River Douglas Roving - With John Derbyshire.

I had a pass off the Mrs this Sunday so with a quick line to a new pal of mine, John Derbyshire a plan was made to fish a little known river – to me anyway - ……The River Douglas in Bolton.

I still don’t know exactly where we were  but I know we were near the Reebok Stadium.

John said it’s a little river for roving so I was  traveling light, a bag and a rod…..that was it …..which is super light for me ......lol.

I told john while we were having breakfast at his house that I do not possess any Irwell sticks. He stopped chewing his bacon butty and stared at me in disbelief and said ………………… “ A float maker without any of his talisman floats…………your kidding right Mike “  “No” I replied. “ I thought I had a feather inlayed one but I couldn’t find it “ john chuckled and said “ well………….you’re not using mine “ with a big grin on his face. I nipped to the car, opened my float box and found , just one , lonely carved chubber. It was quite heavily loaded and took about 4 BB. JUST THE JOB FOR THE Little Dougy. “ That will do” said John as I showed him my weapon for the day. We quickly swilled down our tea and headed off to the river.

The river was not more than a stream a first glance , very shallow and fast flowing but with plenty of streamer weed as cover for the fish. We decided that we would take in in turns having a drop in as there was not enough pegs for us both to fish really.

First trot down my float buried and I struck into nothing and that was it. No more bites in that swim. John was taking the micky out of me for missing the only bite from that swim but he will have been feeling the pressure of me not catching already….......lol

The second swim looked more promising. A very fast riffle smoothing down to a quick  glide. First chuck in the little Carved Chubber disappeared under the surface. I hit this one for about 3 seconds then the line went slack, bugger. Johns turn. John had two trots down…….nothing. On the third trot he struck into a fish – probably a brownie – and then he lost it. Was it going to be one of those days ?????????

A couple of drops in some likely looking holes proved bite less. I could tell John was feeling the pressure a little more now – There is nothing worse than inviting another angler to your little stretch of heaven and struggling.

We came to a nice bend in the river and John assured me that we would catch.

 He introduced a few maggots and let me have first drop. I let it run in the faster water on the inside of the bend ………………. nothing

 “ Try flicking the chubber in the eddy on the far side and let it come round. Put three inches on your depth too “ John said. 

Following his instructions I watched the Carved Chubber meander round the eddy, the float buried without warning and I was into  a fish but guess

what ……..it was off again and we laughed and exchanged expletives. 

I had another drop and within 5 seconds the Carved Chubber went straight under and I was in. A quick battle and I had what I thought was a small chub in the net. Its not a chub Mike, it’s a dace. With a quick inspection and a look at the fishes fins I agreed it was indeed a dace and a nice one to from a tiny little river. John was smiling the pressure was off. 

John had a drop next with his Irwell stick and we watched it circle around the eddy once more.

Johns stick float collection.

  " Here " John said, " it will go here any second........." Sure enough, right on queue the float dipped once and then flew under, he was into a fish. This one flew straight for the fast water. I could tell it was a good size straight  away. He managed to turn it and play it out in the eddy. We both bet on it being a good size brownie of about a pound and a half but as he lifted her to the surface she gave us a split second flash of gold. “ It’s a chub “ !!!!!!!!!!!!! we both said in unison. He quickly got here under control and I netted her for him……..We both grinned like kids………………..................This is what we had come for this is what this little river can produce. John placed her down with care and unhooked her. “ I will give you about a  pound and and a bit for her John "………..nice one…….He held her in the current for about 10 seconds but she wasn’t hanging around. I looked at the pictures I had taken. Some where poor due to the bright sunlight but I had one that was half descent………………..” The pressure is off now lad “ I said to John. We both laughed and he gently shoved me out of the way and said “ My turn again Mike……..shift….you've had loads” and we both burst out laughing again.

John had a few more big dace and a small brownie.

The fish were still feeding but he wanted to get me to the main peg. So without further a doo we grabbed our kit and moved on.

We got about one meter when I heard a big bang and watched johns leg disappear down a hole in the rocks. I was terrified. This could be an air ambulance job and I have no idea where I am. This happened to me in Greece and I was close to braking my leg………………..John……………………John…………………….are you ok pal……………FFS came the reply……………yes I’m fine. I should know better. 

Take your time Mike. It’s a bit dodgy here but you should be fine. He made it to the flatter ground about 10 meters down stream and waited for me. I made it without incident. We both stopped and had a quick chat about what had nearly just happened and I told him what had happened to me in Greece. I should know better Peanut. I know this river like the back of my hand but she can still surprise me. I wasn’t paying enough attention to what I was doing.

With our near miss behind us we had a few drops in likely holes but these were tip…….. hit and hold pegs. You could not really get a good trot though.


 We then reached a small bend in the river with overhanging bushes and an undercut bank on the inside……….It screamed big chub. “ We have got to have a drop here John iIt looks the dogs………….” “Ok” said John. So I did………………………..and……………………….didn’t have a bite. It looks great and should be full of fish but the Irwell has swims like these as Bald Eagle and Casterman will testify but you just can not get a bite from them.

Right……………………………..this is were I get wet said John. He had told me before that we needed to wade across the river and told me to where my waders, which I did. John didn’t have the luxury of waders and as he slipped into the river the water easily reached the top of his welly bobs and then some. “ Jesus Its freezing “ John screeched.

We both laughed our heads off at him trying to traverse the river. “ It’s ok for you Mike. You have waders on. I merely replied “ Yes……………………. I do “ and then we were both in there river and scrambling up the banks to get to the best peg.

The banker peg was a small walk from where we got out of the river ………………. Good job really because John was soaked. He was prepared however and had a spare pair of socks.

Ok Mike this is it. Lets Start dripping some maggots in and see if we can get some of these bigger fish feeding...........We didn’t have to wait long. 

On my fifth trot down the Carved Chubber disappeared from view, the rod arched round and battle commenced !!!!!!!!!

This fish went straight for the overhanging bushes on the opposite side an reached them before I could do anything about it. John was cursing and calling me a clampit. “ That was a good one Mike “ “ Its still on I whispered” Why I was whispering god knows. I applied more pressure and she was free…….straight into the bushes on the near side this time. I couldn’t wind the pin in quick enough to keep up with her frantic bursts of speed. “ Give her some welly  “ John whispered. He was at it now…..lol. Again I applied more pressure and she was free……………..for three seconds , then she went for the streamer weed right in front of my feet ……………………….. and got in it . John nudged with the lading net and she was free again. I must admit I was a little disappointed when I saw the size of her. She gave a tremendous account of her self in such a small river. The difficulty in extracting her was multiplied by the amount of snags in the peg.....Fantastic sport.

 Not a bad one that Peanut. A little on the small side, she’s about 2 lb. I have had them out touching 5 lb. I just looked at him……………5 lb from this little river with all these snags…………..” Yep “ was the reply……………….OMG…………….I hope I can get one of those out pal., I would be made up.

We had quite a few more fish between us. The most noticable one for me was a pristean roach of about 6 oz caught by John trotting using my pin setup. He really liked fishing the pin, he looked a little arkward at first , like we all do but it didn’t take him long to get to grips with it, it doesn’t take a good angler long.

I great days fishing with Hand Crafted Floats, on an small river, on the pin, with good company.........What a great way to spend a Sunday morning.

Some of the other fish caught on the day.

We sat down an had some pop and chatted about many aspects of fishing. We really hit it off. He is a good lad John. We packed up and headed back to the car.
“ I have a treat for you but we have left it a bit late Mike “. I am taking you to a secret tench lake. Tench are one of my favourite species so I just said “ Show me the way govener “ and we were off.

I am not going to write a great a great deal about the tench lake mainly because we didn’t have enough time and I didn’t catch one on my Tinca Stick MKII ………………….but .................John had a lovely male out about 3 lb on a MKI Tinca Stick.

Look at the paddle on him !!!!!!!!!!!!!

I will be paying this lovely place a visit in May next year. Hopefully, John and myself can give it our full attention.

Thanks John Derbyshire for a fantastic days fishing, good company and a right good laugh. We will have to get you on the Irwell in the winter pal.

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 If you would like to look at all of the hand crafted floats I make please click on the link below and it will take you to my float page.

http://purplepeanut007.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/hand-crafted-floats-float-making-by.html?m=1

TTFN

PEANUT