I picked up Improve your coarse fishing magazine this month, It contained an article writen by Jan Porter. The artical was about fishing the big rivers tributreis, the ones that are a several feet across that trundle through farmland and urban areas with over hanging trees and bushes.
This realy apeals to (im sick of fishing dirty un natural holes in the ground)!

There are 2 rivers of this kind in my area The River Gowy about 2miles east of chester and The River (Afon) Alun Flintshire North Wales about 10-12 miles south west of chester.

Does anyone have any info about fishing these rivers?
What type of permit might i need (licance or land owners permision)?

Anyone fishid rivers like described with any succses?

I need a change of fishing

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Yer i know bummer.

Do a search for "River Gowy" i put up a post about this the other day,not much info but a little.Surprosdley lots of trout in there.From wot i could see from my recky down there to catch you will have to remaion under cover and try and fish down stream or up as not to spook the fish.

I would say that the best thing to do is have a walk along these rivers and see if there are any signs up. If its private with no fishing it will say. If a club has fishing rights they normally put a sign up, they will normally have the name of the club and, if you're lucky, contact details. If there are no signs give it a go and see if anyone says anything. (after the 16th, of course)

I would leave it until about May to have a look as you might be able to spot a few fish. After the 16th you wont see any!!!

free lined lob worm cast under reed rafts or overhanging trees has worked for me in the past, i used to fish the river wid in essex which has some suprisingly big chub for such a small river. remeber to keep out of sight even crawling on hands and knees to the bank is often required, even too heavy a foot fall can put the chub off in shallow small streams.

warrington anglers own a stretch of the gowy near chester but i have yet to fish it so i cant really give any advice on it.
Heres the link to the warrington site.
www.warrington-anglers.org.uk/Water...s_Page=2#Waters
They also run a few other stretches of river around that area (mostly the DEE)

For years I specialised in just such waters, many of which I could jump across. Most of them hold surprisingly big fish, especially specimen chub, perch and trout, but are almost totally neglected. In most cases it's just a question of asking permission to fish from the farmer, and you have a water to yourself!

As Peter says, the most important requirement is stealth. I'd add to keep off the skyline, and avoid sudden movements.

Again, I agree that worm is an excellent bait on such waters. It's both natural, and also appeals to all species.

Nothing complicated is needed in the way of tackle, an Avon rod usually being the best. If the banks are open I find it much better to have a long rod so that you can keep well back from the bank otherwise you'll spook too many fish (although you might not know it!). On the other hand, if the banks are overgrown a short rod is very useful.

Line strength will depend on the size of the fish, and how bad the snags are. Bear in mind that most streams are overgrown, and you won't have much room to let the fish run. Certainly I wouldn't recommend light line as the fish are unlikely to be tackle shy. I usually carry 4, 6 & 8lb, matched to hooks from 2 for slugs down to 14 for small worms.

Although you can stay in one spot and work a swim as in a big river, you'll almost certainly catch more if you adopt a roving approach, moving on when you've caught a fish or two and disturbed the swim. You can always bait it up and return later.

I'd suggest you work upstream as this will scare less fish. Sorry to keep on about stealth, but this really is the key to catching on such waters!

Fishing such venues will teach you a hell of a lot about watercraft and location very quickly. Very often you'll be able to see some species of fish, and this will be very useful on bigger waters.

There are several books on the subject, the standards being "Small Stream Fishing" and the later "Rough River & Small Stream Fishing" by David Carl Forbes. Others worth getting hold of are "Big Fish from Small Waters" by Ken Seaman, "The Exploring Angler" by Tag Barnes, and "How to Fish the Upper Great Ouse" by Fred J. Taylor.

Several of these I have in stock, see the link in my signature.

[ 18. March 2005, 10:26 PM: Message edited by: Steve Burke ]

I love stream fishing. They always seem to be the most neglected waters you can fish and they always seem to be absolutely teeming with Trout especially. Most of the time, I reckon the fish are pretty bold as they havn't seen much attention.
These waters are also good for trying odd baits. The water usually has to channel through very tight runs and the fish are normally balled up in very tight spaces. It's rare for anything to travel through these swims without something having a go.
You'll hear folk talking of catching brownies on bread. Get yourself onto a stream and you can bag up all day long. A deft cast with a small spinner usually goes down a treat as well.

Agree with all the above. I fish a local part of the Blackwater which is little more than a stream where I go. (Chubb to 5 & 6) and nice head of Perch. Don't have to be so stealthy though as the Blackwater is always clouded. Lobs are a killer for Perch and Chubb

Thats been a real help thanks,
I found out about the River Gowy, il be getting intouch with Warrington Anglers to try and becombe a member. I cant wait to wet my net, the nice weather is getting me all excited