weather conditions but I hit some really heavy showers back up in the Dales which soon had the beck’s up here running high again.

 

[Paul C]

Section of Fishery or river stretch:...Below Ribchester
Date:...04/08/09
Time fished:...14:15 to 22:00
Weather conditions:...Overcast to start, bright and sunny, then a late heavy shower.
Water conditions:...just a bit above ANSL and steady.
Air temperature:...N/T
Water Temperature:...N/T
Bait:...Pellet and bollies.
Method:..single feeder rod
Results:...6 barbel, best 7lb 10oz.
Brief description of the session & remarks:... A mate put me on a good peg and said expect a frantic start............... and it was. Landed 3 and lost one in the first hour. Had a barbel within 3 or 4 mins on first cast. The lost fish bugged me because it felt heavy and went off strong, stopped and went again, but a knot I wasn't 100% sure about when I tied it, gave way, and that was that. Went quiet when the sun came out for several hours, so that was the lunch break. Steady evening with fish well spaced out. I felt there were lots of fish in the swim and plenty of plucks and pulls. No eels and sadly no chub, but enjoyed it. I left the float gear behind in the belief the wind was too problematic. Sods law, I got there and it was sheltered and absolutely perfect for the float! Maybe next time....

 

[john conway (CSG - ACA)]

Section of Fishery or river stretch:...Above Preston
Date:...06/08/09
Time fished:...19:30hrs to 05:00hrs
Weather conditions:...Hazy sun followed by light cloud enough to hide a full moon but it was still remarkably bright.
Water conditions:...Rivercall at 03:15hrs @ NJR 0.12M ANSL and steady.
Air temperature:...17C dropping to 9.7C
Water Temperature:...19.4C
Bait:...Bread, Sweetcorn, Hal Pellet & Curry Paste.
Method:..2 rods, upstream rod sweetcorn with liquidised bread, micro pellets and sweet corn in feeder. Downstream rod halibut pellet with PVA bag of micro pellets & dry ground bait plus loose fed Hal pellets.
Results:...1 Chub @ 4lb, 1 Barbel @10lb-1oz and 2 eels.
Brief description of the session & remarks:...First chance to get down to the Ribble during my 1st weeks holiday of 2009, our Lasses brother left early and I'd even time to earn a few brownie points in he garden before I darted down to the Ribble for another night session. The river look OK but talking to a couple of anglers who had been on all day it hadn't fished very well, and I was hoping that I'd at least get some cloud cover over the full moon. Started with bites as the sun went down but these turned out to be eels eating my sweetcorn, so I had to abandon the sweetcorn for bread flake and that as that until around mid-night when I hooked into a big fish that just sat on the bottom. I thought it had taken me into a snag and gave it some slack only to find here was nothing there when I tighten up again. The 10lb barbel came at 02:20hrs on pellet and paste and the only chub right at the end of the session also on pellet and paste. I was as usual after the chub but no one in their right mind would turn their nose up at a 10lb barbel on the Ribble. Nice easy walk back to my van as the mist on the river was just beginning to clear and the full moon sitting low on the horizon, beautiful.

 

[Paul C]

Section of Fishery or river stretch:...Above preston
Date:...06/08/09
Time fished:...13:30 to 21:00
Weather conditions:...Bright sunny and hot.
Water conditions:...Looked normal but as clear as tap water.
Air temperature:...N/T
Water Temperature:...N/T
Bait:...Caster and hemp.
Method:..Waggler
Results:...2 small barbel, a handful of roach and a few chub of mixed sizes.
Brief description of the session & remarks:... I'd never seen the stretch before, so was out of the usual comfort zone! Not the best conditions at all. Fished two pegs and both were less than 3 feet deep. Had a steady start, but it went downhill and ended up really struggling as tiny fish were attacking whatever bait I used and messing up presentation and the run through the swim. I thought the evening would be good but proved a disappointment. Lots of anglers about, but very few fish caught. A friend did well on the same stretch recently but it was overcast, slightly up with lots of colour in the water.

 

[Matthew Nightingale (ACA)]

Section of Fishery or river stretch: Ribble – Near Ribchester
Date: 8th August 2009
Time fished: 08:00 - 16:00
Weather conditions: Bright in the morning cloudy from 10:30. No rain
Water conditions: River low with reasonable flow.
Air temperature: Not taken
Water Temperature: Not taken
Bait: Hemp, casters and bronze maggots
Method: Single rod feeder fishing.
Results: 12 - 18 Chub from 8 ounces to 3 - 4 lbs (lost count!).
Brief description of the session & remarks: Fishing good up to about 11:00 then went completely dead. Came back on about 14:00 and fished well thereafter. Started with hemp and casters and changed to maggot in the afternoon. Good mix of juvenile and well grown adults (at least eight 3-4 lb mature fish). All good looking Ribble chub. No barbel which is unusual for this peg which usuallly starts as a chub peg then the barbel push them out.

 

[john conway (CSG - ACA)]

Section of Fishery or river stretch:...Above Preston
Date:...09/08/09
Time fished:...20:00hrs to 05:00hrs
Weather conditions:...Overcast, muggy and no wind, about 03:00hrs the moon started to show and the chub disappeared.
Water conditions:...Rivercall at 03:15hrs @ NJR 0.05M ANSL and falling.
Air temperature:...18C only dropping to 17.5C
Water Temperature:...18.8C
Bait:...Bread, Sweetcorn, Hal Pellet & Curry Paste.
Method:..2 rods, upstream rod sweetcorn with liquidised bread, micro pellets and sweet corn in feeder. Downstream rod halibut pellet with PVA bag of micro pellets & dry ground bait plus loose fed Hal pellets.
Results:...4 Chub 3 over 4lb best 4lb-12oz, 2 Barbel best 9lb-8oz.
Brief description of the session & remarks:...The river looked very low and the banks were unusually dry which made the fishing very comfortable had it not been for the huge amount of cow dung. The big barbel was the first fish and came one hour after starting on a single grain of sweetcorn. Then it was roughly a fish every hour until the moon put in an appearance around 03:00hrs. Four fish were taken on sweetcorn, two on bread flake and none at all on pellet and paste. At around 02:00hrs the dung machines arrived and crashed about in the woods and on the bank for about an hour, then wondered off to fertilise some other part of the river. The mink I saw a couple of weeks ago paid me another visit and possible a badger or some other single medium to large animal rummaging about at the back of my chair. Overall a vary good session with quite a few night noises to keep me on my toes.

 

[Mr Cholmondeley-Corker (PaSC)]

Ribble Catchup

Section of Fishery or river stretch: Ribble – Above Preston
Date: 24th July 2009
Time fished: 1500-2300
Weather conditions: Warm 23°C, dry. Some cloud cover.
Water conditions: Approx 1ft above NSL. Came up about 6” rapidly at about 1700.
Air temperature: 23°C
Water Temperature: not taken.
Bait: Pellet/paste, hemp, maggots.
Method: Two rods. Ground bait, pellets and hemp in the feeder. Pellet/paste on the hook. Had a few casts with maggot feeder.
Results: Me – 1 small chub on maggot. A few knocks. Mark – chub about 4lb, his first river fish (lost a few good fish too due to hook pulls).
Brief description of the session & remarks: I took my mate Mark for his first trip on a river. Mark is an accomplished carp angler and has many big fish to his name, but has never fished a river for chub and barbel. My intention was to put him on the peg that I had caught on last week, but someone beat us to it. Well, he was happy with the chub, a good fish by any means. However, he was not happy about the lost fish – perhaps the heavy carp rods had something to do with it!



Section of Fishery or river stretch: Ribble – Above Preston
Date: 31st July 2009
Time fished: 1500-2130
Weather conditions: Warm, light breeze, overcast with some showers. Started to rain heavier at about 2100.
Water conditions: Approx 1ft on NSL and steady. Good colour and flow.
Air temperature: 21°C
Water Temperature: NT
Bait: Pellet/paste, boilies/paste (salmon & lamprey pellet, lamprey boilies)
Method: Me – 2 rods, Josh 1 rod. Large cage feeders.
Results: Josh 3 chub: 2-12, 3-8 and 4-10. Me – 4 chub to 3-12
Brief description of the session & remarks: I took my son Josh (11) for his first river fishing session. I couldn’t have wished for better conditions. Josh was into his first chub before I had cast a line! We had a great day with plenty of fish and bites to keep his interest. Josh asked if we could come again tomorrow before we had packed up. We also had a visit from the cows, but they kept their distance.



Section of Fishery or river stretch: Ribble – Above Preston
Date: 6th August 2009
Time fished: 1300-2130
Weather conditions: Warm, clear blue sky, very light breeze
Water conditions: NSL and steady, very little flow and clear.
Air temperature: 23°C
Water Temperature: NT
Bait: Pellet/paste, boilie/paste, maggots.
Method: Me 2 rods, Josh 1 rod. Large cage feeder/maggot feeder.
Results: Me- Blank, I couldn’t buy a bite! Josh – Roach about 6oz, 2 eels.
Brief description of the session & remarks: After last week’s result we returned to the same swim. However, the river was low and clear so I put Josh on maggot feeder hoping to find him some bites. They were few and far between, so his interest dwindled from time to time. Although I was a bit disappointed with the catch, we still had a good day together and Josh enjoyed his Cornish pasty (he’d been looking forward to it all day!). So why the blank? Should I have fished a swim with more flow/oxygen or should I have fished a deeper swim in the clear conditions? Or was there another factor?



Section of Fishery or river stretch: Ribble – Above Preston
Date: 12th August 2009
Time fished: 1815-2245
Weather conditions: Warm, breezy some cloud cover.
Water conditions: 0315 NJR @ 0.08 BNSL & rising. Same level as last week and steady when I arrived.
Air temperature: 20°C
Water Temperature: NT
Bait: Pellet/paste, boilie/paste, hemp, maggot.
Method: 2 rods. Big cage feeders. Also fished maggot feeder for a couple of hours.
Results: 2 small chub about 8oz on maggot. Only one bite on pellet/paste – a good positive bite. Thought I was in but nothing there – the bait was pulled from the hair.
Brief description of the session & remarks: I thought I’d give the same swim ago again, even though I blanked last time. Did I learn nothing? Lots of bites on maggot, but only very small delicate twitches. At 2145 a mink emerged from the water about 10ft to my left. It took a look at me and returned to the water and swam in front of me to my right. It emerged again about 20 ft to my right and sat in a bush looking at me for a couple of minutes before slipping into the darkness. Could this be the reason for the lack of big fish activity? Or was I in the wrong swim for the low clear water conditions?

 

[john conway (CSG - ACA)]

Section of Fishery or river stretch:...Above Preston
Date:...14/08/09
Time fished:...21:00hrs to 05:00hrs
Weather conditions:...Overcast threatening rain at about 01:00hrs the wind picked up and started to blow quite hard but the rain didn't arrive until I reached the Dales on my way home.
Water conditions:...Rivercall at 03:15hrs @ NJR 0.04M ANSL and falling.
Air temperature:...18.9C only dropping to 18C
Water Temperature:...17.9C
Bait:...Bread, Sweetcorn, Hal Pellet & Curry Paste.
Method:..2 rods, upstream rod sweetcorn with liquidised bread, micro pellets and sweet corn in feeder. Downstream rod halibut pellet with PVA bag of micro pellets & dry ground bait plus loose fed Hal pellets.
Results:...2 Chub best 4lb-12oz.
Brief description of the session & remarks:...The river was low and very little moving all night, even the bats were quiet, however, I did get two visits this time from the resident mink, but no cows and no night noises. Just after midnight, I lifted into a big fish that just bolted and snapped my hook length, 10lb fluorocarbon, the fish just tanked off and that was that. The Chub came to a single grain of sweetcorn. Note! Sat 15th and I've just come back from Settle and the Ribble was fair belting down, it should now fish well early next week if the weather behaves it's self?

 

[john conway (CSG - ACA)]

Section of Fishery or river stretch:...Above Preston
Date:...21/08/09
Time fished:...21:30hrs to 05:00hrs
Weather conditions:...Light cloud, breezy at first becoming clam around midnight, no moon. Bright morning with mist over low ground and river
Water conditions:...Rivercall at 15:15hrs @ NJR 0.32M ANSL and falling, however, the river rose 100mm during session.
Air temperature:...13.9C dropping to 10.2C
Water Temperature:...17.7C
Bait:...Bread, Sweetcorn, Hal Pellet & Curry Paste.
Method:..2 rods, upstream rod sweetcorn with liquidised bread, micro pellets and sweet corn in feeder. Downstream rod halibut pellet with PVA bag of micro pellets & dry ground bait plus loose fed Hal pellets.
Results:...1 Chub @ 3lb-1oz.
Brief description of the session & remarks:...The river looked great and I thought, after landing the chub after 15 mins., that I’d be in for a few more and maybe the odd barbel, but it wasn’t to be. Just the odd rattle of the rod tips every half hour or so and plenty of bat bites, other than that, it was a very quiet night. I enjoyed the walk back to my van, quite beautiful in Shire during the first hour just before sunrises, with the woods and hills poking above the mist like little Islands.

 

[Matthew Nightingale (ACA)]

Section of Fishery or river stretch: Ribble – Near Ribchester
Date: 31st August 2009
Time fished: 08:30 - 15:00
Weather conditions: Overcast with a threat of rain which never materialised.
Water conditions: River approximately three foot high dropping six inches during the session.
Air temperature: Not taken
Water Temperature: Not taken
Bait: Bread, liquidised bread and sweetcorn.
Method: Single rod feeder fishing.
Results: One barbel @ 10 pounds.
Brief description of the session & remarks: Fishing very difficult with river running in spate and lots of weed. Started fishing with bread flake but couldn't be sure bait wasn't getting knocked off by weed. No bites. Fishing near to my bank in only patch of slackish water. Changed to two grains of sweetcorn with liquidised bread wrapped around an 'O' weight. First cast with sweetcorn caught a ten pound barbel (only my second double!). Nothing thereafter and got fed up with loosing weights so packed up early. Good day though!

 

[john conway (CSG - ACA)]

Section of Fishery or river stretch:...Above Preston
Date:...02/09/09
Time fished:...16:30hrs to 02:00hrs
Weather conditions:...showery, very heavy at times, cleared a wee bit at midnight with full moon trying to break through.
Water conditions:...Rivercall at 03:15hrs @ NJR 0.53M ANSL and steady, however, around midnight the river started to rise very fast and by 02:00hrs it had risen about 750mm (2ft) and was still rising fast when I left.
Air temperature:...15C throughout the session.
Water Temperature:...14.5C
Bait:...Bread, Sweetcorn, Hal Pellet & Curry Paste.
Method:..2 rods, one rod fishing the outside crease of a big eddy on sweetcorn with liquidised bread, micro pellets and sweet corn in feeder, the other rod fishing the inside of the eddy on halibut pellet with PVA bag of micro pellets & dry ground bait plus loose fed Hal pellets.
Results:...One 8oz roach and one 1-1/2lb barbel.
Brief description of the session & remarks:...I’d already decided to fish a permanent eddy just in case the river came up during the session, which it did. The roach and barbel came on sweetcorn from the outside crease of the eddy and just as it went dark and I lost, either a big chub or medium size barbel, when it bolted into the reeds and flood debris under the bank as I was bringing it to the net. The inside rod was showing a bit of activity and I tried touch legering for an hour and just as I was getting a few more positive plucks and little pulls the river started to rise very fast and that was that. There was plenty of slurping, gulping and slashing in the bank side reeds and floor debris but in the dark I wasn’t up to risking dropping a bait in, even if I did make contact I’d have never got it out.