Prestwich Clough Day 2012

Prestwich Clough Day 2012 was a big success for Salford Friendly. The Clough Day is an event put on by Bury Council  (see www.prestwichclough.co.uk ) and is a great opportunity for local groups to spread the word to the 3,000 or so event visitors about what they do. Badger Rescue, Wildlife Trusts, Salford Friendly Anglers fitted in very well between the Bat group, the willow weavers and the Herefordshire Cows. We also use it to raise valuable funds to help finance the running costs of our free to join angling society.

At the 2011 event - the heavens opened and visitor numbers were very low - so it was quite a relief to see the sun shining last Sunday morning.

Our marquee gave us an  opportunity to put up a display showing visitors the type of activity Salford Friendly engages in, such as pollution monitoring, kick sampling and promoting and providing free fishing. We put on a display of various still water and river fish in tanks, also various invertebrates in trays which people could look at through magnifying glasses and microscopes. But equally important as spreading the word about what we do, was our Tombola stall which gave us the opportunity to raise some ££££ to help finance the work we do.

A general appeal to members for the donation of bottles was well supported and we had a great array of cans and bottles ranging from a rusty can of Carling to Gin, Scotch and Vodka. It really was a lucky dip for some, especially if they were lucky enough to win Colleen Nolans biography which was returned and re raffled 4 times during the day :)

The Environment Agency very kindly donated some bits and pieces of fishing tackle so our Tombola stall was split into two, bottles and general prizes and fishing tackle.

This young lad Kai, was a keen angler and spent a fair amount of his dads cash dipping into our draw bucket - he was rewarded with two whips, a feeder road, floats, disgorgers, rod rests, the only thing he didnt get was a fishing basket.

At the end of the day - our Tombola stall was cleaned out - and our volunteers shattered by the volume of people who visited our stall taking a real interest in the fish and invertebrates we had on display.

So I'd like to take this opportunity to everyone who kindly donated bottles and prizes for the Tombola stall, thanks to those who have made cash donations over the last few weeks, and many many thanks to the members who gave their time and energy on the day to make the event such a success. We raised a a grand total of £360 - which will cover the lions share of our annual running costs.

If you would like to contribute towards the running of Salford Friendly you can donate via www.paypal.co.uk forwarding your donation to admin@salfordfriendlyanglers.co.uk

Old River Match Result 12th May

1. 2lb 8oz Paul Smith
2. 2lb 1oz Pete Harford
3. 1lb 14oz Bob Morris
4. 1lb 1oz Ben G
5. 14oz Chris Edwards
6. 12oz Mike Duddy
7. 8oz Gaz O'Mara
8. 1oz Adam Mack
9. 1oz Phil C
10.1oz Luke M
11.DNW Martin E
12.DNW Brian D
13.DNW Paul W

Low weights - but high numbers of little roach making up the catches. Paul Smith took the ££££ with about 60 little roach for 2lb8oz on punch bread.
2nd & 3rd were venue old hands Pete and Bob. All of the top 3 were pegged down behind the pub and caught on punch.

After last years matches when no one broke the 2lb barrier - it seems as though the tiny roach are putting on a bit of weight.

We raised another £60 today towards the restocking fund.
Our next match is on the Rochdale Canal at Slattocks on Sunday the 27th May. Your welcome to join us, for what is slowly becoming a very friendly series of matches.

Thanks to everyone who took part - at long last the weather was kind to us and the fish were biting. Only a couple of DNWs on a venue that is slowly improving after a catastrophic pollution event back in 2008.

For anyone whos interested in pike fishing, then get down to the old river, the place is alive with them. I think we'll hold a couple of pike matches this winter on here.

Old River Match 12th May

Our last match on the Rochdale Canal which was held on the 29th April was a disaster.
As we approached the turnoff on the M62 the ice warning alert on my dashboard started to bleep and flash - and when we pulled up in the car park my car door was nearly ripped from its hinges by the ferocious wind which was whistling down from the pennines.

As the time from for the draw approached, it was decided to switch venue to somewhere a little more sheltered as fishing our chosen match length would have been impossible. More like the North Sea than the Rochdale Canal.

So we chose a spot between some factories near Mills Hill Station which we thought would give us a little bit more shelter from the elements. In short - it didn't.

10 anglers started off - with 3 packing up after an hour, with the rest of us calling it a day after 2 hours. It was impossible to hold a pole, or even read bites on a tip as the wind was gusting hard from all angles.
I caught a skimmer of about 6oz which gave me first place in the match.
To be truthful i didn't even see the bite - as my pole was swept from right to left by a gust -  but the fish was hooked fair and square in the mouth so I happily claimed it. My hands were so cold, i couldn't grip the skimmer properly and I dropped it between un hooking and the keepnet - so it nearly didn't count.
But count it did - and my £30 winnings went back into the restocking fund.

So looking back on the matches we've held so far this year - they've all been rock hard  - with low weights predominating.

Which brings us to our next match which is being held on the Old River in Irlam this Saturday the 12th May.

For those of you who don't know much about it, the Old River is a still water, used to be the river Irwell until it was cut off and turned into a still water when the ship canal was built.

Its shaped like a river - steep sides to the margins, 6 to 8 feet deep in the middle.

It was polluted in 2008 and thousands of carp, bream and tench died.

Since then, its fished badly - though we had two matches there last year, where a lot of small roach were caught on pinkie and bread punch.

The winner had just short of 3lb on punch.

There are some decent eels in there, and one lad had two for 2 and a half pounds and lost another at the net which would have won him the match. 

I was down there the other day, and saw some decent fish rolling on the surface - so it looks like not all the big fish were killed in the pollution incident.

Last years fish will be that bit bigger, so i think the place is well on the road to recovery.

Pole tactics will probably win, but i think I'm going to go a bit mad and fish a method feeder or hemp and caster and see if i can catch a lump.

See you Saturday

Yet Another Irwell Pollution Incident

I received a phone call this evening informing me that the Irwell had turned white downstream of Bury. So I went up to see how bad it actually was.
The foaming below Warth Fold Weir was as bad as I've ever seen, but thankfully I couldn't see any fish in distress.
Upstream of the weir, the river looked normal, and there was no foaming at the mini weir underneath the Metrolink bridge making me think that the pollution may have been coming from the adjacent industrial park. The EA turned up to investigate just as I was leaving so hopefully they will get to the bottom of it.

Drinkies On Fire

Drinkwater Park Lake is on fire at the moment. In the last 14 days (with the fishing match we held being the exception to the rule) its thrown up some amazing fish for two of our Societies specimen hunters.

The run of form was kicked off by Ian Goodwin who took this lovely 16lb pike.

Which he then followed up with a string of tench and bream to 6lbs.

This evening, I decided to join Ian and Paul for a couple of hours and fish til dusk. I set up with simple float gear, using sweetcorn as bait - I didnt get a touch.
As i was packing up in the gloom, Paul launched his bait into my swim - and bagged this cracking 21lb8oz Mirror Carp. As it was my swim i think we should call it 50/50 so we'll call it 10lb12oz each :))))

Only Joking - congratulations Paul on a cracking fish.

Drinkies Match Result

We held the second of our series of Spring matches this Sunday on the main lake at Drinkwater Park. Twelve anglers turned up to fish, with a couple more coming along to watch the event and say hello.

As is usual for any Salford Friendly match - there was an overnight frost which  we blame for the slow start, middle and finish.

The match was won by Ian (venue expert) Goodwin who nabbed this magnificent 5lb 1oz bream on his first cast. Ian then went on to sit biteless for nearly 5 hours - which was the same fate as a good number of those gracing the banks today. Ians had a good run of fish over the last 7 days on Drinkwater Park and I'll make a special blog post on his captures (which include 5 fish for a total weight of 24lbs during one session) later on in the week.

By the halfway stage of todays match, the chairman had got his pole out (a tactic he had been previously loudly telling everyone didn't work on drinkies) and nabbed a tiny tiny roach on his first cast, putting him firmly into second spot with about 3 drams - but he got his comeuppance for his lies and treachery when Adam Mack and Mike Clare hit into a few silvers in the last half hour to add some respectability to proceedings.

So the full result:
1st Ian Goodwin     5lb1oz
2nd Adam Mack         4oz
3rd Mike Clare           2oz
The Chairman              3 drams

Well done to young Kyle Wilson - the only junior at todays match - who stuck it out to the bitter end and put up with our terrible jokes.
Comiserations to Paul Carr - who hooked into a big lump of a carp - estimated to be a very good double - which busted him in the weeds.

We raised another £83 towards the restocking fund today - many thanks to those who took part and to those who gave us a donation.

Can You Find Me A Home?

I've got hold of some charity collection tins - to use for raising extra money for our restocking Fund.

Will you please ask in your local pub, tackle shop, convenience store if they will place one of our collecting boxes on their counter ? I will then drop off a box for you.
contact: admin@salfordfriendlyanglers.co.uk