Small Rivers

[smiffy]

He said a river Arry not a trickle. I create a larger stream of water when I wash my van. ??. What do you catch from there ? Tell me grayling ... got to be grayling ? ?

The river Wid that Arry fishes used to hold double figure Bream back when the record was 13lb odd.
Years ago the local water authority used to pull out loads of Bream from the outflows etc of Abberton reservoir. Lots of double figure fish were pulled out. Back then they were offered to the local clubs for nothing. One lorry load of slabs broke down on the A12 to London and the only option was to dump them into the tiny river Wid. Missed out on it myself but remember an article in the angling times about it. The Suffolk Stour held the Bream record for a while with a fish stocked from Abberton.

 

[The Runner]

Fished half a dozen open matches on the Wid back in the 90s, lovely little river.
Not sure if its the same weirpool I drew once as the one in Arry's pic as if it was I was on the other bank with the weir to my right. Had a couple of chub only inches from my own bank and two more down the middle.
Drew one swim there just down from the main road bridge that could have stepped across at the end of the peg- seem to remember that as a one chub day with a couple of pounds of gudgeon and a plague of minnows.
Toss up between the Wid and the Whitewater (runs into the Blackwater which runs into the Loddon which runs into the Thames) for the smallest rivers i ever fished matches on. Loved them both.
You really learn to pace your swim in a match on those little rivers as often one mistake and its all over.

 

[tipitinmick]

My local rivers are very small, Roding and Wid and are much smaller than the Stour... another river I fish every year is the Wallington at Boarhunt... it's tiny and you can step over it in places... small rivers often throw up big fish.... I lost a trout as long as my fore arm from a Wid weirpool and landed a mahoosive Golden Orfe the following week



top pic the Orfe from the Wid Weirpool
Bottom Pic the Blue Bridge on the Wid a meadow downstream

What reel is that Arry ? Looks lovely.

 

[Arry]

What reel is that Arry ? Looks lovely.

The Pin is a Matt Hayes Signature and the fixed spool is a Hardy Altex

 

[tipitinmick]

The Pin is a Matt Hayes Signature and the fixed spool is a Hardy Altex

Hardy Altex ..... Looooooovely. ?

 

[Arry]

Hardy Altex ..... Looooooovely. ?

Nice to have... not brilliant to use... compared to even a mitchell the retrieve is painfully slow, the workings complicated to the level of Zen and its only real saving grace is a clutch that is second to none... and I mean NONE... it actually purrs with a big fish taking line... oh and it looks damn gorgeous...??

 

[Zerkalo]

The river I fish sometimes I wish the smaller fish would hang about instead of disappearing, in fact, they only showed up for a few months this summer but other than that it's a 'big fish' venue. Can't really complain though as the big fish seem to move about too so you don't always catch the same ones. I'd say the Barbel I've had out of there have probably never been caught before. They must have made their way along there from the Severn? Although it does join the Severn at Stourport. Nice to see a Golden Orfe come out of a small river too, who knows how they get in there!

 

[Robwooly]

Small rivers are full of ornamentals especially if they are urban. I once had 7 goldfish out the Gade at Cassiobury Park in one day, some people used to think they were crucians until you caught one with a fancy tail. Back in the day the old fairground used to give them away as prizes and they were no doubt liberated by their champions into the river which was adjacent. Other pond fish get released when they out grow garden ponds or people move house etc, I've caught many a Koi and Goldfish and even golden rudd out of rivers and canals but yet to have an orfe but seen them swimming around.