I will run the risk of being accused of being biased, however the Ribble continues to show what a special river it is. Since the onset of winter, the fish have done their usual migrations both down and upstream. Dace are now shoaling in numbers approaching the hey days of the mid 80’s. The quality of these fish is stunning with numerous fish pushing 10oz plus. I am sure we must have a few 1lb plus fish currently in the system.
Added to this, an explosion of Chub in the 10oz-1lb and Roach in the 4-8oz bracket showing how healthy the recruitment of juvenile fish has been over the last few years. I would guess that this summer’s drought will at least have been of benefit to the class of 2025! Also, to keep the balance, both juvenile (and adult!) Perch and Pike have pushed through too.
On the barbel front it’s been a tough season so far, however fish to low doubles have been taken when conditions have been favourable. I recently hit gold on 08/12 with half a dozen takes with fish to 8lb landed on a short afternoon session. Water temperature, so important for winter sport, was as good as it gets at 48C.
Not to miss out on favourable spawning years one great feature of a tough summer was the numbers of 1lb Barbel. Staying with recruitment and some of our smaller species, Ruffe have started to show in numbers. The odd fact with this species is that they only seem to get caught in high coloured water? Another species to make an impact on one of our tributaries, the Darwen, is the Stone Loach. These along with Bullheads have started to show regularly in kick samples. These mini-species, including Minnows are testament of a healthy river and are great fodder for our predators.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the volunteers who are helping to keep Cormorants and Goosanders off our river. Without the tireless work of these licensed guys, our river would not have anything like the diversity it currently has. Within this diversity, I also include Kingfishers, Egrets, Grebes, Dippers and Otters. If you witness numbers of Cormorants and Goosanders, please report using the RFCA APP
