Plan C

Plan A - A match on the Irwell in the City Centre of Manchester - scuppered by a local hotel objecting to us fishing.
Plan B - A match on one of our club lakes - scuppered by Bury Council denying us car parking close to the venue, and a number of anglers pulling out in the run up to the match.
Plan C - A day on the Ribble with some mates - sitting on the riverbank in the sun, catching some quality roach and dace. A most enjoyable day out.

I've never been a match angler - and other than fishing various fundraisers for www.maggotdrowners.com I've not got any intention of really getting involved. So if anyone would like the role of match secretary for Salford Friendly Anglers please get in touch and the job is yours.

October Kick Sampling With The Riverfly Partnership

Today we held our second kick sampling training day on the Irwell with the Riverfly Partnership. Blessed with some autumnal sunshine 10 new samplers joined the ranks of the Salford Friendly Anglers Monitoring Initiative on the Irwell.

We have now covered 13 sites on the Irwell between Rawtenstall and Manchester City Centre, 2 sites on the River Roch, and 2 sites on the Bolton Rivers. We're looking to expand the number of sites on the Bolton Rivers and the Roch in the Spring when we hold a third training day.

Our course tutor Louis Kitchen delivered yet another informative and engaging session, firing the enthusiasm of all involved.

The AMI has only been running for a couple of months now - notable discoveries include fresh water shrimps as far downstream as the city centre of Manchester, and Stoneloach as far downstream as Littleton Rd. This is great news for the Irwell - as these species are slowly finding the water quality of the river improving to their needs.
It seems as though the expensive works at Ringley WWTW to install ammonia and phosphate removal facilities are now paying big dividends in terms of improved water quality and the associated improvement in habitat.

River Irwell Old Course Match Oct 2011

This match was another grueller - so many many thanks to all those who turned up and added another £40 to our re-stocking fund. We've now got £100 from the last two matches - given the quality of the fishing - we cant thank those who have supported us enough.

Last Saturday - 9 of us fished winning weight was 1lb of tiny roach caught on bread punch by Paul Smith. Second was Bob Morris with 15oz of fish on pinkie, Mike Duddy 3rd with 4 tiny fish for 2oz on pinkie.

Salford Council still arent responding to our requests for a lease on this water, depsite the fact that we have secured EA funding for pegs and access improvements.

So.................

To make things a little more interesting - we're going to leave the Old River alone for a while and hold our next match on the main River Irwell in the City Centre of Manchester on Sunday the 30th Oct. The city centre is currently fishing very well for roach chub and bream, on the old match length near the Campanile Hotel and we think 30lb will be needed to frame.
We've scouted out 20 pegs - which will go very quickly on a first come first served basis.

And Salford Council - tut tut - your letting your residents down. Seems like were going to have to have a chat with some of our friends in the local press.
Please contact admin@salfordfriendly.co.uk to book on.

Angling Trust North West

As you all know I am a big supporter of the Angling Trust - my view is that angling needs a unified voice to speak for us in a climate where so many people and groups seem to be bashing angling from all sides.

Please take a look at www.anglingtrustnorthwest.net

and also http://anglingtrustnorthwest.blogspot.com

Lastly please add the links to your websites and blogs - angling needs all the help it can get.