River Blithe, Hamstall Ridware

Brief description of fishery:

The fishing rights to this stretch of water are actually owned by the Society with members having rights of access as detailed on the maps. The river is small, full of meanders, lined with trees or other cover for most of its length and with the water flow controlled and maintained from Blithfield Reservoir a couple of miles up stream.

No surprise then that a stalking / roving approach with a short rod suits best. The upstream end of the water consists of two arms, both fishable, with their confluence just short of the middle of our water. There are lots of the bends, both big and small, holding water sometimes over six foot deep. Between these bends the river runs fast and shallow. Waders or high boots are the order of the day as you will probably want to cross the water several times.

The main species to fish for are chub, trout, gudgeon and grayling, the chub preferring the deeper overhung banks or holes with the trout sharing these as well as liking the faster water. Wet and dry fly both work well depending on the time of year, trotting a stick float using maggot works well in the summer months and ledgered worm is a favourite all year round, (ledgering worm in the traditional closed season is allowed). One tip here is that the trout prefer the worms to be moving; so free lining is a good option. This water is the only one we annually stock, usually with brown trout but we sometimes stock Rainbows. These can be taken for the table but members have always been conservative in this, particularly with regards to the larger brown breeding stock. Members should also not be overly surprised if they strike into the odd good sized rainbow which escape from the reservoir and make their way down stream to us.

One feature that you will notice on the bottom half of the water is a weir installed by the E.A. This is designed to hold back the water and divert the flow around the large horseshoe meander that was the original course of the river. Flood waters are allowed to flow over the weir into a short straight channel of relatively calm water, which is always worth a few minutes look-see. Further down stream you will find a metal bridge, (old conveyor), used by the farmer for access to both banks. We can use this but it is at the users own risk. The maps also show a second bridge about halfway along our stretch but members will be hard pushed to find this as it was washed away many moons ago. The river can be crossed here however as it is only boot deep in the summer.