Second attempt today

After the earlier shenanigans with the dog and having seen reports of catches today, I fancied an evening session.

Went back to peg 11 hoping that my earlier loose feed might have attracted some fish. However it was another fish-less trip. I did manage a couple of taps on the meat. One bite was such a wrap around that I was certain to hook up - alas I struck into nothing!

There was a small puddle in front of me that was draining as the river receded. There were a few small fry and this little freshwater shrimp showing that the river was alive with natural food for the fish:-

I had seen that more rain was forecast but expected it to be light so I left my 7kg brolly in the car - it is a fair walk and I am sure I am getting shorter lugging all that gear! Big mistake, the rain was heavier and more persistent than I expected. I got soaked and am just glad that I didn’t have any maggots with me.

Try again on a falling river

The river is falling and is about 2 feet overdepth so an early start is the order of the day.

Got up at 3:30am and left the house at 4am. Fished peg 11 and slipped down the last part of the bank resulting in me being sat in a muddy puddle - note to self; buy a small trench spade!

I was expecting to fish just out from the small bush that should be downstream of me. However I could not see it so assumed it was still submerged.

I started with half a dozen bait-droppers of a mix of hemp, caster, micro halibut pellets, 2mm diced meat and 2mm diced cheddar. I fished meat, lobworms and halibut pellets over the loose feed but not a bite.

I did not have a signal so was unable to check the dog via the internal camera. However about 6am I got a signal and she appeared calm, laid on the sofa but was howling like a wolf every 30 seconds or so. I have seen her do that before but she usually stops after 1 or 2 howls but not this time. I was concerned about her disturbing the neighbours so paked up quickly and was home for 6:30 - dog was fine so back to bed after another blank session.

Later in the morning I went to apologise to the neighbours but they hadn’t heard a thing. From now on I will fish daytime or evening when there is less chance of her waking anyone should she howl again.

I also had a look on Amazon and got myself this trench spade. At 40cm long and fairly lightweight, its just the job for slippery river banks: -

Worth a try, nearly in flood

Saw that the level was rising today so thought it worth a try in the evening. Fished peg 3 and water was already 1.5m up. It continued to rise at about a foot per hour. Tried meat, halibut pellets and cheese. No bites. Lost a few weights of the 1.3oz size. Good thing is that they held bottom ok and even the lightest barbel rod tip seemed ok.

Gonna try again on Tue and Wed morning. Hopefully level will have dropped by then and more manageable.

Big baits - sit and wait

Went into 1st entrace, parked at the second entrance to the river.

Fished to the right (upstream) of the gate and 2 pegs before the wires.

Fished from 18:00 until 21:00. I decided to concentrate on big baits and bomb. I did not get any bites but that’s fine; I was holding out for big fish.

Escape route
If you have read about me getting locked in on my previous visit then it may tickle you to realise that I found another road off the Ellenthorpe estate that does NOT seem to have a lockable gate!

The club held a match on the Cricket Field stretch of the river. I had a ride out to see how they got on.

The match was one with just over 5lb consisting of small fish although one or two nice Dace and Perch.

One guy had a Barbel on his 2nd cast but it took him straight into a snag and got away.

Another guy had a Chub of over 3lb and lost 2 or 3 others that all snagged him up on the bush that he was forced to fish tight against - couldn’t get a bite otherwise.

That spurred me onto a session with only big baits. See my next posting.

Ellenthorpe Corn Dryers

Went into 1st entrace, parked near corn dryers.

Fished to the right (upstream) of the gate. Went just before the corner right at the far end of the first line of trees opposite. Had a gap in farside trees opposite me.

Mid river was about 11ft deep and very slow flowing.

Fished from 2:30 until 22:00. Decided to go all out on maggot in the hope of encouraging Chub or Barbel to feed. I used maggot feeder and got bites from the first cast. I got plenty of small knocks and fish but unfortunately they were all small Roach, Dace and Bleak. I did manage three Perch that were bigger than the other fish but not huge. I also tried the Avon float but there was a gusting downstream wind that made it almost unfishable with a stick/avon float. I managed a couple of fish on the Avon when the wind dropped occasionally. I gave up on the Avon and tried a Truncheon waggler. This was more controllable but still just small fish.

I did enjoy the session. It was a very busy one, interrupted by heavy downpours, with bites coming very frequently.

Had another small Pike attack my keepnet but I managed to fend it off before it hurt anything.

Nasty Surprise
I got to the gate about 22:30 to find that it was locked and all of the farm buildings were in darkness. Thankfully my mum was at my house and able to look after the dog. I also had a fair bit if packup left so slept (rather well) in my car until I could escape at 7:00am!

Long day at Ellenthorpe
Went into 1st entrace, parked near corn dryers.

Fished to the left (downstream) of the gate. Went just around the corner where it narrowed. Had a gap in farside trees opposite me.

Mid river was about 13ft deep and slow flowing.

Fished from 6:30 until 21:00. Had one bite that resulted in one Roach. This was to a maggot on a Dave Harrell 5g Avon float. Never had a knock on feeder on either far side on near pilings on near side. Only tried large baits on feeder.

Saw several Salmon swirling and even leaping.

A small Pike attacked my keepnet and latched onto the Roach. I had to force the Pike off my net. The Roach died later.

Angling resumes in England

I recently moved to Boroughbridge specifically to be near a North Yorkshire river and to spend time out on the river banks enjoyimng the wildlife and the angling. I moved in just at the tail end of the terrible floods that we experienced in the 2019/2020 winter. This also coincided with the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown in the UK. Consequently I have not had chance to go fishing or even get to know the town (pubs, cafes, shops etc).

As of two weeks ago, the gradual relaxation of lockdown allowed angling to resume. The river fishing season will be starting on the 16th June and I am really looking forward to that. I have spent quite a bit of time looking down from the nearby bridge at the spawning Chub and Barbel in the low-clear water and it heightens the anticipation for the season ahead.

Since the relaxation in lockdown I have been to a local lake three times and caught some big Bream on both float and feeder fishing tactics along with a recently stocked Mirror Carp of about 3 lb. The lake has quite a few lilly pads that are just breaking the surface so I expect that it will look stunning in the summertime - I just hope they don’t take over the whole lake. The Boroughbridge Angling Club have invested a lot of effort and expense by treating the lillies (to reduce them), installing an Otter fence around the lake and stocking some Carp. So far it appears to have paid off and I am looking forward to seeing how the lake develops over the coming years.

Here are few pictures from the lake: -

Bream caught on the float	Bream caught on the method feeder
Goose and her chick after my bait	Chick getting braver

Steve Townend

I live in a small town called Boroughbridge on the River Ure in North Yorkshire. I live with my dog Marla, a loyal German Shepherd cross.
I have three wonderful children and three grandchildren (at the last count).

I created this blog to collect my thoughts on two very different aspects of my life. The word “Fish” in the blog title refers to my life-long passion for Angling and a more recent passion for Scuba Diving. The word “Chips” refers to my professional and hobbyist passion for all things computer related, primarly software development.

Background
I just had to come back to the Galapagos. This time my long time dive buddy Nigel came too. Unfortunately there was an El-Nino weather phenomenon which signicantly raised the water temperature and meant that the Hammerheads stayed in the deep and beyond our reach for most of the trip. Still it was a wonderful trip with many surpises - you don’t want to skip any dives here!

The following Microsoft Sways document the trip in more detail with commentary, photos and videos.