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

Best roach net I have had so far on my hand crafted floats. When I got up on Sunday morning I was hardly inspired to try the River Irwell. The river had been at its highest level all year the previous night and was still very high this morning so, I opted for a local still water, but which one ????????? I fancied a bit of roach fishing but its not that easy in Manchester to find a good roach fishery with clean fish with sharp colours, very different frim their washed out commercial cousins !!!!!!!!!! I have found a rough diamond of a water with a good head of stamp roach but to get to them you have to wade through the hordes of 3oz perch. So, with my water chosen I popped into Elton Tackle in Radcliffe for a few bits. A mate if mine was there, ( Craig who, last week had a massive net of roach from a North West river. Some of his roach were over 2lb !!!! ) as well as Phil Greggory ( Shop Manager )) Who kindly offered me a brew while Craig got his biscuits out. Craig looked a

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

DOUGY DANCING WITH JOHN DERBYSHIRE. I recieved a message from John Derbyshire letting me know that the stretch of River Douglas that we  have previously fished together was in perfect condition and would I fancy a quick Irwell Stick session on her. It wasn't long before I was flying up the M61 to meet John Irwell Stick at the ready.....lol. Midway to John’s house the heavens opened an it rained heavily, non-stop for about fifteen minutes. "This doesn't look very clever" I thought to my self as I pulled off the motorway in the direction of the " Derbyshire Residence ". The rain then suddenly stopped...." Fantastic " I thought at least we be dry when we blank.....lmao. I belled John to let him know I was outside and within 5 minutes we were off to the River Douglas for another session using my Irwell Stick Floats. My Pearlescent, Feather Inlayed,Irwell Stick. Johns Irwell Sticks are the two smaller floats on the left.  The oth

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