River Irwell Roach Fishing - Summer Dreams Realised - 20/07/2014
Salford Pete & The Casterman - A Dream Realised.
Approximately thirty five years ago - 1976 ish - I caught the bus every other Saturday with my dad AKA
Approximately thirty five years ago - 1976 ish - I caught the bus every other Saturday with my dad AKA
" Salford Pete "
to the old Victoria Bus Station off Chapel Street in the centre of Manchester. On our walk to the Arndale Centre I would always ask my dad to stop on Victoria Bridge, so I could dreamily look down at the solid, dark depths of the River Irwell and think" One day, one day I will catch fish from this river with my dad " I would then be dropped back down to earth with a bang by my dad as his answer was always the same.....
" It won't happen in my lifetime son ".
This answer always saddened me simply because I new my old man would love to catch fish from the River Irwell as he remembers what it was like in the 50's & 60's, a stinking cesspit !!!!!!!
to the old Victoria Bus Station off Chapel Street in the centre of Manchester. On our walk to the Arndale Centre I would always ask my dad to stop on Victoria Bridge, so I could dreamily look down at the solid, dark depths of the River Irwell and think" One day, one day I will catch fish from this river with my dad " I would then be dropped back down to earth with a bang by my dad as his answer was always the same.....
" It won't happen in my lifetime son ".
This answer always saddened me simply because I new my old man would love to catch fish from the River Irwell as he remembers what it was like in the 50's & 60's, a stinking cesspit !!!!!!!
Victoria Bus Station.
Victoria Bridge. Manchester Town Center.
Little did I know that thirty five years later Salford Pete and myself would be in the Mighty Megan travelling down Chapel Street to fish that very same stretch to fish for Irwell roach, dace and chub.
I was meeting a chap I had met at my new fishing club " Little Britain Anglers " Derek Kenyon was his name and he loves fishing the stickfloat, as do I
.
.
Salford Pete and I parked up and walked down to the river. I couldn't keep the smile off my face as the anticipation started building inside me. I was living out at a dream here, me and the old man in town on the River Irwell. This was definitely one off the bucket list !!!!!!!!!!
As we approached Dereks peg we said hello and asked what bait he was using. Dereks reply was instant and forthright " Caster lad, I always fish caster. Sorts out the better fish "
I think a legend was born at that moment
" The Casterman "
was his name from then on !!!!!!!!!!!
" The Casterman "
was his name from then on !!!!!!!!!!!
It was a bright warm afternoon. The reflection of sunlight around the riverside buildings was really intense. I could see Derek had donned his Polaroids so I thought I would have walk further downstream to a bridge, there was reduced sunlight due to the structure and a bolt hole for fish in the form of canal inlet.
We arrived at the bridge and fish were topping all around. I had made the right decision. A quick tackle up, and keep net between us, without further a do, we were away fishing.
It was a fantastic night and one that will be etched in mine and my fathers memory forever. The Fishing on the River Irwell in Manchester Town Centre was brilliant, roach to 8 oz small chub and dace , about 60 - 70 fish for me, 25 - 30 for Salford Pete. We fished until we couldn't see our floats ........ lol.
I didn't get any fishy pictures of that night unfortunately it was to dark but below are some fish from my previous session from the same stretch.
This is my net from the week before, not bad for 2.5 hours fishing.
This is my net from the week before, not bad for 2.5 hours fishing.
River Irwell Roach.
I was on the waggler fishing in the middle of the river, Derek "The Casterman " Kenyon was on his beloved stickfloat method along with Salford Pete.
To cap the night off we saw Adam Mack ( Manchester Pecheur ) and Luke Muscat as we loaded our fishing gear into the Megan.. We had a good natter, they had been banging out dace to 4 oz further upstream.
( Adam must have fancied a change from all his monster carp ......... Lmao )
Can I just say that the SFA has re-kindled a love for fishing I thought lost in my dad forever. He was 71 this year and he said he would never catch fish in his lifetime from the Irwell. Well, he had roach , dace and chub that night. He was WELL CHUFFED as was I.
Salford Pete - Fishing.....
Salford Pete - Fishing.....
My thanks goes out to the SFA, Derek, Michael Duddy, Phil Clayton, Eric Owen, David Parr, Adam Mack and many others over the years who have fought for a cleaner River Irwell.
Thanks, you have made an old man and a middle aged one very happy. It was
such a great treat for me to watch him achieve something he thought impossible.
Join Salford Friendly Anglers For Free Here.
http://salfordfriendlyanglers.co.uk/join/
Join Salford Friendly Anglers For Free Here.
http://salfordfriendlyanglers.co.uk/join/
TTFN,
Peanut.
I have a similar story. A few days after seeing the aquarium in Chester zoo, I was standing with my dad in the bear pit in Stockport, looking at the river. Five years old, I asked him if there were any fish in there. Obviously not, this was early 1950's. My dad was not a great angler, probably only went fishing to spend time with me, when I first started to fish aged about 12. His major claim to fame was to fall into the Trent one frosty day in February, during a club match. Of course he didn't want to get out, as the Trent ran very warm due to power stations in those days. I wish he had lived long enough to see fish in the Mersey. To remember and to mark the incident I once dangled a line over the bridge parapet in order to catch a 6 inch trout from the very spot.
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