Ribble: River Ribble Fishing Reports

[Paul C]

Date 11.9.14
Section River Ribble
Time: 19:15 till 22:15
Weather conditions: calm, overcast and mild
Water conditions : below nsl 0.00 at ribchester school
Bait – corn & pellet
Air temp – NT
Water temp: NT
Method: feeder
Results: 3 barbel and 1 chub

Several friends are still having fantastic evening results on the float with large catches of barbel and chub in addition to big roach and dace, but tonight I only only had time for a few hours feeder fishing after work into dark.

The river was empty, so I had the stretch to myself. I fished a peg that is normally very reliable for numbers of shoal size fish 4 to 6lb on small baits, but it fished differently tonight.

I caught in a fairly short feeding spell of about 45 mins midway through but all the barbel were a good size. The first on single corn was 8lb 5oz and a fish I had back in June. It's a kinked fish and I've seen it several times. He was 2oz lighter this time than in June.

The other two barbel were on a very small pellet and weighed 8lb 2oz and 7lb 9oz. I had a chub of about 4lb as well. Despite fishing corn for most of the early part, there were no knocks or signs at all from the smaller fish that usually make an appearance in the swim.

I am back out Sunday, hopefully, with the float and then feeder into dark approach.

 

[john conway (CSG - ACA)]

Date:.. Tuesday 02/09/14
Venue:... River Ribble
Time fished:...18:30hrs 24:00hrs
Weather conditions:... Cloudy with sunny intervals, light breeze
Water conditions:... EA River level at 04:30hrs @ NJR 0.37M and falling.
Air temperature:... 18.5C dropping to 12C by the end of the session.
Water Temperature:... 19.4C
Bait:... Bread Flake and Crust/cheese paste
Method:.. 2 rods - Upstream fished mid river, bread flake & or crust/cheese paste with liquidized bread and hemp in feeder, and loose fed corn. Downstream rod fished close in, crust/cheese paste and loose fed corn.
Results:... Blank
Brief description of the session & remarks:… Not much to say really, I’d the river to myself and didn’t get a single bite all through the session, once again perhaps that’s why I’d the river to myself!!! Just after dusk, the resident otter put in an appearance close in to the bank.

Date:.. Friday 12/09/14
Venue:... River Ribble
Time fished:...17:30hrs 22:30hrs
Weather conditions:... Light cloud clearing at dusk, no moon until packing up, no wind.
Water conditions:... EA River level at 04:30hrs @ NJR 0.27M and falling.
Air temperature:... 20.8C dropping to 12C by the end of the session.
Water Temperature:... 17.9C
Bait:... Halibut Pellet
Method:.. 2 rods - Upstream & Downstream fished mid river, with PVA bags of micro-pellets and dried hemp and halibut ground bait and loose fed halibut pellets
Results:... Two Barbel 7lb-9oz & 6lb-3oz and one Chub 4lb-3.5oz
Brief description of the session & remarks:… Very pleasant day to sit on the riverbank and again I'd the whole stretch to myself. Just after dusk landed two nice barbel within 5 mins of each other, then nothing for a good hour. Then two good knocks but I lifted into nothing and while I was re-baiting the other rod went and I picked up a nice 4lb plus chub. Good little session and a picturesque drive back home under a very bright moon.

 

[Paul C]

Date 14.9.14
Section River Ribble
Time: 15:45 till 21:50
Weather conditions: Dry & mild
Water conditions : Low and clear
Bait – hemp, caster, corn & pellet
Air temp – NT
Water temp: NT
Method: Waggler & feeder
Results: Roach, Dace, chublets - mixed sizes on the float. 3 big chub and 1 barbel on the float - Further 5 barbel and 2 chub on the feeder & 1 eel.

The stretch was quiet again with just one person on. The bad news was he was feeder fishing the peg I had hoped to fish!

So I went for a shallow area that fished well for a friend a week ago. I started off ok with a mix of roach, dace and two big chub. But after about an hour my swim was invaded by tiny dace and chublets and they just attacked the bait on impact and wouldn’t leave it alone.

The only other angler had by now given up and left. I decided to move to escape the small bits and try the original peg as it also had the potential for the feeder later.

I didn’t have anywhere near the same trouble with the nuisance fish but it took a while to get things going with any consistency. I caught dace and chublets with some good roach mixed in but it fished really well for the last hour on the float with roach of all sizes upto nearly 1.5lb in addition to the other silver fish, another big chub and a 6lb barbel, mostly on single corn with the odd one on double caster.

I switched to the feeder as the light faded and fished it simple with single corn direct on a 14’s. I’d fed lots of corn, hemp and caster on the float line and just dropped it where I got most of the bites from and carried on loose feeding until I ran out. For an hour it was fast and furious with very quick takes almost every cast or a big slam on the rod top and the single corn hook bait was gone. It went quiet at 8:50 and all activity stopped which was not long after I’d stopped loose feeding, as I’d ran out of all but corn. I had 5 barbel and 2 chub on the feeder. Best two barbel were 8lb 2 and 7lb 12 and the best chub by far was the last one at 5lb 4oz. I had just one bite in the last hour which produced an eel.

 

[john conway (CSG - ACA)]

Date:.. Sunday 14/09/14
Venue:... River Ribble
Time fished:...16:30hrs 22:30hrs
Weather conditions:... Light cloud clearing at dusk, no moon until packing up, light breeze.
Water conditions:... EA River level at 04:30hrs @ NJR 0.26M and steady.
Air temperature:... 17.2C dropping to 12C by the end of the session.
Water Temperature:... 17.6C
Bait:... Halibut Pellet
Method:.. 2 rods - Upstream & Downstream fished mid river, with PVA bags of micro-pellets and dried hemp and halibut ground bait. Pre-baited with scalded ewe nuts and micro-pellets.
Results:... One Barbel 8lb-12oz & an eel.
Brief description of the session & remarks:… The river was low and clear and again I'd this stretch to myself. I decided to per-bait with scalded ewe nuts and micro-pellets but I'd forgot that eels love scalded ewe nuts and sure enough they were soon nibbling at my halibut pellets. No chub just one eel !!!! and a very nice 8lb-12oz barbel just before I packed up, making it a very rewarding session. Again another picturesque drive back home under a very bright half-moon low in the sky.

 

[john conway (CSG - ACA)]

Date:.. Thursday 18/09/14
Venue:... River Ribble
Time fished:...17:30hrs 22:30hrs
Weather conditions:... Weak watery sun, light breeze, no moon
Water conditions:... EA River level at 04:30hrs @ NJR 0.26M and steady.
Air temperature:... 21.9C dropping to 12C by the end of the session.
Water Temperature:... 20C
Bait:... Halibut Pellet
Method:.. 2 rods - Upstream & Downstream fished mid river, with PVA bags of micro-pellets and dried hemp and halibut ground bait. Pre-baited with corn.
Results:... One Chub 5lb-3.5oz.
Brief description of the session & remarks:… The river was low and clear and yet again, I'd the stretch to myself. Quite a bit of excitement early on when a flock of geese flow into one of my rods and stripped 100M of line off by the time I'd grabbed my rod, good job I'd my bait runner on. I thought they would miss my lines but at the last moment, they banked towards me. Everything turned out OK in the end the only thing I lost was my halibut pellet. Other than this excitement I'd only two bites but one did produce a 5lb-3.5oz chub.

 

[Paul Morley]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Date:.. Tues 16/09/14
Venue:... River Ribble, near Ribchester
Time fished:...14:30hrs 22:00hrs
Weather conditions:... Too damn hot and sunny!
Water conditions:... Low and very slow
Air temperature:... About 21 degrees, dropping quickly
Water Temperature:... N/a
Bait:... 12mm boilies
Method:.. One rod PVA bag over a load of maggots
Results:... Two Barbel, 7.04 7.09
Brief description
Arrived geared for float fishing in the peg from last week (where there is flow) only to find it occupied. Ay Caramba... The maggs went in to a deeper swim as I had to do something! Standard lead tactics over that bait. No action til 7.45 again when the Barbs arrived, pleasing due to the lousy conditions, early work meant no real effort after dark, at least I had my fish when I know others are struggling.. (but the guy in the other swim was catching!)

 

[john conway (CSG - ACA)]

Date:.. Monday 22/09/14
Venue:... River Ribble
Time fished:...17:30hrs 22:30hrs
Weather conditions:... Sunny with light breeze, which dropped at dusk. After dusk, the mist dropped over the river, no moon.
Water conditions:... EA River level at 04:30hrs @ NJR 0.25M and steady.
Air temperature:... 14.4C dropping to 7.5C by the end of the session.
Water Temperature:... 17.4C
Bait:... Halibut Pellet
Method:.. 2 rods - Upstream & Downstream fished mid river, with PVA bags of micro-pellets and dried hemp and halibut ground bait. Pre-baited with corn.
Results:... Two Barbel 6lb-4oz & 7lb-13.5oz
Brief description of the session & remarks:… Very pleasant evening but as soon as the sunset and the mist dropped it became quite chilly, also, the early knocks and taps stopped. Just two bites in the mist and both were nice barbel of 6lb-4oz and 7lb-13.5oz. Slow drive back up to the Dales due to large stretches of fog.

 

[john conway (CSG - ACA)]

Date:.. Saturday 27/09/14
Venue:... River Ribble
Time fished:...15:30hrs 22:30hrs
Weather conditions:... Overcast with sunny intervals clearing at dusk, light breeze no moon.
Water conditions:... EA River level at 04:30hrs @ NJR 0.29M and steady.
Air temperature:... 19.3C dropping to 10C by the end of the session.
Water Temperature:... 16.9C
Bait:... Halibut Pellet
Method:.. 2 rods - Upstream & Downstream fished mid river, with PVA bags of micro-pellets and dried hemp and halibut ground bait. Pre-baited with corn.
Results:... One Barbel 6lb & Two Chub to 4lb-1oz
Brief description of the session & remarks:… There was one salmon lad and a couple trotting for silver fish on the river as I arrived. I didn't expect anything until dusk but the only barbel (6lb) I caught tore off in the bright sunshine just before the Arsenal-Tottenham match on the radio. As usual, the two chub came after dusk just ten minutes apart. Shortly after my upstream rod pulled slowly over and locked up solid. I left it for a while but there was no sign of life so I had to pull for broke. I was happy with the session and another 4lb+ chub to add to my list.

 

[greenie62]

Bait:... Halibut Pellet

Hi John,
I notice you are still using Halibut Pellets - but haven't included a 'slug attack' count in recent reports - d'ya reckon the slugs have had their fill or is it a sign of the colder weather and it's kept the slugs down? I've noticed hardly any slugs around this last fortnight - particularly around my Halibut Pellet tub!
Tight Lines!

 

[nicepix]

You ought to fish over here Greenie. Last month I was fishing a lake and I noticed that my dog who was laying at my side was staring at something in the undergrowth. It was a signal crayfish that had come out of the water to get in my groundbait bowl. Imagine if I'd just put my hand in without looking

All through the session they kept coming out of the water and up through the reeds. It was like Rorke's Drift!

 

[greenie62]

Thanks for the invite NP,
But I've sussed your cunning plan - you want unsuspecting fresh meat to offer the crays as a human sacrifice !
For this tribute they will leave your swim alone - they were p-ed-off with your desultory offer of the dog and bl-dy furious your hand evaded capture - so have now upped the ante to 100kg of Welsh Mutton!
I'm afraid I'll have to decline your invitation until you can trap the b-ggers and extend the invite to a crayfish BBQ! :w:w
Tight Lines!

 

[john conway (CSG - ACA)]

Date:.. Tuesday 07/10/14
Venue:... River Ribble
Time fished:...16:00hrs 23:00hrs
Weather conditions:... Overcast with heavy showers, clearing after dusk, bright moon clouding over at times.
Water conditions:... EA River level at 09:00hrs @ NJR 0.59M and falling.
Air temperature:... 10.7C dropping to 6C by the end of the session.
Water Temperature:... 12.9C
Bait:... Halibut Pellet
Method:.. 2 rods – Downstream rod fished outside crease of a large eddy, upstream rod inside edge of same eddy, both rods fished with PVA bags of micro-pellets and dried hemp and halibut ground bait. Loose fed both areas with corn and small halibut pellets. Upstream rod, occasionally had cheese paste over pellet.
Results:...One Chub to 4lb-8oz
Brief description of the session & remarks:… Quick trip down following the tail end of a flood pulse. Started to get knocks at dusk and missed a good bite while pouring my coffee, eventually struck, hook pulled almost immediately. Bites stopped when full moon came out, but during one of the times, the moon went behind a cloud, I picked up a nice 4lb-8oz chub which came to my upstream rod on halibut pellet and cheese paste. Pack up when it looked like the moon was going to be out for several hours. I've never seen as many salmon anglers on the river at one time, I counted 13 before dusk, also one otter, several king fishers and a young swan which came on the bank for a cuddle.

PS Greenie
Re the slug count, its the cold weather the big black ones don't like it, although a couple of small gray ones managed to get into my tube of pre-filled PVA bags

 

[greenie62]

Re the slug count, ...... a couple of small gray ones managed to get into my tube of pre-filled PVA bags

Thanks for the update John,
Ahha - stealth slugs - haven't seen any at the fishery - but the dog tends to bring them in hidden in her paws! Missus doesn't appreciate that! Sneaky little bu88ers - the slugs, that is!

 

[Paul C]

Date 9.10.14
Section River Ribble
Time: 18:40 - 22:25
Weather conditions: Wet
Water conditions : Up about a foot and rising
Bait – corn & pellet
Air temp – NT
Water temp: NT
Method: Single feeder rod
Results: 1 chub and 4 barbel to 9lb 9oz

I was late arriving after work and busy traffic didn’t help, so this was a short session into dark. I managed to get set up before the rain set in and all in all it was a soggy night with some heavy downpours.

I lose fed corn throughout on top of the micro pellets in the feeder and kept the feeder going in constantly every 3 to 4 minutes. It took a while to attract some activity. First fish was a chub of 2.5 to 3lb on a single grain of corn, that didn’t give me a bite. I just picked up to reel in and he was on! A short while after a timid bite produced a barbel of about 5lb that seemed initially like a chub until it came to life in the margins. I then had a thumping bite and lifted into it but lost it and found the hooklength was frayed and looked like it had parted over a rock.

Things picked up during the last hour and by now the river was starting to come up a little. I had switched from corn to a small pellet and had three more barbel and lots of bangs and knocks in between. The first of them was the best and I think my biggest of the season at 9lb 9oz and the two that followed were both 6 to 7lb size.

The downside was having to pack up in the pouring rain on a slippy, soggy bank with a long trudge back to the car.

There were still some good float catches reported by friends prior to the weather turning with one of my mates taking 14 decent barbel in one evening on the stickfloat from a new swim he found whilst wading for salmon on a previous visit. The joys of exploring and finding a new area and then reaping the rewards for your efforts.

 

[David L Johnson]

Date 19.10.14
Section River Ribble
Time: 17:00- 21:30
Weather conditions: Very Wet and Windy
Water conditions : Initially up about 12” and falling then rising as we left.
Bait – pellet
Air temp – 18 C - very mild for Mid-October.
Water temp: NT
Method: Single ledger rod
Results: 1 barbel (9.5lb) to me and 3 barbel to my guest (9, 6 and 8).

I don’t get much time to fish these days with a young family, but managed a few hours on the river Sunday evening. After being very low almost since June the water was finally up and looked perfect, fining down after a small flood. My guest had a fish first cast at about 5.10pm and then another about 6pm. Then the biblical rain came and we spent 2 hours clinging on to our brollies barely able to see 12” in front of us.

During a lull in the rain my guest had his third barbel which did not want to be landed. Finally the rain slowed at 8pm and I had my one and only fish, a beautifully conditioned female. All the fish caught were in great condition – no split fins as in previous years, plump and deep bronze.

I noticed 2 things that others may be able to confirm. Firstly, when the rain was really heavy the bites dried up completely, but as soon as it slowed/stopped the fish took. Being a fair weather fisherman I have little experience of barbel in such heavy rain. Secondly, once the heavy rain got into the river the water started to quickly rise and debris started to give false bites/build up around your line, the fish disappeared again.

Overall it has been a difficult season for me (I usually only fish June – November). I’ve not had much chance to fish but relative to previous years I’ve struggled, with numbers well down. Previous catches of 8 barbel in a couple of hours were replaced by an average of one barbel per 4-5 hour session and even one or two blanks which reminded me of my days of fishing the much harder Great Ouse years ago. Although the average size of the fish I caught has increased significantly. The large shoals of 5-6lb males seem to have disappeared from the area I fish and have left less, solitary and better conditioned females that average 8-10lb. Oh and the chub seem to have gone on holiday too, I just had one all season. I stopped visiting all the other barbel forums (too much unpleasantness) so I'm not sure whether this is unique to me this season or widespread due to the dry summer?

 

[john conway (CSG - ACA)]

Date:.. Saturday 18/10/14
Venue:... River Ribble
Time fished:...17:00hrs 23:30hrs
Weather conditions:... Cloudy with sunny intervals, light breeze, no moon.
Water conditions:... EA River level at 09:00hrs @ NJR 0.6M and falling, lots of leaves and twigs.
Air temperature:... 23.5C dropping to16C by the end of the session.
Water Temperature:... 16.1C
Bait:... Halibut Pellet
Method:.. 2 rods – Both rods fished 1/3 to mid-river with PVA bags of micro-pellets, dried hemp and halibut ground bait. Loose fed both rods with small halibut pellets.
Results:... Two Barbel 6lb-5oz and 7lb-2oz and one Chub to 5lb-2oz
Brief description of the session & remarks:… I fancied the tail end of this flood pulse, and was rewarded with two barbel 6lb-5oz and 7lb-2oz and one 5lb-1oz chub, I also got snapped by a big barbel just before packing up at 22:30hrs, that or a medium one with a load of weed attached!!! The river was up a wee bit, coloured with many leaves and twigs coming down. It took 3oz to hold the bottom, but after 30 minutes the leaves and twigs were too much and I had to re-cast constantly. I got though quite a lot of PVA bags of micro pellets. My lines also took a bit of a battering; I'll have to remember to strip 20M off each reel before I go again.

David L. J.
I can't remember if I've caught in really heavy rain but my experience is that chub go off the feed when the river starts rising fast, barbel will hold the faster water for longer. In 2004/2005 I was catching quite a lot of large chub to 6.5lb and occasionally one or two big barbel 10lb to 12lb. Now I catch fewer large chub and more barbel between 5lb and 7lb.

 

[greenie62]

.....In 2004/2005 I was catching quite a lot of large chub to 6.5lb and occasionally one or two big barbel 10lb to 12lb. Now I catch fewer large chub and more barbel between 5lb and 7lb.

Hi John,
Do you reckon that's a case of the barbel shifting the chub out of the swims you are fishing or the population demographics have changed - or both?
Have the 5lb+ chub moved elsewhere on the Ribble? - and have they, in turn, shifted anything else - e.g. roach populations?
Cheers & Tight Lines!

 

[Paul C]

Date 23.10.14
Section River Ribble
Time: 18:15- 21:25
Weather conditions: Mild, calm with the odd light shower
Water conditions: Up about 1.5ft
Bait – pellet
Air temp – NT
Water temp: NT
Method: Single feeder rod
Results: 5 barbel & 1 chub

The river was busier than in previous trips and one chap who was leaving as I arrived had taken 4 barbel to just over 8lb on maggot and hemp.

The barbel I had were all 4 to 6.5lb and 3 of them (plus one I pulled out of) came in a half hour spell of activity.

During the lull that followed, I dropped the feeder a couple of yards further down the swim from where I had fished and fed and I picked up the chub almost as soon as the feeder landed. I couldn’t quite claim a 5lb’er. He was a couple pellets short at 4lb 15oz but a lovely long and lean fish. I didn’t manage a repeat on this occasion when I tried the odd drop further down the swim but it often seems to pluck out an extra fish or two when things go quiet and they back off.

I intended to fish an hour longer than I did, but a long week at work of early starts and staying up too late caught me up and I could feel my eyes going, so I called it quits early as I was in danger of drifting off in my chair.

It was also very pleasant being out in late October in just a sweater and having warm hands. We are normally starting to scrape the ice of the landing net pole at this time of the year!

Some interesting points David. I can relate to the shoal fish being quieter on the feeder. In all this year, pegs I have fished have produced fewer fish but of a bigger stamp than normal. However, we have had low water pretty much all summer and autumn and the float has been excellent for good catches of shoal size barbel this year. The better days for catching numbers of shoal fish on the feeder have often been when the river had extra water. In my experience the river changes constantly and I am sure the different conditions in the early part of summer also affect things years later. It keeps it interesting. If we understood it all it would be far less entertaining.

 

[john conway (CSG - ACA)]

Date:.. Thursday 23/10/14
Venue:... River Ribble
Time fished:...18:00hrs 23:00hrs
Weather conditions:... Overcast with the odd heavy shower before dusk, light breeze, no moon
Water conditions:... EA River level at 04:30hrs @ NJR 0.62M.
Air temperature:... 15C dropping to 13.1C by the end of the session.
Water Temperature:... 13.5C
Bait:... Halibut Pellet & halibut pellet wrapped in cheese paste
Method:.. 2 rods – Downstream rod fished ¾ across on the outside edge of a large eddy, upstream rod fished bank side edge of the eddy. Both rods with PVA bags of micro-pellets, dried hemp and halibut ground bait. Loose fed both rods with small halibut pellets.
Results:... Two Barbel 6lb-11oz and 8lb-14oz
Brief description of the session & remarks:… This was the tail end of another flood pulse. I left the Dales in rain but this cleared somewhat by the time I reached the Ribble and the river looked in good condition, once again there were plenty of salmon lads out and also a couple of course lads. There were plenty of bites from the start but it was an hour before the first barbel came to my rod fished on the outside of a large eddy but I'd to wait another hour before an 8lb-14oz barbel took my bait on the bank side edge of the eddy @ 20:40hrs after that it went dead. As the peg I was fishing 24hrs earlier was under 1M of water it was extremely slippery.

Dave re your points the chub generally move and spread out into shallow water in the summer and shoal up in deeper slower water in the winter. Chub will also feed in colder water conditions than barbel, I've not yet caught a barbel when the water temp is below 6C. Like the barbel lads catch chub I catch barbel while chub fishing and I don't think barbel drive the chub out of the swims but I can't be certain. The roach on the Ribble have certainly improved, when I do fish with small baits or bread I occasionally pick up some nice roach but I've yet to hit the 2lb+ mark.
The river changes year on year not just because of geographical changes but also because of missing year classes due to spawning water temps and large flood pulses during or around spawning time. It is possible to loose whole year classes two or three years running. And if like me you are fishing for 4lb+ chub (14 to 16 year old fish) you cant see the bad times creeping up on you.

 

[David L Johnson]

John - Very interesting, thanks. Talking of teenage chub...

Date:.. Sunday 26th
Venue:... River Ribble
Time fished:...17:00hrs to 18.15
Weather conditions:...Very windy but mild.
Water conditions:....River dropping, think about 0.45 at Jumbles rock.
Air temperature:... 15 C
Water Temperature:... not taken
Bait:... Pellet
Method:.. 1 rod ledgered pellet
Results:... 1 chub about 3.5lb, 1 Chub “well over 5lb” and a final barbel of similar size to the big chub.

Last minute fishing pass obtained whilst the family were out watching Riverdance, so I decided on a very short session on the Ribble. Fish jumping/rolling all over the place (I always assume Salmonids but some locals insist some are barbel?). I fished for just over an hour and first cast, before my bait settled, I had a chub of about 3.5 lb. Pleased to see a chub as they are far less common than barbel on the stretch I fish. Second cast I had a big chub, the longest chub I have ever seen on the bank. My scales are not accurate so I will only confidently say well over 5 – (it read 5lb 12oz but that is probably way out, I need to buy some new scales but don’t really bother with fish weights these days). I’ve caught heavier chub than this on the Great Ouse, but these were shorter, broader and deeper with large heads and fat bellies. This was almost like a different species, really long and slender, salmon shaped, beautiful and I’ve never really been a chub fan: now if a fish like that put some weight on... About 30 minutes later I had a barbel, about the same size as the chub – interesting to see the difference in the fight! Then I used all my powers of self control and dragged myself away from a river fishing better than it had all year, as I’d promised my 2 young daughters I’d be home in time for Strictly [insert swear word] Come Dancing. The joy of having two young girls! Still 3 fish including my Ribble chub pb in just over an hour, great session, I think I would have had a few more barbel had I stayed.

As always when the big fish come I was alone and with my didgital camera. But I did get a poor quality photo of the biggie next to my avon scales. Where do you upload photos on this site? I'd appreciate the opinion of the expert chubbers on here with regards weight.