 A certain amount of my fishing, actually the majority of it, is carried out on fisheries that are what you would call urbanized or industrialised, be that the Don and Rother in Sheffield or the Trent in and around Nottingham. These fisheries may well be lacking a little in aesthetic values but more often than not they are rough diamonds and if an angler is willing to put the effort in will reap amazing rewards. Why Fish these areas? You may well ask, well Sheffield, which is my home town, has a massive industrial heritage which relied heavily on water and therefore much of the waterside and nearby adjacent areas are heavily industrialized or unfortunately, due to the collapse of certain parts of British industry, derelict.  I can remember vividly being about five or six and looking at the Don as we passed it on the bus into town and asking my dad whether or not there would ever be any fish in the Don. His answer was, “Well, you never know son, one day there may well be.” As it was little more than an open sewer and industrial dumpsite. The river flowed several colours in a day and there was often a clinging nasty chemical stench in the air. Rubbish and litter soiled the banks, a problem which still lingers in parts. What is it with litter? I am sorry but I just do not understand it. Why do some people feel comfortable surrounded by their own filth and waste? When it comes to litter and pollution I am definitely a zero tolerance kind of person. put it in the bin or take it home. Jeez, it isn’t rocket science!  After the closure of much of the steel works and heavy industry in Sheffield, coupled with certain government legislations and cleanup directives, fish soon began to re-colonize the river with trout and minnows coming down from the upper reaches along with roach and gudgeon. I can remember having gudgeon and minnow matches in the 1980’s with my brother Jamie and we would usually catch around a hundred apiece in one hour; not bad for what was then a grossly polluted open sewer. Wild life soon began to take advantage of the cleaner water with kingfishers becoming a regular sighting along with the odd heron, but the main player in those days as far as wildlife was concerned was the rat – they were numerous and huge! They used the far bank margin like a roadway and there were always several in sight at any one time. God knows how we didn’t catch something dreadful! The expanding mink and exploding fox populations have dented the numbers of rats in recent years but unfortunately there is still a decent head to be found along most of the river.  So, if you can brave the rats and don’t mind the odd bit of builder’s rubble and can cope with river beds that have more snags than a hundred yards of barbed wire you should try your local urban fishery; you may well get the surprise of your life. Here are a few of my favourite fishing spots which have an urban or industrial influence, some to a lesser degree than others. Let’s take a look at some fishing spots. River Don at Washford Bridge Attercliffe Now this is the area of the Don I have done most of my mega-urban river fishing from. Its bang on the main road into Sheffield city centre, but once you are off the roadside it’s very attractive indeed, with heavy growths of Himalayan balsam hiding the river bank during the early months of summer. It really is quite beautiful considering it is so close to the centre of one of the countries biggest cities.  The three species of wagtails are always out and about along with the odd pair of dippers and my all time favourite, the kingfishers. I have also seen a buzzard, lots of kestrels and the odd sparrow hawk hunting in the proximity of the river.  Yes, this really is a little strip of paradise in parts. It’s the first place I caught a grayling (and also the only place I have caught a grayling), the lady of the stream fights like a demented whirling dervish when hooked in the fast currents of the Don. The trout are always likely to show up and give you a fantastic aerial display but there is a downside to this area and that is litter. The one thing that will always vex me are the litter bugs and fly tippers who do their level best at times to keep the place looking untidy. Why don’t they do us all a favour, catch a dose of leptospirosis and drop dead from the resulting Weils Disease.  On the five weirs walk this piece is called the salmon pastures section of the Don and as the name suggests at some time in the distant past it was the area in which the salmon used to cut their reds and spawn! Well there hasn’t been salmon on this stretch since my last fishing session here, and they were in the form of fish spread on my packed sandwiches! No, the salmon reds are long gone but maybe not that far off a return as the odd fish has been seen around Doncaster and some claim to have seen fish jumping the weirs at Norfolk bridge and Ladies Bridge, but there are a lot of very large trout in the area and I will hold back the champagne until I see concrete proof in the form of salmon parr swimming around my feet. Then I will have the biggest celebration ever, because that will be the one thing that guarantees the long term survival of the Don as a fishery. Oh yes, see the European and EA grant money come flowing in then! River Don Meadowhall The Don around Meadowhall has some excellent fishing on offer with big nets of chub and cracking roach to aim for, but it is a very busy area with traffic for the shopping mall and access to the river is shockingly bad in parts, plus you may attract the attention of any passing loonies or gangs of yobs.  Pick your spot well and you could be in for a treat, get it wrong and you may end up being pelted by bricks or having to endure torrents of abuse off gangs of maniac hooligans, maybe this is one for the urban warfare veterans. River Rother at Catcliffe near Rotherham Now the one thing the Rother can make claim to was being Europe’s most polluted waterway not that many years ago. This was a real toxic cocktail, with chemicals so vile flowing within its banks it was totally devoid of any higher life forms, absolutely poisoned to death. To take a drink on a hot summer’s day from the Rother was pretty much tantamount to suicide. Now there is still no way I would be tempted to sample the water as far as drinking goes but it’s absolutely fine for fishing, with shoals of roach and chub along with the ubiquitous hordes of gonks and even the odd barbel and pike, yet for all the silverfish it has on offer, the one fish on this stretch that can raise the odd eyebrow is the perch.  Several have been authenticated over the 4lb mark and there is the possibility of a 5-pounder coming out to anyone wishing to put the time and effort in, to track it down. The shoals of perch are very nomadic and can show up anywhere at any time. These fish have grown fat on the Gudgeon and small roach that abound in this much improved little river and this coming season will see me putting a fair amount of time in with small live and deadbaits as I feel that a 4 to 5lb perch out of this river would be an amazing achievement and something that I could talk about for years. The day tickets and season tickets for this stretch are an absolute steal, fantastic value for a fantastically improved venue. River Trent at Clifton and Clifton Bridge, Nottingham This can be one of the most dangerous of fishing spots ever, it can also be the most idyllic and offer the angler a fantastic chance of a double figure barbel. I have been catapulted at, shot at, had drunk naked teenagers jump into my swim and then fall into a bed of nettles (hilarious). I have been abused by horse riders, stung by horse flies, dive bombed by barn owls, chatted up by wader fetishists (I kid you not!) and had the ashes of someone’s mother scattered in my swim (whilst I was fishing). Oh yes, if its going to go wrong, its going to go wrong here!  Your car will probably get vandalized and you’re always at threat from some of the local idiot population, but not leaving the car in a spot that says, “This is an angler’s car and he will not be back for several hours, please set it on fire!” plus a visible deterrent like a two foot machete does increase your chances of a peaceful days sport. A lot of my early and latter day Trent fishing has been done here with the odd excursions onto the upper and tidal Trent but to be honest I keep coming back as there are 500 pegs (minimum) between Beeston weir and Trent Bridge where I could catch a barbel. I am also certifiably insane and enjoy the buzz of running the gauntlet. Fairham Brook Nottingham This is small tributary of the Trent and it runs through the Clifton and Silverdale estates of Nottingham before entering the Trent at Clifton Bridge – what a cracking little venue this is! Crystal clear waters, ideal for stalking the chub and roach shoals that inhabit this tiny stream. I love this stream, it’s simply fantastic and I have had chub to 3lb but have seen one bigger. I have also seen lots of roach but they have also seen me and when it comes to putting bait to them they are nobody’s fools and will simply glide away if you spook them.  A large head of pike move up in spring to spawn and I have seen no less than twenty big doubles in a river section no longer than fifty yards and all surrounded by tiny jacks. A proper little venue that always has the potential to surprise, it’s the rivers such as this one we must protect and be vigilant about the most, as it is these little ones with the least attention focused on them that are the most vulnerable and therefore at the end of the day the very ones most likely to be abused by industry and agriculture or raped of all their innocent charms with bad water management schemes run by the EA. So there it is, a rundown of a few of the urban and industrial areas that I fish, they are all exciting and challenging in their own way, otherwise I wouldn’t fish them. They offer me convenient and easily accessible sport with the added advantage that the majority are free fishing. They do not for the most part require any great knowledge or specialist fishing gear and are ideal for the new comer to the sport. Every city in England has venues like these and my advice is to track them down. They may not look much on the outside but as long as the water is clean and pure there is always the chance of it throwing up a surprise.
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