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River Soar-Middle of Leicester

99K views 183 replies 42 participants last post by  AshleyKirk 
#1 ·
Reeesult!
Caught my first trout of the season from the city centre River Soar in Leicester, on my first attempt...yes. I have only ever managed two others, both last season from about 12 sessions...but plenty of coarse fish.
I don't expect to see any/many other posts of trout coming out, added here, but thought this post may encourage a few others to try, their local waters where trout are only roumoured to exist.
I have only met or heard of one other flyfisher, besides myself, who has taken any trout in the last 5 years from this river, so I am well chuffed despite how I may appear.
They do exist!

Returned alive...obviously, I shall be catching him again.
Dee
 
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#27 ·
Dee
Congratualtions I know how you must feel. I had a similar experience going on 15 years ago on a local river to me, though not strickly an urban river it is a coarse fish one. This is my first time on the forum i am normally a voyer, but I am motivated by your story to give it a go. If your interested i can P.M. you some hot combat tips and lessons learnt about these kind of river trout over the years at the risk of teaching you to suck eggs etc.
 
#28 ·
welcome to the forum willy.it's good how dee's posts have stirred /woken up a lot of feeling for our urban rivers ,which seem to be doing better than i could ever have concieved 10 yrs ago.power to your rods,
i might even get to join you for a bit of combat fishing.here's hoping.

jim
 
#30 ·
Im going to have another crack on the erewash today,i know there are trout in there i just got to find them.If anyone else is fishing the erewash 2day dont forget to say hi(i`ll be wearing my badge :) )

del
 
#31 ·
1965nick said:
Glad to hear the Queniborough Brook has thrown up a nice fish, I'm sure there is a syndicate that fishes it, near the village of Queniborough. I've only tried the Sence on the Gopsall fishery, and they five miles of it. There are some access points on the Erewash in Stapleford, a road crosses it, and you can get into the river from there. I'm pretty certain that you can get access from a playing field in Ilkeston. I'll have to go and have a look, although teaching full time, and having a young family is making it hard to at the moment.
Hi Nick, thanks for the access info...that is the easy bit!
Do you know if we can just pile up and fish these areas though?
If a yes, then I'll try this week as I've a few days spare although I'm supposed to be doing a feature somewhere in Bristol...no deff. plans yet though.
Ilkeston sounds more promising, a good few miles further upstream.
Dee
 
#33 ·
wcb said:
Dave you should come down a little farther south and fish my local canals/etc.

45 min from bristol and as you have seen from the pic's big fish.

WCB:)
They want trout . I'd much rather be catching coarse or salty fish (and trout) but not trout only...that is just perverse. You don't eat only cheese(great as it is) so don't only catch trout.
...and it needs to closer to a major city, not 45mins away!
I will get down and try for them on my own though.
Dee
 
#34 ·
Had a couple of hours prospecting for trout on the erewash yesterday,further upstream from toton.Unfortuantly no trout to be had or seen ,i had plenty of chub and the odd roach rise to my black knat but no trout,i kept moving further upstream trying to leave the chub and roach alone but there were so many i stopped fishing and sat and watched,i saw a fair few barbel from a few inches long to rather large fish of about 3/4 lb,a kingfisher was busy flying up and down this long stright stretch along with a heron who was feeding well on the small fish that were everywhere.Its a pity that i havnt found any trout yet but i know they are in there somwhere so ill keep on trying.
I shall definatly be fishing this stretch on the fly when the season starts for the large chub and barbel :)

Del
 
#35 ·
willy said:
Dee
Congratualtions I know how you must feel. I had a similar experience going on 15 years ago on a local river to me, though not strickly an urban river it is a coarse fish one. This is my first time on the forum i am normally a voyer, but I am motivated by your story to give it a go. If your interested i can P.M. you some hot combat tips and lessons learnt about these kind of river trout over the years at the risk of teaching you to suck eggs etc.
Hi Willy, can't imagine there being too many trout in the brooks out Peterborough way. You've got it even harder than us.
What brooks do you know of trout existing in your area. I've fished the little Welland a few times, I'm sure the odd trout must crop up in this.
Dee
 
#36 ·
Sorry to hear no trout yet caught in the Erewash, yet is so encouraging to hear of a very healthy fish population. From research, the Erewash has formed part of a quite a few research projects on pollution, and a range of pullution related issues, with a lots of artciles in arnge of Scientific journals. The Erewash in Stapleford runs through an area used by the public for dog walking etc, so I would say just turn up and fish. If it turns out to be private, and meet angry landowners I would adopy my usual apologetic approach, and hope to be given leave. The playing field at Ilkeston looks easy, I wouldn't think anyone owns the fishing, controls it or even cars about it. I'm going past the Bagthorpe brook tomorrow, so I will have a look. From my O/S map it runs along public roads in many places.
The upper Welland does hold trout, the Wild Trout Trust was offering a days guided fishing on the Welland and Gwash, with a guide price of £300 in their auction this year. The Glen also holds trout, although small.
Keep the information and news coming in, I hope to fish soon. Will let you know when.
Nick
 
#37 ·
Skateboard Dave said:
Hi Willy, can't imagine there being too many trout in the brooks out Peterborough way. You've got it even harder than us.
What brooks do you know of trout existing in your area. I've fished the little Welland a few times, I'm sure the odd trout must crop up in this.
Dee
This is a good thread....

Dee I hope Willy posts a photo of the trout he caught on Sunday night, he pm'd the picture to me, i couldn't believe it;)

Colin
 
#39 ·
Queniborough Brook

Had a quick session(2hrs) on the Queniborough brook today, just north of Leics. from East Goscote heading upstream. Well I'm not so sure it is the QB as just past the main road in E Goscote it splits into two brooks, looking upstream the right side one is the QB the left side(one I fished) has no name on any maps I've seen?
Whatever it is called, it was here that my mate had a brown, a few days back, so I was in the right area.
It is a very small brook often only 5 or 6 feet wide with little flow but with regular deeper holes and wider pools. The water was nice and clear, despite a bit of rain over the last 48 hrs and the weed was at a fishable level...most swims will be choked in a couple of months.
I never saw any trout, but the light was pretty awkward for fish spotting, you could only see the fish when you were almost on top of them in most spots. I had about a dozen small chub and a couple of dace to a little gold head spider but I think next time I may just fish a dry olive with a deer hair wing, as a few olives were about and it is all so shallow, the fish will come up.
About 3/4 of a mile upstream it goes under a main road, here was much troutier looking, bit more flow, clean gravel bottom(lots of it has) but I wasn't sure who owns the right here...fished it anyway!
Shall be back for sure, was a nice little brook even for just some small chub on a light rod...the trout will come.
Dee
 
#42 ·
Has anyone heard of Trout or Grayling in the Soar round Radcliffe or thereabouts? LE Victoria have a gorgeous little stretch, and have recently joined Looks good for duo in a few places below the wier. Plenty of rising fish in late summer, though probably Dace. Had a 12lb barbel there late Feb, also v good chub,though not on Fly. Will be trying to tempt them with the Streamflex come June.
 
#43 · (Edited)
DITCHDANGLER said:
Be careful friend! we are still in the closed season for coarse fish, accidental catches are viewed with suspicion, but to actually state that they are your quarry! is begging to have ones collar felt:eek:
Alan
Hey DitchAngler, I never stated chub were my quarry....I said it was a nice brook even for just small chub and I'd be back(also I didn't state when!)...big difference. I'll fish it in the open coarse season for sure and then will go for "everything", I'm sure I'll have the big chub then.
If I try it again in the close season, it will be after trout, I'll still enjoy whatever I catch though. The same as I'd enjoy an out of season brownie when grayling fishing...but likewise I wouldn't go targeting them.
At no point did I target the chub, I was just fishing "blind" casting into any trouty looking water as I couldn't sight fish with the conditions, it can be almost impossable anyway on little "comando brooks". You are usually on hands and knees whist keeping maximum distance...very tricky under those conditions to tell what species the shadows are, if you can even see anything apart from distant bulges in the water from spooked fish! If I had been targeting the chub that I did see then I'd have had considerably more than a dozen! I'd have also used bigger and different flies, I stuck on what I though would be the best bet for a trout.
My mate who had the trout thinks he saw another 2 that morning, so along with the one he landed and some that were unseen, there could be a good few to be had.
My concience is clear.
Dee
 
#44 ·
Hi Dee, I was not suggesting that you were deliberately fishing for coarse fish, maybe I read you post wrong! but some of the EA also read our postings and for a wrong interpretation?

Good luck on the Soar, its a cracking little river, as my brother lives but a couple of miles from it at East Leake, I get to see it quite often, maybe we will bump into one another some time.

Alan
 
#46 ·
DITCHDANGLER said:
Hi Dee, I was not suggesting that you were deliberately fishing for coarse fish, maybe I read you post wrong! but some of the EA also read our postings and for a wrong interpretation?

Good luck on the Soar, its a cracking little river, as my brother lives but a couple of miles from it at East Leake, I get to see it quite often, maybe we will bump into one another some time.

Alan
Hi Alan, I didn't think you were suggesting that...I just wanted to make sure my intentions were not being misread by anyone, on here.
If ever you are down this way in the summer let me know, I can guide you to some brilliant chub fly fishing on the Soar and the Wreake. The Soar is much better for fly action upstream(south) of Leicester city center.
As for the EA... they are a waste of space when it comes to enforcing any sort of fishing regulations. The Soar around here was fished by bait anglers every single day during the Easter break, and not just by school kids. I saw 7 Polish fishermen on one journey home alone. There have been blokes on baskets with holdalls, the whole kit, even bloody keepnets in the water! I see this every trip to work, every day. If you phone the EA the only response you get is that they are aware of the problem, but doing f' all about it.
I was fishing the spot where I caught the trout a couple of days after but it was imposible. There were 6 youths(14/16yrs) fishing, two had nets in and they were spooking everything for miles about. I made them empty their nets. Asked them if they had rod licences...none of them did! I informed them of all the laws they were breaking and even told them where they could fish nearby legally, but they insisted on fishing the river, as they might get collared for a £2 day ticket on the legal canal (and a ten minute walk to get there). They even said there was no point buying a rod licence as the ballifs couldn't catch them if they ever showed up.
Don't anyone go telling me these are the future of our sport!
These were just chavs with their usual lack of any respect for anyone/anything...and if you had seen the amount of litter they left, in nearly every swim for about half a mile...these are the ones who get fishing spots closed down and they shouldn't have even been there. :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:
...back to the fly tying...
Dee
 
#47 ·
Wow!
The pictures of the trout caught in a brook near Peterborough look brilliant. The fish is in first class condition. It just shows what unknown brooks and streams can produce, having little fishing pressure on them. Perhaps we should urge and persuade most anglers to fish muddy puddles, to leave our brooks and streams alone for those in the know.
 
#48 ·
1965nick said:
Wow!
The pictures of the trout caught in a brook near Peterborough look brilliant. The fish is in first class condition. It just shows what unknown brooks and streams can produce, having little fishing pressure on them. Perhaps we should urge and persuade most anglers to fish muddy puddles, to leave our brooks and streams alone for those in the know.
Nick, I don't think anyone (hardly anyone) will bother to try the "little brooks". The average flyfisher, or angler in general, wants everything on a plate and way too easy for them. The work involved in just getting to a new venue, let alone trying to work them out is just too much for the vast majority, if they haven't read an article on the exact method to use in the exact swim and been kitted out with identicle tackle then they will just stick to going where they know.
If I find anywhere stuffed with trout I'll be keeping it underwraps though. The odd trout is just not enough to get them out trying. I had 2 from the soar last year(and didn't try too hard!), all of the LFFC knew about this but to my knowledge none of them have given it a go, and they are locals, add a 50+ mile round trip into the equation and it isn't happening...it is just for a sellect keen few. i.e me, you and just a couple more active individuals.
Dee
 
#49 · (Edited)
Erewash attempt #3

Tried the Erewash again on Thursday (26th April). This time I went north, about 7/8 miles north of Toton(previous venue) to the Eastwood area. From what I could gather this was free fishing...well I never got arrested or booted off and saw no signs to put me off!
After about an hour of driving about trying to get access and several stops to check out various sections of the river, I finally found a very promising area about half a mile from my car. I ran back..litterally. I couldn't wait to get kitted up and get the nymphs in there, I really thought this was area going to throw up a trout or two.
I was soon at the first pool and it was screaming trout. First cast in, between two overhanging hawthorns, into the fast flowing neck of a pool, saw the line dart across the current almost immediately it hit down. A quick lift and an 8oz fish leapt from the gurgling water. My heart raced, "trout", I was certain as it leapt again but as it came to rest, the gold bead PT visible in it's rubbery chub lips my adrenaline pumped body deflated. I was so sure I'd cracked it first cast!
That was the only fish I saw or action I had from that point for the next mile or so upstream. The water seemed wrong the further on I went. It is very unusual not to see some fish in small rivers like this? I soon came to a massive sewerage works, the culprit? I also saw 2 or 3 areas or the bankside leeching bright orange liquid into the river? Couldn't be doing any good whatever it was.
Back downstream, past the original swim and things started looking up, I spooked a big fish from a gravely riffle but if this was a trout it was 3lb+! A local told me that trout regularly came out in matches...matches! It didn't look like a match venue but more confidence, which I needed after the sewer zone. I ended up catching a couple 2lb+ chub, another 8oz one and a nice fat roach all to the beaded PT but still no trout.

One of the chub...a victim of the match men in it's early days...missing it's top lip!

The roach, more deep bodied than ones I'm used too which was always peculiar to the Trent system roach from my stick floating days.


My next effort may be a good way above the sewerage works or south of Toton as there were many more fish here to be seen, on my previous visits and so probably trout...more fish better water quality?
Dee
 
#50 ·
Anymore news on the Erewash, recent weather probably has coloured it up. If only I had the time to get out and try it for myself.
The picture of the trout from a brook near Peterborough, I'm wondering if it came out of Willow Brook, rumoured to hold trout? I do respect the captors hard work, and certainly would keep it under wraps if it were me.
 
#51 ·
Tried the Soar again on Sunday evening, didn't get fishing untill about 8pm. I was planning to try some muddlers down and accross in an area I know trout have come from. Weather was mild and overcast, was hoping for a bit hotter temps and to fish untill about 11pm.
I only fished for 30 minutes or so, mainly spent the time looking around and waiting for dark when I hoped any trout may move into the tails of the pools.
I missed one take and caught 2 chub but no sign of any trout, I was hoping to see. I left at about 10pm as I was convinced it was gonna be chub city...I'll try again with this method after June 15th when I won't care if it is a chub a chuck all night long.
The bigger of the chub..."look into my eyes, look directly into my eyes, don't look around my eyes"....

The fly that did the business.

Dee
 
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