Purplepeanut007 PP007 FLOAT MAKING & FISHING ADVENTURES - THE RIVER IRWELL AND BEYOND.

After two of my mates cried off this weekend ( Shame on you.....lol )  🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 I didn't have a plan of where to go !!!!! I have been struggling to get motivated to fish for quite some time now but I had to go and test out my new stick float so I chose to go local hope for the chub or the newly stocked silvers to show. The wind was up but I chose to use my Trudex pin coupled with an Acolyte Plus. I fancied fishing over depth slowing the bait right down using a large domed stick and the pin is great for this method. The first choice of swim I chose was a bad one. The swim had changed quite a lot since the last time I fished it. It had a lot of depth but with changing currents steams and an eddy on the far side.....very difficult to get in a rhythm and keep your bait in one run. I did manage one trout........but this was the only bite I had in 45 minutes so I packed up and off to the next peg. This run was also very slow...... two bites..... two trout...

The first chubber I made was a bit of a beast taking 7 swan shot  . . . . . . http://purplepeanut007.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/new-chubber-float-in-metallic.html?m=1 so I thought I would make a couple of pairs for general and light fishing. Below is the smallest of the new chubbers. This pair does not have any coloured paint on the body apart from the white and Pink / yellow fluorescent on the tips.  All the rest of the floats colour is produced by thread which are . . . Black Gold Violet & Blue. These are without doubt the hardest floats I have ever made and took ALL my patience to complete them. It is not so much the difficulty but the size of this build that gave me multiple issues. I have very small hands and fingers and still struggled.  I have added a 5 pence piece to the picture to give you some kind of scale regarding the size of the floats. These will be useful bit if kit on a lot of rivers I fish and also for up in the water fish...

A long overdue social session had been orgsnised by " The Casterman " on the Irwell. . . . . Unfotunately "Bald Eagle" was working and "Salfold Pete"  was on taxie duties to the hospital all day  so it was just myself and Derek Kenyon for this session. We arrived around tea time and settled down fishing next to each other for the first forty minutes. Fist things first. I present Casterman with the but section of his Tricast XRS float rod. I had replaced the butt eye for him and he seemed impressed with my efforts. I am no Andrew Boyne but it seemed pretty good to me.  I had the better peg of the two but the session did not start off to well for either of us with a bumped fish, then I lost another. I was glad the Casterman was out of site, hidden behind an overhanging beech tree. He would have chastised me relentlessly if he would have seen me lose two fish !!!!!!!!! At the thrid bite of the cherry I got a hook up. ...

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...

BLACK OPS MISSON - CHUB ON THE STICK. I had a three hour window on Sunday morning to extract an Irwell chub. Got to a " Deep Cover " out of the way peg that I have only seen in the winter. Casterman & myself trimmed the branches on the opposite side so you could trot under them. When I got there it was like the Amazon.........Hogweed, nettles and brambles were the enemy ....I had to fight my way through  100 meters of this shite being extremely careful not to get stung off the Hogweed. For those of you who do not know about Giant Hogweed it is an invasive species that grows all along the river Irwell making some sections of the river almost impossible to fish in the summer time. When stung by this plant it can produce huge blisters that can re-occur for seven years, is light sensitive so it comes back when the sun shines upon the infected area …….as I said…..NASTY STUFF INDEED………I could go on but I will leave it for know as this is a topic on its own. I...

Irwell Sticks On The Irk !!!!!!!!!!!! With a spare couple of hours this morning I headed of to the River Irk for the first time. I new it was going to be a VERY difficult couple of hours as the fish population density is minute, a lot less than the Irwell and would benefit from some stocking.......If you are listening........ E.A. .........!!!!!!!! A few brave pioneering souls like Phil Clayton , Michael Duddy, Adam Mack , Richard O'Riely & Paul James to mention but a few have lead the way regarding this little River so with big shoes to fill I headed off for my first session. I had looked at the river the day before and it was virtually un-fishable 4ft up,  batting through and deep chocolate in colour. Today, however, she was still carrying extra water but had dropped to about 1.5 feet above normal levels and just had a bit of colour. She looked pretty good to be honest so I grabbed my gear from the mighty Megan and made my way to the first run hoping for a chub...