Favourite UK River?

[Guest 1lastcast]

I can only comment on the Rivers I know and have fished, but as I only, well almost only fish Rivers, it is a intuiging question. I just don't know what is my favourite, perhaps the most bountiful would be the Wye, a glorious river that has everything going for it, but as of late it has become a little too expensive with the Wye and Usk foundation controlling most beats.

 

Then there is the mighty Severn, argueably the most challenging of all our Rivers, that is the Lower bit! But Sabrina has been kind to us this season and has provided some great Barbel especially catches, whereas just last season she was a good bet for a blank session, now you expect to catch, and I have caught up until January. But the Lower is a river that demands ittlle water craft but mainly strong gear.

 

And then there are the smaller Rivers such as the Teme and Arrow, the Teme was the Barbel river until the Otter that is blamed by many as to her decline in catches.I am not convinced the Otter is solely to blame, perhaps the popularity of the River might be a cause.

 

The Arrow that rises just south of Birmingham and meanders to meet the Warwickshire Avon near Evesham is proper Mr Crabtree stuff, and any true River angler would sell his wife to fish here, it has everything, it is my 'go to river' when need a lift.

 

But the one River that I don't fish now, but was born alongside in Bristol, the Avon, is the one that I would cherish above all others, purely sentimental I guess, as it was the River I used to fish as a lad, and inspired my love of fishing, She is in a slight decline too at the moment, but class is permanent and hopefully will recover soon, I have fished all along her 90 odd miles, from the upper reaches in the Cotswolds through beautiful Georgian Bath to the industrialised Bristol vastness, great memories.

[Renrag39]

The River Bure and its tributaries and Broads. I 'grew up' (as much as I'm gonna) on it. I'll never suss it all out but it's a childhood friend I'll never forget.

[lutra]

I have very fond memories of summer grilse fishing on Argyll's tiny river Euchar. Not big fish or big numbers of them, but in a small rocky fast flowing over grow river they could be electrifying and amazing scenery and wildlife to go with it.

 

But for a river i really want to go back to i would need to slip outside the UK. At some point I want to get back to Ireland and checkout some of the smaller rivers and tributaries probably of the Erne system. Trotting for roach off the beaten track.

 

 

 

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[barry luxton]

english channel

[jimmyh]

The middle reaches of the river swale are my favourite, love them

[Vagabond]

I have very fond memories of summer grilse fishing on Argyll's tiny river Euchar. Not big fish or big numbers of them, but in a small rocky fast flowing over grow river they could be electrifying and amazing scenery and wildlife to go with it.

 

 

 

 

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Yep, wonderful little river - with enough trout, seatrout and salmon for both anglers and otters.

 

Not easy, but would reward stealth and watercraft.

[Anderoo]

Come on then Steve, what's yours?

 

(You can't say the Little Stour, just because you can sit next to it and cast into the coarse lake... )

[kenj]

The Thames of over fifty years ago was the first river I fished, a piece of flake, or crust for roach, while a worm from the garden would tempt perch, but more likely a daddy ruffe, or pope.

Later I discovered the river Colne ten miles above it's confluence at Staines, where with school friends, we would plunder the stocks of dace and roach, only for it to turn black one summer's day, as we watched fish after fish rise to the surface to drift off gasping. That pollution killed off the Colne for over a dozen years before it recovered, by which time I was married and living a mile from it's banks. The first fish to reappear were small roach and chublets, followed a few years later by shoals of dace. One day I was fishing alongside a road and a car stopped. The driver getting out, asked why I was fishing there, as there were no fish in it. I lifted my keepnet, which was boiling with dace. He got back in and drove off, returning an hour later with his rod.

The following ten years put the Colne as my number one river. After a hard match on the Thames, or Grand Union, I would often stop by to "get rid" of my bait, piling it in to bring on the chub and often barbel to my stick floated maggot. The Colne was a well kept secret for a long time, but as reports of it's barbel grew, so did it's decline in my eyes, as PVA pellet became the method on this shallow stream. On my last visit, I was asked why I was using the stickfloat, when I should be on the feeder, if I wanted to catch fish. I have no more visits planned.

[Steve Burke]

Come on then Steve, what's yours?

 

(You can't say the Little Stour, just because you can sit next to it and cast into the coarse lake... )

Unfortunately my favourite river, the Kentish Beult, is a shadow of its former self.

 

I have fond memories of even smaller streams, some of which you can jump across in many places. I find these not only great fun to fish but a very good place to quickly learn watercraft.