River Idle Roach

[Michael Townsend 3]

There was a cormorant problem on the Idle. One day after pre-baiting heavily at Bawtry over 20 surfaced in my swin and flew off. Though that stretch seemed to slow after that day there are still a lot of fish to be caught there. At Misson and Haxey there are a few fish that have beak marks on their backs, so the cormoronts have been around but probably not in great numbers. A river close to me (Torne) has seen chub start to prosper and the roach have quickly declined. This probably has more to do with the water level and flow halving than anything else. I think the chub thrive better in shallow clear water than big roach. On the Idle there are a lot of chub with the roach, but not to many at haxey. The futher upstream you go the more chub there is, with the area around Bawtry having a good mix of both species.

 

[Michael Townsend 3]

John, when i got back to my peg the river was running off nicely but i continued to struggle so called it a day. Ron was laying on with his lolly float hoping for a biggie with his shiney new reel in the mud. There was a lot of rubbish coming down the river and it turned a chocolate colour. Im off on Friday and if the weather is ok i will fish futher upstream because there are a lot of people on the stretch. I think this makes the bigger fish cagey which coupled with the fact that we havn't had much rain recently is making the area a bit hit and miss, especially when the river is backing up. The bailff told me the peg had produced the day before, so it might have been hammered or it could have had left over bait thrown in. These are posers i dont usually have to think about on this river, so a new stretch it will be. I'll let you know how i get on.

 

[Michael Townsend 3]

I might not be much good at fishing, but im great at excuses !

 

[john ledger]

Surgeon
You would cerainly not go fishing for chub on the lower Idle as its like a slow moving Lincolnshire drain.Above Bawtry the chub fishing comes into its own as the river is more natural and is not governed by the tide.
Scrooby Mattersey Retford streches hold good heads of chub with plenty in the 3 to 4lb bracket. Even though I have fished the river on and off since the fifties my biggest chub is 4lb 14oz although I have taken some huge bags one of nearly 100lb. Roach stocks here are good but in winter migrate to the lower deeper reaches

 

[Bill Lees 2]

Hi,

I have just found these articles on the Idle. I haven't been for a couple of yeras, I succumed to the easy fishing of the commercial fisheries in the area. Anyway I went to the river recently to fish a stick float at Bailey Bridge and noticed it is now Private. Fished anyway and got a couple of roach but need to practice more! Does anyone know whch stretches you can still fish?

 

[Tony Rocca]

Where ever you like it seems.

 

[Wendy Perry 2]

Hi Bill I have fished the Idle a couple of times and i may be popping down myself this weekend.The place i have fished it is at Haxey in Bawtry i think it's called. You go to the Haxey Inn pub carp park, then to the left is a little bridge leading to the river and the golf course.It's a beautiful stretch there!

Hope this helps

 

[Bill Lees 2]

Thanks Wendy,

I'll give it a visit!

 

[Wendy Perry 2]

Good luck Bill, let us know how you get on!

 

[Beecy]

I will be fishing the Idle at Haxey tommorow if anyone fancys it