Ribble: River Ribble Fishing Reports

[leeds utd 2011]

13.8.15
Fished the Ribble near Preston on the blockend feeder with hemp & mini pellets with small pellets superglued to the hair & caught 3 barbel between 5 & 6lbs, 3 eels & 1 chub 4lbs plus. This was between 12.00 & 20.15pm. Wish I had brought float gear as I think I would have done better. The river was down to the bones.

 

[john conway (CSG - ACA)]

Date:.. Friday 31/07/15
Venue:... Ribble
Time fished:... 18:30hrs 00:00hrs
Weather conditions:... Overcast, no wind
Water conditions:... EA River level at 04:30hrs @ NJR 0.42M and steady.
Air temperature:... 16.5C falling to 13C by the end of the session.
Water Temperature:... 17.7C
Bait:... Crust & Halibut Pellet/cheese paste
Method:.. 2 rods both fished 50M out – Upstream Rod Crust and feeder filled with liquidised bread and sweetcorn. Downstream Rod Halibut Pellet/Cheese Paste - PVA Bag filled with micro pellets and ground bait.
Results:... Blank
Brief description of the session & remarks:… This was just a quick trip on the back of a wee bit of water over the last couple of days. Not a single bite and although there was a full moon there was plenty of cloud but it was still light enough to walk back to my van with the need of my headlamp. I was a bit disappointed because the river looked OK.


Date:.. Saturday 15/08/15
Venue:... Ribble
Time fished:... 17:30hrs 22:30hrs
Weather conditions:... Sunny with the odd cloud and light breeze, no moon.
Water conditions:... EA River level at 04:30hrs @ NJR 0.65M and falling.
Air temperature:... 21.7C falling to 11.7C by the end of the session.
Water Temperature:... 18.8C
Bait:... Crust & Halibut Pellet/cheese paste
Method:.. 2 rods both fished 50M out – Upstream Rod Crust and feeder filled with liquidised bread and sweetcorn. Downstream Rod Halibut Pellet/Cheese Paste - PVA Bag filled with micro pellets and ground bait.
Results:... Three chub 4lb, 4lb-5oz and 3lb-10oz
Brief description of the session & remarks:… This was again another quick evening trip on the back of a wee bit of water. No bites until after dusk. The fist chub came at 21:05hrs and the other two shortly after. It was very pleasant sitting in the sun with a reward of three chub when it went dark two of them 4lb+. It started to drizzle as I walked back to my van.


Date:.. Friday 21/08/15
Venue:... Ribble
Time fished:... 17:00hrs 22:30hrs
Weather conditions:... Rained throughout most of the session, on wind.
Water conditions:... EA River level at 04:30hrs @ NJR 0.41M and steady.
Air temperature:... 22.2C falling to 16C by the end of the session.
Water Temperature:... 23.1C
Bait:... Crust & Halibut Pellet/cheese paste
Method:.. 2 rods both fished 60M out – Upstream Rod Crust and feeder filled with liquidised bread and sweetcorn. Downstream Rod Halibut Pellet/Cheese Paste and a feeder filled with liquidised bread and sweetcorn.
Results:... One barbel 7lb-14oz and two sub 4lb chub
Brief description of the session & remarks:… The weather looked bad for the next few days so a quick trip down before the weed started to come down. The first fish was a 7lb-14oz barbel at 18:25hrs caught on Pellet/Cheese Paste then just the two sub 4lb chub in the last hour of the session caught on crust. This was a very wet session with loads of big black slugs invading my rucksack and bait.

 

[Paul C]

Date 25.8.15
Section River Ribble
Time: 18:00 till 21:20
Weather conditions: some heavy showers
Water conditions : 0.30 at Ribchester
Bait – corn & pellet
Air temp – NT
Water temp: NT
Method: single feeder rod
Results: 2 barbel

A quick trip after work and I had no time to order float baits, so I just went armed with a feeder rod.
The river looked in good nick with a little extra colour and still and dropping slowly. However, it was disappointing with very little activity in the swim and very few bites. There was very little surface activity all evening either.

I had a barbel just over 6lb after about an hour and 40 mins but with no real signs before or after. I had a second smaller barbel at 8:50pm, again it was all quiet other than the takes.

I was intending to do another couple of hours, but left early when there was a break in the showers as it wasn't going to switch on.

Hopefully back out at the weekend with the float rod.

 

[Paul C]

Date 30.8.15
Section River Ribble
Time: 15:45 till 22:10
Weather conditions: Nice mild dry evening
Water conditions : Almost back to NSL a tinge of colour still
Bait – Caster, hemp, corn & pellet
Air temp – NT
Water temp: NT
Method: Float rod and later single feeder rod
Results: Good numbers of big dace from 8oz to 12oz, 8 to 10 roach, a few chublets, a decent chub of 3.5lb and a few minnows on the float. A barrbel 7lb 14oz and a chub around 3lb on the feeder.

A nice evening to be out. It was slow to stop early on and the first hour and a quarter being hard work with just a couple of dace and minnows. I stopped for tea and put the feeder rod in the swim for 20 mins. No action, but once back on the float it was much improved with spells of big dace and odd roach, albeit not the bigger roach that can pop up.

It got better as the evening went on and the dace showed very well over the last hour and a quarter of light and a decent chub also snatched the casters on the surface. A few more of those would have been the icing and I expected some as the light fell but the dace kept me busy.

Earlier on when the the dace backed off the minnows and small stuff hampered things a bit with damaging the caster in the first few feet of water, but it fished well in all with really good quality dace that fought hard.

I put the feeder rod in the swim at dark. I'd not had any barbel takes on the float at all but some decent fished topped and a couple came clean out of the water so I knew they were about. I had a take whilst I was putting the float rod away and played it briefly but lost it. I landed the only barbel 15 mins later before a lull and no real signs until a chub showed 20 mins before I called it a night.

 

[leeds utd 2011]

27/8/15

Fished the Ribble near Preston on blockend feeder with hemp & mini pellets to small pellets superglued to the hair from 11.55 till 20.00pm.
1 barbel 6 to 7 lbs range
2 chub - 4.1 & 3.11
1 eel
Another slow session with the river level around 8 inches higher than my previous visit here.

 

[john conway (CSG - ACA)]

Date:.. Thursday 03/09/15
Venue:... Ribble
Time fished:... 17:30hrs 24:00hrs
Weather conditions:... Overcast no wind.
Water conditions:... EA River level at 04:30hrs @ NJR 0.39M and steady.
Air temperature:... 16.4C falling to 11C by the end of the session.
Water Temperature:... 16.6C
Bait:... Crust & Crust/cheese paste
Method:.. 2 rods – Upstream Rod Crust and feeder filled with liquidised bread and sweetcorn. Downstream Rod Crust/Cheese Paste and loose fed corn and pellets.
Results:... 4 dace, 1 roach and a 2lb chub
Brief description of the session & remarks:… The weather and river looked OK with plenty of surface activity, one or two barbel topping. I lost one large fish just before dusk, which kited down river straight into some submerged tree roots and snapped me. After dusk plenty of taps and knocks some of which resulted in 4 dace and a roach all between half and three quarters of a pound. My last fish came at 23:10hrs and was a small chub of 2lb. Just before dusk, I had 20 bullocks’ stroll pass me into the woods crashing and banging. I was concerned that they may have come back but they didn’t.

 

[ribble2015]

3/9/15

A short evening session, the river looked good, but just one chub of 4lbish in daylight and an 8lb barbel as it went dark. Other anglers seemed to be struggling also. The river has been out sorts for me, not sure if others agree. I'm just hoping things come good for Sept and October !

9/9/15

A middle of the day struggle, I don't think I have seen the river clearer, some shallow pegs I have done OK in the past and I could see the bottom clearly. So I wasn't expecting much in middle of the day conditions and didn't get much ;-) I started on the float and tried various pegs and caught micro dace and minnows out of pegs where you wouldn't normally get them. Two reasonable dace and a couple of 4oz roach the only 'proper' fish. I switched to the feeder, not a sniff on pellet so I went lighter and started getting a few knocks on caster eventually resulting in one decent chub and a lost barbel.

 

[Paul C]

Date 9.9.15
Section River Ribble
Time: 16:30 till 21:10
Weather conditions: Nice mild dry evening
Water conditions : Low and clear
Bait – Caster, hemp, maggot, corn & pellet
Air temp – NT
Water temp: NT
Method: Float rod and later single feeder rod
Results: A good mix of decent dace, roach and chublets

I planned to fish a new peg, but the only angler on the whole stretch was on that very spot, just under a mile from the car! I ended up walking further still and fished an area I had only fished once before, a good few years ago. It's slow water and back then threw up some nice roach and an odd big chub.

I thought I was in for a re-run as third trot down I had a roach of around a pound. As it was, I caught a fairly even mix of roach, dace and chub but nothing over a 1lb.

Things seem to be settling down a bit after the early season barbel catches on the float and the silver fish are now getting a look in and sessions get stronger as the evening draws to a close.

The last hour and 20 mins of light were particularly good with instant bites and some good action having come up in the water, as takes came earlier and mainly in the upper layers as fish were competing for the lose feed.

When the light went I dropped the feeder rod over the same swim, but 50 mins later I'd had no signs of better fish showing any interest, so I called it quits.

It was a very dark night and bit tricky making the long trek back to the car from a spot I wasn't too familiar with as parts of the terrain were overgrown with vegetation.

 

[ribble2015]

16/9/15

A 6hr+ session into dark and the river was looking good with a bit of extra water so hopes were high. I did about 3hrs on the float and it was bite a chuck from the off on maggot/caster/hemp, and ended up with the probably 30 fish, mostly dace, with about 10 roach, and a trout. Nothing over 12oz and no signs of chub or barbel. I kept trying pellet on the feeder and in 3.5hrs including some in the dark I managed just one bite for a single barbel. So good and bad, the barbel are proving elusive, but I don't think I have seen the river this full of dace and roach for years, if ever. I had a go on the float early season on a different length and it was small roach a chuck. There must be some decent roach in numbers out there but finding and catching them is another matter.

 

[john conway (CSG - ACA)]

Date:.. Thursday 24/09/15
Venue:... Ribble
Time fished:... 17:30hrs 22:30hrs
Weather conditions:... Cloudy with the odd bright spell. After dusk big moon coming and going behind clouds, it started to rain in the last hour of the session.
Water conditions:... EA River level at 04:30hrs @ NJR 0.36M and steady.
Air temperature:... 13C falling to 11C by the end of the session.
Water Temperature:... 16.2C
Bait:... Crust & Crust/cheese paste
Method:.. 2 rods – Upstream Rod Crust and feeder filled with liquidised bread and sweetcorn. Downstream Rod Crust/Cheese Paste and loose fed corn and pellets.
Results:... Three chub to 4lb
Brief description of the session & remarks:… This was just a quick trip down to the Ribble just to keep my hand in. There was only one other lad on this stretch but of late the river has been patchy so I was not surprised. No bites until after dusk, then only three, which produced three chub but only one making 4lb.

 

[malc blake]

Fishing tomorrow for barbel tomorrow after a break of about 6 years.Reading the latest posts it seems to me the barbel have become a bit more nocturnal,I will be fishing a peg that used to fish really well on low water during the day.Let you know how I go on.

 

[malc blake]

river down to bare bones,had just one barbel around 5lb on pellet.mate fishing next to me had one chub around 3lb on worm.loads of small sea trout jumping all over river,and a few salmon.

 

[ribble2015]

river down to bare bones,had just one barbel around 5lb on pellet.mate fishing next to me had one chub around 3lb on worm.loads of small sea trout jumping all over river,and a few salmon.

It's about par at the moment I'm afraid. Last autumn with the river equally on its bones you would start catching at dusk but not this year ( so far ! ).

 

[Paul C]

Date 9.10.15
Section River Ribble
Time: 12:15 till 5:45
Weather conditions: Mild dry, overcast / hazy
Water conditions : 0.22 and falling at ribchester and a little colour still
Bait – corn, pellet and chopped down mini boilies
Air temp – NT
Water temp: NT
Method: single feeder rod
Results: 5 chub to 3.5lb and one barbel 9lb 12oz

Finding it difficult to report promptly these days and almost forget to at times. I had to change plans. I was supposed to be on a day earlier into dark, but due to traffic chaos in Manchester I was the only one who made it to work and thus the early finish was a no go like the M60.

So, I took some time off friday but had a commitment in the evening so the best I could do was a short afternoon. Fortunately the sun was dulled by the cloud and a little colour in the water gave me hope on small baits despite the time of day.

I fished a peg I have been trying to have a go at of late that a friend tells me holds good numbers of fish of all types and he's done really well from the area.

The first two hours were a write off, but I was hopeful of catching a feeding spell and so it proved. I lost a chub after a few knocks and bangs on the previous casts.I quickly managed to get one although only about 2lb on pellet. With the chub about I switched to some 10mm boilies that always work really well in autumn and winter, which I cut and chop down really tiny to about 5 or 6mm size. I had 3 more in quick succession but none bigger than 3lb, before the feeding spell stopped and normal service resumed.

The sun appeared about 4pm and it was lovely and warm. I expected little else but at the brightest and warmest part of the day I had the barbel on mini pellet, which I could tell was decent from the way it fought slow and hard. I thought it was a double but it didn't quite make it. I added the best chub of the day on corn about 45 mins later.

 

[leeds utd 2011]

15.12.15
Ribble near Ribchester.
Today I fished from 13.15 till 18.05 for chub covering 3 swims using cheese paste smeared breadcrust to liquidized bread in a cage swimfeeder.
Started off really well taking 3 chub in 4 casts but then it slowed down. I had no response in the second swim & then 2 more chub in the last swim into dark.
Today the river was back within its banks up a couple of feet & coloured.
A mild day for December.
Session total 5 chub _ 4.5, 4.2, 3.13, 3.7 & 3lbs.

 

[leeds utd 2011]

Fished the Ribble yesterday for chub covering 5 swims using cheese paste smeared breadcrust & ended up with 6 chub between 1lb 5 oz & 4lb 15oz.
The river was up about 2 feet & slightly coloured. It was interesting surveying the river & the change in swim features after the recent heavy flooding.

 

[david jackson 2]

Ribble @ Ribchester 24/01/2016 1pm to 4:30.

River 2ft above & nice colour to it.

2 Rods, Maggot feeder(1) & pellet(2)

1st cast had small bite on maggot feeder - resulting in...... a Bullhead! Not seen one of these for 45 years.

3:45 put a large piece of meat on, 1st cast rod bounced round though it was lead settling, resulted in 10-0 Barbel, 1st double figure fish from a river, over the moon.

2 fish, smallest & largest out of a river, you just got to love lady Ribble.

 

[ribble rover]

River Ribble above Preston 14/03/16
3:00pm-10:30pm
Normal river levels approx 0.36m
2 Rods Ground-bait Feeder with pellet, corn and dead maggots

Started session with maggot feeder and picked up a small Grayling at 4:00pm. Baited swim at 5:00pm with a few large balls of ground-bait on each rod, awaiting nightfall with the usual anticipation. At exactly 6:30pm I had my first 3ft twitch on my downstream rod, which resulted in a 5LB+ Barbel to 14mm Halibut Pellet (Good Start) and signs that Barbel were willing to feed. I had a couple of savage plucks on my upstream rod on meat, but they didn't progress and I put them down to Chub. 7:20pm and my downstream rod sprung into life again, with the open drag screaming, resulting in a 7LB+ Barbel to 14mm Halibut pellet. I changed bait on my upstream rod and switched from a large piece of luncheon meat to a small piece of hair-rigged Pepperami, with loose offerings in the feeder. At 8:10 the upstream rod hooped over and the fish began to take line, I immediately lifted into the fish and was met by an initial powerful run on the drag and then a steady heavy plod, which told me it as a good fish, after about a 6min fight I netted the fish and was greeted by a huge head and broad shoulders, tipping the scales at 10lb12oz (This was now turning into a great end of season session). I followed this up with a 3lb+ chub at 09:20pm and another 3LB+ Chub at 09:50pm, one falling to a piece of Mega Corn and the other to an 8mm pellet, one upstream and one downstream. Packed in at 10:30pm a very happy Ribble Rover.

Good luck to everyone for the new season in June 16

 

[seth49]

http://settlehydro.hubexpert.com:8080/shcamweir.php

The above website shows a nice flush of Water coming down the ribble from settle. It's a handy site to show what the rivers doing higher up.
The hodder is up as well.

 

[bigtreeste]

Well after many years (14 i think) of fishing the ribble for barbel n chub i set myself the target of catching a carp from the ribble . So last thursday armed with 2 rods , net , unhooking mat and a bucket of bait n bits of terminal tackle i set off along the ribble above peston . The bright sunny conditions were not the best for fishing but with the river low i thought it would be good day to spot a carp or two . Within 40 mins of walking up river i spotted my first ribble carp , then another 20 yards further upstream ,neither one a monster and lucky if they were doubles. I trickled a bit of bait nearby and continued my walk upsteram .an hour later after not spoting any more i returned to my baited spot to find 7 carp heads down tails up on my bait . It couldnt be that easy i thought to myself as i lowered a bait into the river 10 yards upstream of the carp as not to spook em. The biggest fish in the group was no more than 15lbs but i couldnt belive id fpund a few let alone got them feeding ..... 10 mins after placing my bait i watched as 3 of the carp swam towards the baited rig . The first picked up the bait n spat it out in the blink of an eye but the second fish to pick the bait up bolted across river with line pouring from the spool.of my reel , after a short fight it was ready for the net but as i dipped the net to land it the hook came out and all i could do was watch it wave its tail at me as swam away. I was gutted . The rest of the carp had disapeared . Dropping another couple of hand fulls of bait in the area i again walked off to try n find another carp or two . An hour or so passed without the sight of another carp so on my way back to the car i checked the area i had lost the carp in earlier . To mysuprise their were two carp feeding on the spot . I quietly lowered my baited rig onto the baited spot and 20 mins later the rod was away again .... this time the hook stayed in and i landed my first ribble carp . Not a monster at 11lb but a lovely looking linnier .
Not a bad day considering it was my first trip out targeting the ribble carp.