Peanut & The Ginger Assassin Hit The River Yarrow

Both John and I finally got round to our River Yarrow trip.
We have both been looking forward to this for a long time as next to nothing is known
 ( by us ) about this little river. We were hoping for chub roach and dace but any fish from a new river would be most welcome.

We tackled up next to the van as it would be easier to do so. Once ready we walked over to the field which the river flowed though. As we approached the river John stopped dead in his tracks . . . . .

“ Is that Hogweed Mike “ ?

“ Unfortunately yes it is mate “
I replied.

Hogweed is a horrible invasive species which gives u a very nasty burn . If it gets into your eyes it can actually blind you . . . . .
Horrid stuff ! ! ! !

Hogweed

Hogweed Burns

Click the link for more information on Hogweed

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/problem-solving/giant-hogweed-everything-you-need-to-know/

A little down hearted we fought through the Japanese Knot weed down to a VERY small wild river. 

It was just my cup of tea.

“ What do you think Peanut “

“ Shangri-La Johnny, Shangri-La “ 😆

I fell in love with this river there and then.

John just smiled

 “ I new you would love it.

 I have been waiting to fish this river for ages but I didn't have any waders “.

I had lent John my neoprene chest waders and I had some thigh waders which are a bit small for me but would do for a short session.

John picked the best run on the length to trot 

( No change there then   . . . Lol ).

His weapon of choice was a 4no 4 Irwell Stick which was ideal for this little gem of a river & we were both feeding red maggots and hemp.

My swim was a small hole under a massive tree off the main current which then peeled off into a nice run.

Johns session didn’t start off to well. He snagged his Irwell Stick on some far bank greenery and had to in up to is waist to retrieve it. 

The best way to ruin your first swim John . . . .

LMAO.

I explored my first little swim. I had nothing in the slack water so tried to place my float on the crease made by the branches of the overhanging tree that I was under. 

I managed to place my float where I wanted it and backed off to enable a trot down.

Within three seconds the float shot under and I was into my first Yarrow fish. I had to clamp down hard and reel like crazy to keep her away from all the snags and branches. It didn’t take long to get her in.

John sloshed up through the knee high water and said

“ What you got there Peanut “ 

“ A little Yarrow Brownie John “ I replied with a grin.

The Yarrow fish seemed much paler than their Irwell counter parts we had caught previously.

What do you think ?

Buzzing with my first fish from a new stretch of river we I had another ten minutes in my swim while John waded down stream to explore. With no further bites I decided to join John. It took me about ten minutes to find him at a beautiful S bend in the with a submerged tree half way down the run.

“ You had out Ginger one “ I chuckled as I approached him.

He just grinned and looked at his landing net. In side was another small brownie of around 10 oz.

 He couldn’t keep the grin from his face. We were both of the mark.
Now we could relax into the session. We had about five fish from this run, all brownies up to a pound. On several occasions we retrieved our terminal gear to find our maggots had been sucked. The bites had registered but both of us couldn’t connect. The bites were positive to. We were left scratching our heads. 

“ We would have hooked one if they were minnows John “ I muttered.

“ Yea mate. I am a bit stumped myself Mike “ says John as we scrambled up the bank to get past the deeper water.

As we were walking through the long grass looking for a way to access the river we managed to find one through the knot weed but it needed some chopping. John had his rod rest ready for some chopping action and with him nearly twenty years my junior I wasn’t arguing with him.

 I past down our gear and we both had a wade down stream and found a pool that  . . . . 

“ ABSOLUTELY SCREAMED FISH  “

Upstream the river was completely obscured by an over hanging tree. To our right on the opposite bank there was a large rubbish raft followed by a nice glide ending with a walk bridge over the river. I had first trot down. I had also changed my hook size to a 12 to accommodate the lob worm. I was now using for bait. At the end of the run the float dipped twice the disappeared from view. A quick right to left stick and I was into another fish, another brownie. I netted it an quickly returned it. John had missed two bites while I was un-hooking my fish and again his maggot was destroyed. He was still on an 18’s so I let him have a few more trots down to see if he could hook the mystery fish. On the third trot right at the and of the pool his float dipped under and he was in. It wasn’t a big fish but John had a grin as wide as his head and said in an exited voice . . . . . .

“ Its not a brownie Mike. I am sure of it pal “.

Thirty seconds later he had the fish in the net.. . .

It was a
” Fin Perfect Dace “ .

We where both buzzing. It was the first silver fish from this stretch. It was plump and in great condition. We took some pictures and realised her as quickly as possible.

John with his fin perfect Dace

We both had a few more trots each but to no avail . Funny how a swim screams fish and there is not much there. May be when there is more water in the river the inhabitants may come out to play ! ! ! !

We had time for one more go at a decent swim so we waded down the river and found another swim that screamed fish but only produced one small brownie for me.

 The swim was a deep bend that trailed off to some rapids. John moved down stream and tried the shallower water. He missed two bites but just as we were going to call it a day he hooked something that bent his 12 foot rod double. We will never know what it was as it was only on for about four seconds then slipped the hook.
 John was really annoyed with himself. . . . . LOL

“ I have been waiting for this fish all day Mike . .  BUGGER “

We will never know what the fish was but it will keep us coming back for more. That’s for sure.

Get out there and have a go yourself. There are some great rivers in the north west. The more people that fish them the better we can protect them from pollution.
Much more satisfaction than fishing a commercial in my opinion.

Until the next time……….

TTFN

Peanut.

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

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