Rain, rain, and more rain.

I seem to be having little luck with the weather these days. Any free time for fishing since the turn of the year has been accompanied by inclement weather, or so it seems. My last visit to the Vale was a wet one and today was no different. Fine drizzle continued to fall all day as I sat out a real grueller of a session on the river Medlock. The first two hours didn't even produce a twitch on the tip, on a favourite swim, though these days I seem to be more determined than ever. A move to a deep hole where last time out Adam tempted a cracker of a brown trout had to see my fortune change.  Up to now I was fish less for 2012 and on for my second consecutive blank on the Medlock, which is actually quite difficult to achieve. The river today was murky brown and pushing through quickly and I seem to struggle in such conditions.

Not to be outdone I cast a 30g Preston maggot feeder loaded with an extra half ounce bomb to hold the bottom toward the wall of the bridge at the end of my swim and waited, and waited. Fortunately fellow maggotdrowner Stretford Red, and a guy that regularly walks his dogs along the Vale, came along for a nosey and a chat which brightened up a so far dull day. Then after an hour or so the slightest of knocks alerted my interest. Again the tip twitched as I adjusted the rod. I had a fish on, and it felt like a good one. After a great scrap in which the fish rarely surfaced I pulled one of the Medlock's resident brown trout over the landing net.

On a day when I thought the weather would beat me I was pleased to be holding any fish, even if it wasn't the winter chub I was looking for it was a beauty.

I did manage a second smaller fish below, again a hard fighting brown trout, but today was a long hard session.

Thanks goes to Stretford Red for the photographic efforts. Only living a hundred yards from the spot I was fishing should be tempting enough for him to venture on in the warmer weather. If I lived as close I would never be away from the bank. Talking of which one of the downsides of a water becoming popular is that not all anglers care about the environment. This swim has become a magnet for such visitors who leave most of what they bring strewn about the bank. I did bring a bag to try and clean up the bank but really needed a bin liner. Hopefully those people will read this blog and think twice before throwing their empty Carling cans over their shoulders in future. There are large litter bins all through the Vale that are emptied daily, so there is really is no need to spoil this pleasant spot.

Next week I hope to try something a little different. Sretford Red and myself are hoping to combine a few real ales with a trip to the Etherow on the 237 bus. Should take me back to my youth when we did this every Sunday before I owned a car. They say you shouldn't look back, but those were great days , and if I enjoy it only half as much as I did then it will be an outing to remember.

1-0 in your own back yard....

A less than well planned day took myself and Adam Mack  A.K.A. Manchester Pecheur (Now world famous) on to the River Medlock at Clayton. After many days of poor weather, torrential rain etc. would it be worth it?  Well if anything it would be a day on the river and a bit of fresh air. Despite pushing through hard the river was just about fishable, although muddy brown. Between us we managed minimal bites, but Adam managed one fish, a huge beautiful Medlock Trout, worth a day in the rain by any standards.

Well done Adam, to catch anything on the river was a feat today. What a superb fish to concede defeat to.

Ukraine river fishing...if you dare

I do! But I will be staying on the lash if too many of these turn up during the Euro 2012 championships. You never know what a bit of research will throw up!

http://www.fishingfury.com/categories/world/ukraine/

The shortest day, on the Tame

December 21st, the shortest day in the calendar found me nursing a headache after the previous evenings Salford friendly anglers Xmas do. Buoyed up by an evening of tall fishing stories in the fishing call my bluff contest (believe me there are some fantastic liars in the fishing club!) I decided to put a little reality back in to the week and found me heading for the River Tame. Mossley is a small town about 15 miles north east of Manchester, most famous for its football teams exploits in the FA Trophy, getting to Wembley on a few occasions. However running through Bottom Mossley is the beautiful River Tame, a streamy river with some deeper wide bends and reputedly some big fish.  I set up on a swim by the Roaches lock pub and tried to battle the raging current on a very high river, switching feeders several times to try and hold bottom. I have fancied this swim for a long time, trust me to pick a day to try it when it was unfishable.

Down but not out I began walking downstream, fancying a bash at the adjacent Huddersfield narrow canal, which really does have some fantastic looking pegs. Determined to bag a river fish I found a slacker corner a few hundred metres on, and plonked my gear down on the first fishable spot of the river I came by. Having only a few metres of slack water to aim at I cast a medium drennan feeder perfectly into the hole, placed the rod down and waited, all of two seconds, for a big rap on the tip. It turned out to be a greedy brown trout which gave a good account of itself in the fast current.

Arriving at this swim around 1.30pm I fished until darkness fell at around 3.45pm and managed to catch thirteen trout of various sizes, nothing big, but all welcome on a miserable overcast afternoon.

All told a really enjoyable afternoon, which started as an exercise to blow the cobwebs of a hangover away. As I walked back up the towpath of the canal to the car park I could see the lights of the Roaches lock pub in the distance, looking very welcoming.

My apologies for the quality of the pictures. Today's trip was so impromptu I forgot the camera. This river rises in the Pennine hills and runs right through  Saddleworth and the delightful Uppermill village, on to Mossley, Stalybridge and on through Tameside to Stockport where there are some very large Barbel and chub. We really are blessed with some fantastic river fishing around Manchester, some of it in really pleasant locations, for those that have the appetite to try.

Ukraine in June

So finally it was the draw for the Euro 2012 championships, and as I sat with fingers crossed for Poland on the basis of cost of travel, I knew nothing would go to plan,, as it never does. Ukraine it is for England, and not only that the group we drew is the costliest to travel to. So after a stressful evening the flights are booked to Donetsk and all that remains is accomodation (minor issue), match tickets, and places to fish. I have made a promising start..........
http://www.ribaki.org.ua/forum/   Thank heavens for Google translate.
I can see the tent getting an airing on this tourament, which will be a first. Better make sure there is a good river or lake nearby.

A few trout

The grand plan fell apart this week. Tuesday was to be a day trying pastures new, however as with most plans at the moment, it didn't happen. Oldham angling had no maggots late afternoon Monday and it was too late to nip to Gilders in Failsworth. I wouldn't mind had he not chewed my ear off , telling me he had stocked maggots for sixteen years, when I asked if he did bait the previous week. Then to top it off I got home to be reminded by my better half that it was double discount day at Asda for colleagues in the morning, which meant shopping before fishing. Bowing to the pressure, Asda it was, and after a quick visit to Gilders for bait I finally arrived at the river late morning, ending up on the Medlock in Clayton vale. Only caught six trout of various sizes, nothing big, and really struggled on the usual hotspots. Funny day really, freezing water, dark mist early on, then beautiful sunshine in the afternoon. Must have confused the chub as I didn't have one decent wrap round on the tip.

Clayton revisited

Today I ventured into the city centre to try one of my favourite swims on the Medlock at Potato Wharf.

 As I had to drive through Clayton to get to town, I decided it would be rude to pass the Clayton Cafe without stopping for another large brekkie. The fishing started badly, and my patience was stretched to breaking point. There was a large snag on the river bed which quickly accounted for three feeder rigs and 5 hooks. After an hour of this and no bites it was decision time. This swim is a Summer swim, but it is nearly impossible to access then because of brambles and thick undergrowth, but I would doubt I will try it in the winter again.
So it was back to the Bay Horse, where midweek I had caught a few chub. This section comes with it's own jungle to negotiate, looked fantastic today as the sunshine broke through.

 What an inspired decision. Not only was it averaging a fiver an hour in lost tackle at Potato Wharf, but first cast I was into a decent trout. These trout know how to fight, and it was to huge relief the fish finally came to the net after a prolonged battle.

Another smaller, but no less welcome trout came to the net before the first decent chub of the day showed up.

The bites were uncharacteristically slight on the tip, just little knocks. Maybe the fish were affected by the big frost, and the water temperature , which was noticeably colder today. My feet were feeling it as I was stood in the margins all day. As I was missing more knocks than hitting I switched to stick float tactics. The result was instant. First trot through the swim brought a fantastic bite, which preceded a fine scrap with what turned out to be a probable personal best chub from the Medlock. For a river this size these fish seem totally disproportionate, what a clunker.

I fished until sundown but couldn't top the chub. What a wonderful afternoon after a shaky start in the morning. I exercised some self control today as I headed back past the pub to the car, although the second chub was worth celebrating.

Great end to a decent week. No fishing next week as England have a couple of friendly matches, including a chance to test ourselves against the World champions. No chance to take the rods as the family tag along to Wembley these days.