Fishing – Page 2

Club Update August 2018

August 23, 2018 by admin 2 Comments

We’ve had a great summer 2018 with all our waters fishing well.

There have been the usual issues to deal with – litter, low water levels on Drinkwater Park Lake, and on the River Irwell caused by the long hot summer – but this hot weather has resulted in fantastic amounts of fish fry in all venues.

Remember the long hot summer of 76 and then how great the fishing was in the following years ? lets hope we get a repeat of this and our fish stocks go from strength to strength.

We have some good news – an agreement with Bury Council confirming our fishing rights on the River Irwell and Roch at Springwater Park in Whitefield (that includes the weeded up Springwater Lodge) and the opposite bank at Close Park. Really great water that offers a variety of fishing and species.

We have also taken on the fishing at Broughton Park Lake (also known as Clowes Park) postcode M7 4EN – in a joint venture with Broughton Angling Club – we restocked the lake earlier this year with 500 x 6 inch tench and 80 x 1-2lb carp. The tench arent showing yet but the carp are packing on weight coming out at nearly 4lb already. The venue is in desperate need of a good tidy up (years and years of rubbish) and a work party is going to be announced very soon.

The Old River in Irlam is also fishing tremendously well – the carp which were stocked at 2-3lb last spring are now being caught at 8lb. The tench and bream which we have been stocking over the last 4 years are now showing in anglers catches and there is evidence that these fish are also breeding.

The Quays continues to throw up specimen fish of all species but the Rochdale Canal has fished poorly this summer with frequent lowering of water levels and repeated pollution incidents.

The club is continually being offered new waters to take on – but we are reluctant to do so – as managing our current portfolio of waters is proving hard work. (However it looks increasingly likely after a tremendous response from local anglers that we will take on Gregsons Pond in Irlam)

To this end – we have asked members to form management groups for each water we have – to take the pressure of the club committee. Once we have a better managment group for our venues we will start accepting more waters into our portfolio

So far we’ve had a tremendous response with a number of anglers offering to take an active role in managing their favourite venues.

If you would like to help keeping your local water clean tidy, well maintained and well stocked please get in touch and tell us which venue you are interested in – preferably attend our next club meeting which will be held on Weds 19th September at the Boathouse Pub Irlam M44 6DN

Rochdale Canal

Old River + Gregsons Pond

Salford Quays

River Irwell – Springwater/Close Park

River Irwell – Agecroft/Philips Park

River Irwell – Salford Uni/Peel Park

River Irwell – City Centre to Salford Quays

Broughton Park Lake

Drinkwater Park/Waterdale/Kingfisher

Agecroft Pond

All we ask is for a fortnightly visit to litter pick, and keep a general eye on the venue – plus a report back to club meetings to allow us to develop a better management plan for each venue.

River Care

Filed Under: Fishing, Irwell, Old River Irwell, restoration

We Need Your Help

July 31, 2018 by admin 1 Comment

We don’t ask for much from our members – other than for you to respect our waters, our fish, and other users of the waterside.

However – this is a call to arms from the committee to you our members. We are having a real struggle to maintain our waters this summer – as new jobs – family commitments – illness – overtime and loads of other excuses mean that those members who organise events like matches and work parties have been unable to commit as much time towards club activities as they have in the past. We are aware that this can’t carry on.

New waters are being offered to the Society on a regular basis – for example Gregsons, Blackleach, Lankies, The Rat and The Cow ponds – we’d love to take them on – but we need to be able to manage our waters properly before we take on any new commitments – as at present – all these commitments fall on the shoulders of a few.

Therefore we are asking you as a member of a fishing Society to stand up and be counted for you local lake – be it Drinkies – Waterdale – The Old River – Broughton Park, Springwater Park Lodge, The Quays or the Rochdale Canal – we need your help managing them.

We think that it would be a good idea for anglers to come forwards and say “I’ll be happy to give a few hours a month to help clean up and maintain my local fishing venue” – it really doesn’t take much.

Our intention is to create a list of members – who can be called on to get involved in the fishery management of each of our venues – its great fun and in a way its a bit like looking after the biggest garden pond you’ll ever have.

The club regularly cobbles together funds/money/grants for restocking and the members who stand up for their local venues will be supported in developing a management and restocking plan for each venue.

So – our next club meeting is going to be Wednesday the 22nd August at the Star Inn, Back Hope St, Salford, M7 2FR when we will be discussing this further. If you would like to put your name down to be involved more actively in the management of your local venue – please email the club via admin@salfordfriendlyanglers.co.uk or make us aware on our facebook page. AND PLEASE COME TO THE AUGUST CLUB MEETING!

If we can get more people involved in the day to day running of our venues – then we will be happy to take on new waters.

Filed Under: Family Fishing, Fishing, restoration, Uncategorized Tagged With: free fishing

Family Fishing – Does It Get Better Than This ?

July 13, 2018 by admin 1 Comment

One of our members David James Bendle decided to do a short write up about the reasons why he takes his daughter (now aged 4) fishing with him, and how fishing is a great ying to the yang of life. Davids blog is also a great read – take a look here

No more words necessary from me…. read on and click on the pictures to see full size images..

David and Emily

It’s been 2 years since Emily started coming fishing with me proper, something i only got back into myself the year before, no longer seeing my dad due to problems in my family that were irreversible in resolving it was both the memories we created together and the understanding of why he took me that i wanted to get back into it and ultimately take Emily. It is a brilliant sport to keep your mental health in check, it allows you to enjoy things you would never see too numerous and small that too some it would seem like nothing but to those in the know it’d mean everything.

And despite it being a lot easier and safer not taking my daughter having been taught from the age of 3 myself, i knew she wouldn’t be too young. I still remember the year it took me to catch my first fish, as my dad let me run riot round the lake chasing perch that i could see. Crying after letting a pike he caught go because i wanted to hold it for ever. My dad never really got into the environmentalist side of things, he fished on his own or with me and non of his mates fished. Like myself growing up it was something i did on my own, i managed to convince my best mate of now 25 years to come and he fell asleep against a tree and fell in. He still won’t come a second time.

I started Emily off just observing, teaching her about what to do and how to look after the fish, being a fly fisherman on the river you do get right into the nitty gritty, we would bug hunt to see what lived there and it’d be proper wellington boots situations. Still end up with a wet arse from a slippy rock, so i always took spare clothes for her after that. As she learned how to use a reel and rod and how to fight a fish, then came the introduction of holding them, stroking them at first she opted for, then after rejecting my offer to hold it i would let it go. The tears would flow just like mine did as a child. Catch another she would say. She got a knack of naming the fish, big bad barry and the Trolls characters.

Strangely even though i would fish for less time and less distance i would break my PB 3 times in her presence she was turning into a good omen, i mean United haven’t won the league since she was born. But as she grew older i have her more responsibility, i kept her on simple nymphing methods in easy to fish pools and if she lost a fish she would lose it. It happens, i would guide her but not physically. The fish she caught would get bigger and bigger in fact a lot quicker than mine did in my first years fly fishing.

Aside from the fishing our chats would be very intuitive, she would ask me questions about why the rivers are brown, how is plastic made, why people throw ‘garbage’ (thanks ryanstoyreview) into the river, all manner of questions that i never thought she’d care about. She knows about trees, flowers and most definitely hogweed, nettles and brambles. She knows about the birds, the fish and the bugs. She knows how to build campfires and small shelters. But most of all she knows what it is like to be away from everything. We can find a place of solitude miles from the city centres or literally in them, the real wilds of the country going by unnoticed and i hope should she, when shes older, ever need to just get away from it all, she now knows places to go.

The sound of the river flowing past, a dipper or a wagtail on a boulder opposite, a ripple breaking the surface as a trout takes an olive off the top. The laughter and chatter of a father and daughter enjoying themselves as they have a small dinner at the riverside.

Filed Under: Family Fishing, Fishing, Irwell, Irwell Trout Fishing

Irwell Grayling

July 2, 2018 by admin 1 Comment

Great to see that local angler Jamie Needham has caught a Grayling from the River Irwell in the Bury area.

A Grayling From The River Goyt

We have always known that they are in there …. and in the River Roch too …. its just that they are as rare as hens teeth

Catching an Irwell Barbel is a special achievement , but catching an Irwell Grayling is akin to catching the impossible – well done Jamie.

However, there is good news for Irwell anglers after a recent phone call from our local EA fisheries team … it looks as though The Irwell might be in line for a stocking of fingerling Grayling from the national fish farm at Calverton.

There is lots of historical evidence of Grayling being caught in the Irwell dating back to the early 1820s and it’s going to be a great thing to see them making a comeback in the river.

Watch this space for updates on when this restocking takes place.

Filed Under: Fishing, Irwell, restoration

World Fishing Day 2018 Salford Quays Lure Competition Result

June 23, 2018 by admin Leave a Comment

We had a great time today on Salford Quays.
For those who haven’t fished Manchesters inner city venues before – have a click of these two links to see what you are missing

Urban Monsters and Matthew Wright When Are You Coming Fishing In Our Trout Heaven?

Our Lure Fishing “After Party” at Salford Quays

The weather was fantastic, plenty of people came down to say hello including tv crews from the BBC and www.fishingtv.com

The anglers appeared to use two main tactics – an all out pike attack with big lures in the open waters of the quays – and more specialised perch fishing tactics with mini lures fished down the edge and around features.

The pike didn’t really want to play ball today – with a few follows and dropped hookups but in contrast the only angler who concentrated on small perch had a great time.

Congratulations to Marian Dumitrascu – our winner on the day with 525cm (17ft 3inch) of perch !!

Our winner – And Birthday Boy – Marian with a superb 525cm of perch

Here are a selection of some of the more successful lures that were used on the day.

Perch Slayers

Crank Baits

Even TV Presenter Andy Ford got in on the perch action catching small fish down the edge

As always – the Quays fished well and produced the fish to an angler who has done his homework and got his tactics right.

I can’t omit a mention to all the people who came down for a walk, a chat, a fish (non competition) who made todays event such a great social event….

Lets hope www.worldfishingday.com has been a great success – and it is repeated in 2019 – we will definitely get involved again and give people more notice that an event is taking place.

Filed Under: Fishing, Predator Fishing, Salford Quays

Salford Quays Lure Competition 23rd June 2018

June 4, 2018 by admin 1 Comment

To celebrate World Fishing Day 23rd June 2018, Salford Friendly Anglers Society (the Worlds oldest fishing club formed in April 1817) are holding a lure fishing competition at one of the worlds best urban fishing venues – SALFORD QUAYS

The competition is open to all comers

Meet at Salford Quays Beefeater Pub ( M50 3SQ )

£10 entry

Draw for partners 8.30am

Fish from 9am until 3pm

The competition to be decided by the total length of fish caught using an artificial lure and capture witnessed by your fishing partner (you fishing partner is decided by draw bag on the day) and measured on a fish measuring scale given to you at the draw.

Fishing area – Salford Quays – River Irwell to Manchester Centre – Bridgewater Canal (Castlefield to Throstles Nest) a a map of the fishing zone will be given to all competitors on the day.

All fish to witnessed and measured by your angling partner

All competitors must have appropriate forceps/disgorger – landing net – and unhooking mat

Previous competitions have been won with total length of fish caught over 20ft…..

June is prime time for perch fishing on our urban waterways – come along and support World Fishing Day 2018 with Salford Friendly Anglers Society on the 23rd June 2018

Here is a map of the fishing zone – which covers all the water inside and outside Salford Quays, the upper sections of the Manchester Ship Canal around Pomona Wharfs, the lower River Irwell, The Bridgewater Canal from Castlefield Basins down to Throstles Nest Bridge and the lower River Medlock – plenty of water for people to have a try at – lots of great fish to be caught

Rules…

Fishing is with lures only.
Draw 8.30am outside Beefeater Pub – Ontario Quay – Salford Quays – M50 3SQ
Fishing from 9.00am until 3.00pm – all anglers need to have returned to the Beefeater Pub for adjudication by 3.15pm
Winner decided by total length of fish
Fish to me measured from tip of mouth to tip of tail
All anglers must have AND USE landing net and unhooking mat
Even though you are fishing this competition as an individual – you will be allocated a fishing partner on the morning of the match – whom you will accompany all day – your fishing partner will verify your catch report – on the catch report sheet provided at the draw
You must measure each fish you catch on the measure provided, and this catch must be verified by your fishing partner – and recorded on your mobile phone camera, or other digital device.
You must remain within 10 metres of your partner whilst fishing
You must not fish closer than 10 metres to any other fishing pair
You can only fish in locations within a fishing area map which we provide – a copy of which is available by clicking this link here.
The partner drawn out of the bag first, may choose the locations for fishing during the first half of the match, at 1pm the partner drawn second from the bag chooses the locations for fishing within the approved area map.
Each angler may only fish with one rod at a time. (although they may carry as many rods as they wish)

Filed Under: Fishing, Salford Quays

A Historic Challenge From Broughton Angling Society Dated 1903

December 6, 2017 by admin Leave a Comment

Back in 1903 it was commonplace for angling clubs to issue challenges to other local clubs..

We found this invitation to hold a fishing competition from Broughton Angling Society dated 1903 – challenging The Salford Friendly Anglers Society to a match.

I attended a Broughton Anglers Society meeting last night (the 5th Dec 2017) and showed their committee members this document – and informed them that we accept their challenge. Match to be held summer 2018 at Broughton Park Lake, Salford. I am looking forwards to them buying my tea!

Bring it on.

Here is a copy of the original challenge letter, with a deciphered version below.

Challenge Letter From Broughton Anglers 1903

Translated Copy of letter from Broughton Anglers 1903

Filed Under: Fishing, Fishing History, Irwell, Match Fishing

River Irwell To Receive Major Fish Restocking

December 4, 2017 by admin Leave a Comment

Great news today from the EA – that a winter restocking is on the way for the River Irwell

10,000 roach, chub and dace are on order from the EAs fish farm at Calverton and will be stocked in the Irwell at a variety of locations downstream of Burrs Country Park

This is great news for the river which has suffered terribly in recent years from a variety of pollution incidents and from massive amounts of avian predation

All of this has been paid for out of our rod licence money……. there really is no excuse not to buy one.

Theres also 500 of these beardey gudgeonish looking things. There is only a small population in the Irwell – and a few more to grown on and reach breeding maturity can do no harm – can’t wait.

Once the date for restocking has been set – I will let people know so that they can come and witness the event and take a few photos.

6 inch barbel being stocked into the River Irwell at Salford Racecourse December 2011

Filed Under: Fishing, Irwell, restoration

The Freshwater Fish Preservation League

November 29, 2017 by admin Leave a Comment

Minutes of the first meeting of the Freshwater Fish Preservation League

A meeting was held at the Swan Hotel, Fountain St, Manchester on the 11th November 1908 between committee members of The Salford Friendly Anglers Society, The County Palatine Angling Association and the Moss Side Social Angling Club with the remit of setting up a group of local angling associations dedicated to improving our sport by

1. Observing the close seasons.

2. To stop the taking of undersized fish for the table

3. To halt the practice of killing all fish before the weigh in at angling competitions.

4. To encourage all anglers to become “good sportsmen”

Long before the days when catch and release was the norm – most fish caught ended up as someones dinner.

At the turn of the 19th century it was common practice for match nets to be weighed in dead, and the fish sold by the fishing club match organising committee.

Obviously some enlightened anglers were wise to the fact that practices such as this were damaging our sport and decided to take appropriate action.

The meeting resulted in the formation of the Freshwater Fish Preservation League – who continued as an active organisation until the late 1950s. Indeed “The League” even formed their own match team who were recorded competing in post 2nd World War 1st Division National Matches.

Please click on these two documents below to see them in full size and have a read of what was decided upon one November evening in 1908

Hand Written Minutes Of The First Meeting Of The Freshwater Fish Preservation League

Over course of the next few weeks we will be adding more documents to our archive – and will create more links to documents and information about this organisation

Filed Under: Fishing, Fishing History, Match Fishing

Restocking The Old River

March 29, 2017 by admin 1 Comment

Over the last 18 months we have been making a big effort to improve the fishing on the Old River Irwell in Irlam.

In addition to renovating/replacing most of the pegs – we have been hunting down grants and other sources of funding to spend on fish.

Our original restocking during 2013/14/15 saw us stocking nearly 4500 bream, 1000 rudd, 1800 roach and 500 fingerling tench.

This seemed to make little to zero impression on catch returns – as they were a mere drop in the ocean in comparison to the area of the lake.

Fast forwards to spring 2016 and a fantasticly generous grant from The Hamilton Davies Trust saw us changing our restocking policy and instead of stocking large numbers of small fish, we decided to go for lower numbers of bigger (more expensive) fish. So using the grant from HDT we bought 350 x 1lb tench.