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

Having sorted out some things at home earlier in the day and applying some further lacquer coats to various floats I found myself with three hours to kill. I was going to have another crack at grayling on the Goyt but didn't fancy getting caught in rush hour traffic on the M60 on the way home so opted for a  " Smash & Grab Raid " On my local stretch of the Irwell. I nearly didn't go fishing at all but a phone call and a quick roasting off " The Casterman " Saying  . . . .. " Get out there while the weather's good " made me get my kit together and test out one of the best looking floats I have made to so far I got a wiggle on and was there for 15.00. The first peg was one I had fished before. A good fast paced run for testing my new " Pacemaker " http://purplepeanut007.blogspot.co.uk/2017/02/medium-pacemaker-my-best-float-to-date.html?m=1 I had all ready made up the float rig, so, setting

I was not going to blog about this until I saw Andrews picture of the floats I had made for him. I really like the picture he took below so I wrote a quick blog of our meet for you all to read. I hope u like it. 😊 ___________________ Today I had a morning out to visit Andew Boyne  ( Of Boynes Custom Rods ) maker of . . " The Creature Reacher " I had made him a few floats for the Ribble. I had a window so drove the 10 mile trip to his house to drop them off as he had been to mine on many occasions while building the . . . .  " Creature Reacher " He was waiting at the door while I struggled with my float boxes up the garden path. The kettle was on quick sticks and I opened up my box of surprises. I pulled out a small bag and showed Andrew what I had made for him. I wont tell you all exactly what I gave him but I will show you all his complete collection of my floats which is only three quarters finished. Andrew himself took a l

The reason I felt guilty regarding the purchase of the Abu 506 was because of this beauty below. 😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲 This is the Abu704. For less than £20.00 including postage on ebay I just could not resist this with 3 spools supplied to.  😲  !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just goes to show if you look hard enough there are still some bargains out there on ebay. 😉 I have one of these already. 😈 It cost me £30.00 second hand with one spare spool so this is a bargain. I had dropped my older reel on the floor at home. The floor is solid oak so it was like dropping in on a slab of concrete.  !!!!!!!!!!! The reel was fine apart from a small dent in the cowl but just a small dent altered the cylindrical shape of the spool slightly. It also made it very difficult to remove and replace which is a must with these reels. It also hindered the line release from the spool. I have no doubt one of the friendly engineers at work could re- shape it fo

After my last successful outing catching chublets on the River Irwell I decided to try and replicate these proceedings a little further upstream on a different run and hopefully add some more useful information to the collective. The run I had chosen had various characteristics. At the head of the run the current is very fast and shallow it then calms down a bit and splits into two currents, one on the near bank and the other on the far bank. The currents then split again one down stream and the other back on its self forming an eddy on the far bank. “ Plenty to go at here I thought “ . . . . . LOL To be honest with you all I have fished this run before but the last floods had changed the river considerably .I fished this run last  October and did quite well. It was the Acolyte christening blog,  the day resulting in some nice chub and good brownie. Below is the link to the “ Acolyte Christening Blog “ http://purplepeanut007.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/acolyte-plus-chrstening-r

I had forgottento do this write up. . . . . . I decided to have another quick hour on the same peg I caught that nice brown trout from  but, unfortunately, it didn't go according to plan. Two chublets and the rivers full population of minnows graced my net. After of arm aching minnow bashing session I packed up and moved to pastures new......... I have been getting out a little more lately so I decided for a change. There is a little known run on the middle Irwell that I have never fished that was going to be crossed of the bucket list today . 😉 I had been warned about the rivers current here  because you have to wade accros it and the river also narrows up next to a sheer cliff face.  I carefully inched over the bedrock to the other side of the river to gain access to the run only known by a few. The journey to the run was not to bad, as I have said, I crossed the river in around two foot of water. It was not as bad as I was expecting it to be to be honest and I c

Work has been getting me down lately so a chance call from Derek Kenyon was most welcome and saw us meeting up at some new pegs " The boys " . . . .  Derek Casterman Kenyon & Dave Hovis  have cut out on the Middle Irwell which gave me the motivation I needed. Arriving first I had the pick one of the pegs. I picked one that visually looked the best but after two or three trots down I realised that the run was a little shallow and moved up one to try it out. The new swim was much deeper and I was more comfortable with it. By this time a deep thoated  “ Aye up lad “  echoes through the undergrowth and a head popped out of the foliage It was  . . .  “ The Casterman “  He was buzzin as was I.  We haven’t been out together for a VERY long time and very fitting it should be on the Irwell. We both new I had the best peg. Casterman was talking me through his last Irwell session when his phone sings into life . . . .. . It was Phil Clayton returning Dereks call.  (