R Wharfe

Hi,, sat pondering other day,,about this river we used to do well a few years back aint been for a while ,,used to be a tackle shop in Boston Spa on main road where you would get day tickets . Used to be able to drive down little lane to the pegs too,,but the owner of the house there was a bit of a tit,,well no actually he was a first class @@@@er he has been known to puncture your tyres and deliberately mess pegs up ,,so we went off this place a bit .Also fished kyme island that was nice spot,,again cars were getting robbed there so that put an end to that too!!

Anyways what is the fishing like there now ,,are the barbel still plentiful or has things changed ,,I did hear on grapevine it had suffered some form of pollution ,, also a peaty colour in river?? ,,,I got my first double from this river also caught my first barbel by accident here ,,a friend who was with me one session was fishing for barbel big meat etc,,only goes and lands a massive bream well over double ,,I would of guessed about 14lb we didnt have any scales with us that day,,also had decent chub to over 6lbs,,as I say this was quite a few years ago. Anyone ?

Cheers Rick .

I used to fish the Newton Kyme length after getting my ticket from the post office or paper shop near to the road that goes to the river bridge. As you say, the guy at the bungalow had an aversion to anglers parking near his house and the parking at Newton Kyme was not safe. I used to walk the stretch from the bridge at Boston Spa. There was a small car park there and it meant covering about 8 miles in all on foot if I did the whole length so it was not for everybody. Nowadays there are too many barbel bivvy boys camped out for my liking.

There was a cracking barbel swim where the paper mill gantry was located and the cattle drinks were productive too. Last time I fished it I was fly-fishing for grayling and had barbel swimming about at my feet. One day, many years ago I was near to the baths where a small stream comes in. A huge brown trout swam lazily past my wellies, up the stream and under the small waterfall under which were a shoal of roach fry. He was going for his fish supper and never even looked at my double maggot offering on his way back.

I fished the Collingham stretch a bit too. There are still plenty of barbel and good grayling in there. It is a lovely river when not too busy.

Yes , very underrated imo ,but those in the know did well,,it was the closest barbel river to me,,about an hours steady drive ,,but some cracking fish to be had ,,think the record is about 14lb? I did try to get on the Tadcaster length ,,used to stop there and watch the chub and barbel chase about for our chips ,,I did ring regarding membership and they took my name down never heard anything to this day.
I believe a certain Mick Wood takes his fair few ,dont know him personally but have seen his name here and there. Would like to know how it fishes nowadays though ,,may give it a look at start of new season,,lovely river
By the way anybody know if you can get on Tadcaster length ,,or is it closed shop.
All the best Rick

The official wharfe barbel record is 15lb 8oz off the top of my head, but the same fish has been caught at just over 16lb got the anglers name at home can't remember it at the mo.

Mike Stafford said:

The official wharfe barbel record is 15lb 8oz off the top of my head, but the same fish has been caught at just over 16lb got the anglers name at home can't remember it at the mo.

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How did they catch a barbel off the top of your head?

In the two stretches of the middle Wharfe that I fish, barbel catches have fallen a lot in the last few years. A friend of mine has had similar experiences on a stretch further along the river.

There does seem to be a problem with declining catches of most species of fish in the middle Wharfe. Last year various clubs held a meeting in Otley, which was attended by the EA, to discuss what could be done.

Right ,, so what was the outcome of the meeting? Anybody know .

Some of the clubs present gave the EA data of fish catches, including match results, for the EA to analyse.

The EA agreed to monitor fish stocks more closely at two points on the river - I think it was Ilkley and Tadcaster. Some thought that the monitoring points should on the middle Wharfe instead.

I believe that the EA has also said that barbel catches have fallen on most of the Yorkshire rivers.

There seems to be a trend on rivers , they peak for so long , then seem to decline , for some reason or other , bit like the Trent . Cant have it all ways I suppose . Is this natures way , or more to do with what is going into river systems , I wouldnt really know . Hate reading about pollution incidents though , it saddens me to see big fish that have took years to grow ,then end
belly up .

I fish middle Severn every year during summer for a week , and this seems to be going that way too,,or maybe the water fluctuations have something to do with it spreading them out into tighter pockets ,even the flood pegs didnt fish too well . In the last few years we have been , we have had high levels which is good for the fishing ,but as I say not many fish , just my opinion anyway . We had our best catches in the 90s ,
and this was when the summers were hot ,so oxygenated areas were guaranteed good bags , easier to find the fish too .Cant complain too much though we ve had our fair share of barbel over the years . Will I continue going to the Severn? I believe so ,the scenery is awesome , and my batteries recharge nicely , and believe it or not there doesnt seem to be many anglers about too,nice. Cheers Rick

i use fish the Wharfe at Kyme. Was great just above the island casting to the far bank, had some cracking chub out.
The noticebale thing is the lack of water compared to how it use to be, you could only wade 1/4 across even in the summer. last few times ive been, i bet you could wade all the way across if you tried.
I remember going in the trout season when that use to be allowed and the water in the middle of the island was black. With river lamprey, was an amazing sight

I did actually walk across the river , near where the island starts ,and had a nosey on the far bank it will of been about the same area as you mentioned , god there were some big chub there also one big barbel, sat underneath the trees mooching about , I estimated one chub at about 8lb, the barbel was definately a good double , I was feeding them bits of meat , all were interested , except the big barbel . Its a cracking spot full of features just a shame cars arent safe there.
Roll on summer.

thats great to hear. Last few times ive been just made my heart sink, how its changed so much.
Will have to have a go at the back end of the season, brink back the good times