i know winter is a good time for chub fishing and weirpools are good in summer, but do you think it is worth going for chub in weirpools in the winter? i would have thought weirpools were colder in winter obviously because it is colder, but also because of the constant fast flow of water, what do you think?

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Weirpools directly in front of the cill and in the downstream run-off contain more oxygen, but are not necessarily colder unless someone tells me that there is a direct correlation between flow levels, oxygen and temperature...although it always LOOKS colder.

IMHO its the higher oxygen content of weirpools thats more important and makes them always worth fishing in the summer months or during a period of drought, but they are probably less of a draw in winter when ideal temperatures and oxygen levels can be found further downstream. Its also always a little tricky fishing weirpools too.

Fish holding up in weirpools use higher levels of energy, particularly in winter when the flow is probably higher...so there needs to be adequate food available and my view is that in winter they generally drop back a little out of the fastest flow.

[ 09. October 2005, 08:24 PM: Message edited by: argyll ]

thaks for the info argyll. there are slack areas of water on both sides of the river with a couple of overhanging trees. you are saying these are the best places to fish?

Spot on Argyll IMHO.

Fantasticfisherman....

I am already feeling the effects of the colder weather, just one fish this afternoon, a chub normally a couple of Barbel can be expected alongside the chub. Coldish night last night,coupled with fresh rainfall yesterday didn't help.
I like to search out deeper water in the winter where the water temp: can be a few degrees higher.
I have a theory that larger baits for chub and barbel, in winter can often score over smaller, the fish are less active and would rather take a mouthful than a morsel, all to do with less energy expended for maximum reward.
Interested to hear any views on that!

As far as weir pools are concerned I do 90% of my river fishing near them, love em!!

Thats exactly where I've been for the last few outings and caught...zilch. The two weirpools that I fish have yielded nought either. Fishing has been very lethargic other than pike and perch. Right now I'm praying for rain and then I'll be back feeding the overhangs.

[ 09. October 2005, 08:07 PM: Message edited by: argyll ]

They'll still be there. However when it's colder they tend to move to slacker flow only nipping into the main flow when food passes.

Anyway it doesn't get that cold anymore.

the weirpool i am aiming to fish this winter isn't the easiest to fish, but i'm guessing that all weirpools are like that. it's not easy to get a spot there in the summer because of people swimming in it which isn't the smartest thing to do. there are lots of big fish in there - i.e chub and barbel but they are few and far between because, as i have already mentioned it is not easy. although i don't know why that is, thats just the way it is and i would really like to catch a big chub from there this coming winter. so any comments would be greatly recieved, like which rigs/bait work for you alongside fish location.

Just a few obvious ones.

Take a day off and fish midweek... weekends are
alway busy.

Be there and ready to go just before first light or last light, particularly if you fancy there's a chance of a bonus barbel.

Check your swim carefully, the debris from building the weir might be in front of you. The good news, fish like to hide behind rocks out of the flow... the bad news is that its a tackle breaker, so be prepared to up your line strength accordingly.

If you can get close enough don't ignore the white water right in front of the weir cill. Under that white water it'll be quite peaceful and fish will be patrolling the length of the weir and sluice gates. Stick a big smelly meat or paste bait right in the middle of it. If you start to hang up on debris then forget the hair rig and push a biggish hook right into the middle of the bait...it'll reduce hang-ups.

FF, weirpools aren't colder than the rest of the river in winter - in fact in most UK rivers they're pretty much the same temperature.

However, as argyll said, the fish often move out into slower stretches as they have less need for oxygen in winter. This is because cold water can contain more dissolved oxygen than warm water. Thus the the extra oxygen caused by the turbulance in a weirpool isn't needed in winter, even though it's a great attraction in summer.

The slower flows are often more comfortable for the fish as they use up less energy fighting the flow. However, not all fish will disperse downstream to quieter areas, some will remain in the weirpools. These fish will though seek out the slower areas of the weirpool, such as the sides as you've already mentioned.

Surprisingly, just under the sill the water is usually also slower! This is because there's normally a back eddy here, with the current going the opposite way to the surface. Once you get through the fast surface current you can often hold bottom with a lot less weight than you'd think!

However, many of the fish will disperse downstream as the season goes on. This is particularly so with many of the bigger chub on the rivers I've fished. The fish get spread out more so you have to use your watercraft to find them.

The very slow deep stretches of river often contain the biggest chub. The fish population is a lot smaller, and they can be much harder to both locate and catch. In fact they're almost a different species, becoming more predatory and more nocturnal.

But that as they say is another story!

[ 09. October 2005, 10:04 PM: Message edited by: Steve Burke ]

See my article "Fishing Frozen Rivers at http://anglers-net.co.uk/authors/steve05.htm

When I first wrote about big baits in cold weather in the 70s it very much went against accepted wisdom. Indeed, I took a bit of flak for it! These days it's become more mainstream.

However, I wonder how many of my other theories that are generally accepted now will get overturned in the years to come?