Understanding Winter Floods

An excellent piece as usual Phil, I really enjoyed reading that, something always magical about the wintery months.

Trying to guess when the river will be up or fining down is very difficult though, and even when you think you know a river, some local "variation" can kick in. This is especially the case if you are fishing a river that is quite long and managed (weirs, lock etc).

Also on some river catchments you get two peaks, where the initial surge is followed by a second peak where water enters through underground means as opposed to overland flow...

........and that can depend on time of year (if the river is flanked by agricultural land for example, the season you are in can make a difference), type of local soil and bedrock, previous weather etc etc.

Having spent countless days freezing my nuts off in many rivers in the UK doing hand measured analysis we came to the blinding conclusion that every river was different /forum/smilies/smile_smiley.gif. You just have to get to know your river.

The best thing to do though, if relatively local and you have decided not to fish 'cos it may be steamimg through, is go and see the river a day or two after. That way you get to know it better.

I agree with Monc, an excellent piece Phil. Phil my experience with theChub and flood conditions is the same as yours.

Phil really interesting artical on the flood's.

Another factor effecting the speed of the run off that I didnt know is the state of the Tide.I had never even considered this untill I was chatting to the Farmer who ownes a stretch on the Bristol Avon.He explained to me that high tides coinciding with heavy rain will lead to a rapid rise in the river due to the fact that far less water can run off.This can make it eaier to fish at these times because of the slower flow.

Also the flip side is that the river will run at its fastest at time's of low tide especially if the sluices are fully open.

Dont know if these factors make much difference but I feel better knowing this because I was convinced on a couple of occasion's that the river was changing speed and I thought I was imagining it.

Steveo - the Rivers flowing into the Bristol Channel are affected ultimately by massive tidal variations.....up to 40ft in the channel I seem to remember. So yes, it will certainly make a difference.

Its funny - there was a thread ages back about fishing in floods and I seem to remember many arguing that its good for chub fishing so long as you can find a still pool area. To a degree I accept that by my experience was that if its was muddy, even in the still areas, then it was really tough, and in the end I'd resolved just not tobother.

Nice piece Phil - took me back, although not always that pleasant memories!

nice one Phil

I remember when I was a kid and we lived in a cottage on the riverside (Lee) my dad was a flood warden and he always knew when the floodswere coming and he had to go along the 12 cottages and helpget all the contents up stairs

Bully im with you on the chub in heavy coloured water.I usually am Barble fishing in such condition's,a Chub would alway's be welcome bonus,however I've had very few Chub.When the river fine's down though I find the Chub fishing can be exellent and they were fit a butcher's dog,it suggetsted that they had been feeding,I wonder if the Chub were gorging on worm's.

Good, informative read Phil,thanks.

I find it easier to watch the trends in flow over a time ratherthan the levels as there are so many localinfluencing factors with the later, even though the two are obviously linked.

I would also say that the "run off" is not the best time if you know where the fish move to, for a while, at the onset of a flood.

I agree though thatunderstanding your river is the most important aspect of flood fishing and with the thoughtsexpressed regards chub.