First trip to the Medlock

Over 30 years have passed since I first walked along the banks of the river Medlock and thought " I'm going to come and fish here soon". Needless to say I never got around to it and eventually forgot all about the river. Then recently I found The Meddy Man blog and my interest in this largely overlooked little water was rekindled.
 So when I woke this morning with nothing to do its seemed like the ideal time to get on the banks and see just what I could coax from the river. 25 minutes of bus travel later I was finally on the banks with 12 foot split cane rod in hand. The first few places I looked at were unfishable for me ( I walk with the aid of a cane so steep banks are a distinct no-no) so had to walk a little ways along passing some rather interesting swims before I finally fetched up at a very inviting wierpool.

I wasted little time setting up with a home made crowquill topper on 4 lb mainline on my Leeds pin with a 2lb hooklength to a size 16 hook. Bait was to be a fresh flake of bread. The bites started coming fairly quickly but  it seemed no matter how I tried I was missing the fish. So assuming the bites to be coming from minnows or something of that kind of size I scaled down to a 20's hook and a 1.1 lb hooklength.

My next cast was to the somewhat smoother water in the centre of the pool and my float sank almost immediately. As soon as I struck I knew that what was on the end of my line was no minnow as it barreled straight for the far bank. Mindful of the ultrafine hook length I carefully made my way down the slope I'd set myself on to some rocks at the edge of the pool and set about bringing the fish to the bank. I can't begin to explain how delighted I was to see my first brown trout in 10 years as it slipped over the edge of my landing net.

                       

 For the next couple of hours all I could catch were a few very small chub and I was beginning to despair of anything more substantial taking a liking to my flake, however I had seen signs of larger fish out towards the far side of the smoother water , unfortunately I was having a few problems with my casting distance due to my neglecting the upkeep of my reel. Would you believe I'd put it away wet and all the oil/grease had gone from inside its workings restricting its spin? 

 Feeling a little frustrated and more than a little annoyed with myself I figured it was time to switch to the more modern tipping rod. At under seven feet its got to be the shortest quivertip rod I've ever seen but for all its lack of length its quite a powerful wee thing. The wieght was to be a small drilled bullet, hooklength was 2lbs and the hook a size 18, bait again was breadflake . 

 A light underhand flick was more than sufficient to send the bait flyin out way beyond my targeted area...oops. A quick wind in and I let the tackle settle. No sooner had I put the rod in its rest than the tip started to bounce and my second brownie was on its way to my net. Not as big as the first but still a nice fish.  

                        

 While not the most productive of days it was nontheless an enjoyable experience, especially catching the first fish on the cane rod.The only downside to the entire day was packing up at around 6pm, walking back to the road and then finding out the bus home had already stopped running for the day *sigh*

 I think next time I venture on to the Medlock I'll plan it a little better, take a flask of coffee and some maggots for bait and make sure I have transport home . Thanks Meddy Man for reminding me of the Medlock , its definitely a river worth another visit, or two ;)

 Tight Lines all.