30/07/2023 - A Good Session With Chub

With a stretch of the river Ribble being in a bad state with, sewage including sanitary towels and toilet paper, this in an area that is trying hard to attract tourism. Its nothing but a disgrace, these areas covered in sewage were ideal spots where insects would be trapped, making it an ideal place for ducklings to feed, sadly there was no sign of life. When I stirred the bed of the river, bottom with a wading staff immediately there was thick grey cloud of silt, usually in this area I would see masses of minnows and other small fry.I cast out a weight then dragged it back in, it was covered in horrid black weedy gung, is the best way to describe it.All this followed heavy rain on Monday, with a two feet lift on the river, which should have made it ideal for sea trout, no chance with all the filth, we didn’t see a single fish over a mile of water.

Change of Venue

Today I fished a venue I haven’t been on for some time, the water in the weir pool, was sparkling clear, the stones looked like diamonds, unlike the other water effected by sewage.It was around 0500 hrs when I arrived, the sky was overcast, with no wind, also it was warm, I couldn’t have asked for better conditions. I made up my Edgar Sealey cane Rover, matched with a Richard Carter centre pin with 4lb bs line, I added one of Sussex Micky’s Ducker floats then a size 10 barbless hook, having spent some time checking the depth, I settled on 6 feet where I reckon the bait would be close the bottom, sometimes dragging the gravel bottom. I then added enough shot so I had about half an inch of float showing. Having got myself settled in, which entailed sliding down the bank on my backside, as it would be quite dangerous for me to have tried climbing down the steep bank on my unsteady legs.Fish From The OffBaiting with a thumb nail size piece of crust, I dropped the float into the flow, it had gone ten feet then dipped, striking I got a hook up, after a brief struggle, I netted a chub estimated around 2lbs. In the next three hours I managed to catch a total of 15 chub all like peas in a pod. I also lost a few, then run out of bread. I tried cheese paste and luncheon meat, but couldn’t get a bite, even laying on didn’t make any difference. An hour later I chose to end what had been a very good session. I’m hoping to go back later this week if I can get a lift.All pics were taken with a long lens in poor light, but as you an see the surface is covered in a thick horrid smelly waste.

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