Irwell Pollution

These photos were taken in Stoneclough this afternoon behind the Grapes Pub.
If you ever see anything like this please report it to:
Environment Agency Emergency Hotline on 0800 80 70 60

FFS things like this are just not on anymore.
No reports of any dead fish (yet)

Fishing and Blogging With The BBC

At the back end of 2011, myself Nick and Paul had a day on camera with the BBC. Trying to catch fish on the Manchester Ship Canal outside their new Media City offices.

You can see how we got on here
http://www.bbc.co.uk/webwise/courses/manchester-ship-canal/lessons/manchester-ship-canal

we are on for 5 minutes at 1.27.30 or part 18 if you click on one of the blue squares down below.
Sadly all references we made to remarkable resemblance of a passing Asian tourist to Kim Jong-il hit the cutting room floor.

The piece was made to encourage people to use the internet - rather than as a film about angling - which is probably a good thing seeing as though we didnt even get a bite.

Always A Wag

There always a wag insn't there - but this one did provoke a wry smile

Long Overdue

Its difficult to keep up with everyones blogs - these days everyones seems to be at it. Naturally theres the good, bad and indifferent.

I like to think that the blogs I follow represent a good cross section of the  better fly / match / specimen / pleasure anglers in the Northwest.

A coarse/pleasure blog on the River Dee? - missing for a while - and I should have added this excellent blog a long time ago - apologies Danny

http://www.satonmyperch.blogspot.com/

Now added

Roach

In pursuit of the 2lber, I met up with Phil K for a day on some old gravel pits we know half way up the M6 towards Lancaster.
Though the temperature was warmish (12 degrees) the wind chill saw us shivering by lunchtime so we called it a day quite early on.
I had an 8 ouncer on caster first cast, but then had to wait til just as we were packing up before I could get another bite.
Phil used waggler red naggots and had a few nice roach to 1lb 8oz, and also a new personal best tench of 5lb 11oz - well done that man!

Its a carp lake that has a good head of coarse fish which are generally considered a nuicance by the locals - I'll be back hopefully on Saturday.

Hooked

I cleaned out one of my three fishing boxes this evening - note to self - stop buying hooks everytime I visit the tackle shop.

Trout Fishing At Pendle View

As I've been suffering recently with a bad chest - I didnt really fancy todays planned fishing trip with the lads on the River, so managed to persuade them that the trout would be obliging at Pendle View Fishery.
I've fished this water on and off for a number of years - its probably the easiest place to catch rainbows in the area, and they succumb on a regular basis to all tactics. Easy fishing, just whats needed when your all bunged up and only want an hour or two out of the house.

I set up using an elk hair caddis - even though it was cold and bright as the fish here seem to take off the surface no matter what the conditions. But i had no luck, and it wasnt until I swapped over to a white and chartreuse cats whisker that the fish took any interest in what i had to offer. I tried quite a few lures, even this old Salmon fly which has sat in my box for years and never been used. (it went back in after a dozen casts).

Plucks, swirls then the pull of a fish - a great couple of hours. The scenery was better than the fishing though with dozens of parasailers taking advantage of the conditions over Pendle Hill.

Though we all caught - the lake didnt live up to its usual high number of fish - probably because there were nearly a dozen anglers thrashing the water on the small lake. It always seems to fish best when theres only a few on.
Great weather, great company, and an enjoyable couple of hours fishing.
For anyone who is thinking of giving this place a try - dont bother with the Salmon flies - i was only messing about seeing what i could dig out of the depths of my fly box, trying something silly to see if it would work.
We usually use buzzers, spiders and small floating beetles on here for best results - resorting to lures if the fishing is slow.

The Quarry

 A very cold front!

A new venue - which is local to me and reputed to hold BIG roach. I've been meaning to get up there for a few weeks now to have a reccie but havent been able to find the time. So I had a few hours free this afternoon so Paul and I decided to give it a go.

The weather was far from ideal for roach fishing - bright sunshine - a strong gusting cold wind - interspersed with hail showers and to end the day off a real downpour.

After intially struggling to get presentation right in the gusting wind, we both finally started to get bites and were rewarded with a couple of 2oz roach - not the 2lbers we were after, but its a start, and it gives us a better idea of the tactics we might use in the future.
Brrrr that wind was cold.

An Impressionist On The Irwell

Pierre Adolphe Valette was a French impressionist artist who came to live in Manchester in 1905. Finding our murky grey landscape to his liking - he stayed in the North West until 1928 painting many Manchester landscapes in the Impressionist style. He became a tutor at the Manchester Municipal School of Art and was mentor to L.S. Lowry.

Adolfe Valette Bailey Bridge 1912 above,   Mike Duddy 2012 below

Adolphe painted many pictures of the Irwell in the impressionist style - today I did a good impression of an angler - and caught bugger all.

Angling Research - The Social And Community Benefits Of Angling

Not my research - but the recently completed study by the fantastic people at http://www.substance.coop/ in Manchester.

Well done Drs Adam, Paul and Natalie

Here it is:
http://www.resources.anglingresearch.org.uk/sites/resources.anglingresearch.org.uk/files/Final%20report.pdf