Fishing the tiny River Medlock and beyond

Fishing the tiny River Medlock and beyond

Sunday 11 March 2012

As the season draws to a close

A last chance today to run a stick float through Clayton Vale. After a big breakfast at my new early morning haunt, Brewsters cafe in Strangeways, along with the Manchester Pecheur we arrived on the Meddy in Beswick to be met by a fairly low and static river. Not the best start, and after an hour trotting a swim that has recently thrown up some beauties, without a hint of a fish I began to wonder whether we would see a fish today.  The arrival of another angler, Phil, signalled the time to move over and let an expert try, complete with centre pin reel. Who were we to spoil his Sunday? after all we were doing nothing anyway.
I wonder how he went on? Hopefully better than us two so far. However the day did pick up after we dropped on the Vale. After losing a good chub to a snag on the bottom I finally hit a good fish that I managed to steer into open water. A decent scrap followed before this lovely 2lb 13oz chub came to the net, weighed expertly by the Pecheur on his Korum digital scales. The Pecheur has every top quality gadget known to the angling world!

I managed another two fish, both brown trout, and both decent fish, from the same swim. All caught to double maggot on the stick float. The best pictured below. The other decided to jump from my hands, obviously camera shy.


The prettiest fish of the day fell to the Pecheur. A lovely 2lb 1oz trout that gave him the real run around before coming to the net. This fish gave a really good account of itself and drew an audience on the bridge. A really pretty trout. Pity about the captor!
We both lost other fish during the afternoon before deciding to move to a quieter spot upstream due to kids throwing missiles in the river, and dogs swimming beneath our feet. Thats the problem with fishing in the suburbs of Manchester. The Vale is like a little tourist trap when the sun comes out. A move to the golf course saw both of us get no more bites. This stretch was once the jewel in the crown but is now devoid of fish other than the odd minnow. Pity really, but it didn't stop the three other anglers we bumped into trying! I don't think I have ever seen so may people on the river in one day.
So the season draws to a close for me as my day off this week sees me travelling to Essex to say farewell to a good friend, Peter, from our England trips, who sadly passed away after a long illness. Peter was a real gent, and an Arsenal season ticket holder, and will be sadly missed by all. He was a man that touched the hearts of everybody he met. He always wanted to go to a World cup finals and achieved that dream in 2010 in South Africa. Sadly he came home after the group games as he was unwell , and has been poorly on and off since. Peter will live on in all our memories. He was that sort of gentleman.

7 comments:

  1. Great stuff Dave that Chub is mint not a scale out of place and those trout would be the envy of many a fluff chucker down south!

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    1. Yes some lovely fish to end the season. Enjoyed that chub, as they have been scarce over the winter

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  2. DID I SEE THE MEDDY MAN AND THE PECHEUR ON THE VALE?
    Hi dave. Im gaz. I have been following your blog for a while though i think this is my first post. I decided to take a trip to the bridge with my lad today. On arrival i thought i saw the two meddy legends leaving the spot i wanted to fish on the far bank. Not good signs. However, I persevered with no luck. Although within that hour a small fish jumped my float and a larged one turned over my sons, no legered, bait.
    A nice finish to the otherwise bleek story is my mentioning of the meddy man to the chap behind gilders counter. He said he had heard of him before, that morning. Matt Hayes watch out........

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  3. I like Gilders tackle shop, cracking bait and good range of tackle available, go there regularly.

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  4. Where did you visit?
    Was it you two i seen there then?

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  5. We were on the Vale Gaz, must have been us.

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