Bluemoon Angling Thread

Does anyone here go fly fishing? We stayed with friends in Acharacle last week, beside Loch Sheil, and close to River Sheil, as it runs about a mile into the sea. It stuck me that if I lived there, it would be a great to go fly fishing there.

It is quite a fast flowing river, shallow, with some gentle flowing areas, a few rocky areas like mini waterfalls. I was told salmon and trout can be caught there.

I've been sea fishing in tourist boats and caught mackerel and once a cod. What's the crack with river fishing? Can you hire equipment? If you are lucky enough to catch something, are you allowed to keep your catches? Is there a knack to landing the fish, or is it just like bringing in a mackerel?

Does anyone here go fly fishing? We stayed with friends in Acharacle last week, beside Loch Sheil, and close to River Sheil, as it runs about a mile into the sea. It stuck me that if I lived there, it would be a great to go fly fishing there.

It is quite a fast flowing river, shallow, with some gentle flowing areas, a few rocky areas like mini waterfalls. I was told salmon and trout can be caught there.

I've been sea fishing in tourist boats and caught mackerel and once a cod. What's the crack with river fishing? Can you hire equipment? If you are lucky enough to catch something, are you allowed to keep your catches? Is there a knack to landing the fish, or is it just like bringing in a mackerel?
Have a look at this mate
 
Does anyone here go fly fishing? We stayed with friends in Acharacle last week, beside Loch Sheil, and close to River Sheil, as it runs about a mile into the sea. It stuck me that if I lived there, it would be a great to go fly fishing there.

It is quite a fast flowing river, shallow, with some gentle flowing areas, a few rocky areas like mini waterfalls. I was told salmon and trout can be caught there.

I've been sea fishing in tourist boats and caught mackerel and once a cod. What's the crack with river fishing? Can you hire equipment? If you are lucky enough to catch something, are you allowed to keep your catches? Is there a knack to landing the fish, or is it just like bringing in a mackerel?

Have a look. I don’t know the water but it will not be like fishing for Mackerel, I can promise you that.
 
A really imprtant point which we both forgot to tell you: be really careful how you look after and return barbel if you catch one in these conditions. Yopu must use an unhooking mat. You also need to hold them out in the current for as long as it takes to recover, even if you get wet feet. It could be 5 minutes plus using the light tackle you are.

Also, I know someone who is in that area now and he caught dozens of chub but only one barbel. Your tackle is perfect for them so why not fish maggots, hemp or caster to catch a bag of chub? The barbel could easily still show.
Right guys, we're back home and a good time we had. Bear with me. Tuesday 2 of us we drove down to the Eardington brook length just through Bridgenorth. A flat, 10 min walk to the river. Set up in the first two pegs after the private section just downstream of the brook. Started fishing a 9 am. Not over ambitious with the sun and low water but a bit of colour in. Set up with free running 30gm open ended filled with HaliHemp ground bait laced with hemp and caster, with 3ft hooklenght to a 14 micro barb and 3 casters. First few fish small dace then after 50 mins off it went. 5lb barbel. Followed by a mixture of chub, upto 2lb, dace, chublets and 5 more Barbel. 2 x 6 another 1x 5 a 4 and a little 2 pounder. Smashed clean off twice
My mate had 3, biggest just 8lb and some Chubs all on meat. Chucked it at 8pm. Wed am after breakfast joined by a third mate we checked out the Apsley Estate lengths and eventually opted for the "easy" section opposite the golf course. Low and slow and nothing to get excited about, from midday till 9 45 we only caught chub, best 2.5 lbs, and not many of them. However we had reports that further upstream a guy was doing very well with the odd barbel, chub and dace on maggot on the stick. Wed Am checked out Blackstone, Lower Arley and Danery lenghts. Blackstone's very good access and some decent pegs but not fishing through lack of water, Danery very bad pegs. Arley, quicker water good access but guys not catching. So PM back to Eardington but upstream to a gravel bank. Fast shallow bouldery water. Now it gets interesting. Catching chub to 5lb on Caster for fun and 2 roach well over a pound. Then the tip pulls down, another chub then bang. Now you might not believe this, but on my Drennan medium feeder, 8 lb main 7lb hooklength and 14s hook after a 20 min scrap a 26.5 lb pike lay on the bank. After that I couldn't care any more and decided beer was the best bet. Going back to the Unicorn in August cant wait.
 

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Right guys, we're back home and a good time we had. Bear with me. Tuesday 2 of us we drove down to the Eardington brook length just through Bridgenorth. A flat, 10 min walk to the river. Set up in the first two pegs after the private section just downstream of the brook. Started fishing a 9 am. Not over ambitious with the sun and low water but a bit of colour in. Set up with free running 30gm open ended filled with HaliHemp ground bait laced with hemp and caster, with 3ft hooklenght to a 14 micro barb and 3 casters. First few fish small dace then after 50 mins off it went. 5lb barbel. Followed by a mixture of chub, upto 2lb, dace, chublets and 5 more Barbel. 2 x 6 another 1x 5 a 4 and a little 2 pounder. Smashed clean off twice
My mate had 3, biggest just 8lb and some Chubs all on meat. Chucked it at 8pm. Wed am after breakfast joined by a third mate we checked out the Apsley Estate lengths and eventually opted for the "easy" section opposite the golf course. Low and slow and nothing to get excited about, from midday till 9 45 we only caught chub, best 2.5 lbs, and not many of them. However we had reports that further upstream a guy was doing very well with the odd barbel, chub and dace on maggot on the stick. Wed Am checked out Blackstone, Lower Arley and Danery lenghts. Blackstone's very good access and some decent pegs but not fishing through lack of water, Danery very bad pegs. Arley, quicker water good access but guys not catching. So PM back to Eardington but upstream to a gravel bank. Fast shallow bouldery water. Now it gets interesting. Catching chub to 5lb on Caster for fun and 2 roach well over a pound. Then the tip pulls down, another chub then bang. Now you might not believe this, but on my Drennan medium feeder, 8 lb main 7lb hooklength and 14s hook after a 20 min scrap a 26.5 lb pike lay on the bank. After that I couldn't care any more and decided beer was the best bet. Going back to the Unicorn in August cant wait.
Wow. What a great trip you’ve had. That’s a specimen pike, a fish of a lifetime. Did it take the chub?
 
It was a great trip and although I only caught Barbel on day one I was well happy with the trip.Considering the weather and river levels. That's the biggest fish of my Angling lifetime and my first over 20, in fact my biggest fish came out of the Basin Pool at Whitmore at 17lb so my PB up by almost 10lb.Yes, the poor chub or it may have been a roach cos we had a few out is sadly no longer of this world. RIP. Strange take though, in my experience when a Pike strikes a hooked fish it's usually a visual thing, you see the strike ,you see the swirl especially in shallow water but this one no signs whatsoever, it just went solid and then game on.
 
9-E1-F5317-0-BEA-407-A-A26-C-C596-A056-D076.jpg
 

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