When I was a kid I recall fishing for minnows with a jam jar by the Ribble and being sketched by a man in wire-framed specs. It was the writer Arthur Ransome, who was there with my grandfather, Nat Hunt, then river keeper for the Manchester Anglers’ Association. I no longer have that sketch, but I do still own a card Ransome sent Grandad praising his hand-crafted trout flies (“north country spiders”).
As the trout fishing season ends, I’m back on the upper reaches of the Ribble with Ian Fleming, who has been the Manchester Anglers’ beck watcher for the past 15 years. Reviewing the year’s fishing, he expresses himself delighted with the present abundance of wild brown trout after a spell of leaner years.
It’s some turnaround, he tells me. “The club used to restock the river, buying fish from trout farms. But anglers encountering fewer fish began to suspect imported trout couldn’t cope with a high-gradient spate river. In 2006 the club voted to stop stocking the river and began rewilding. Today beautiful wild fish thrive here, perfect golden-yellow-brown trout sporting black and red spots. We’ve also improved habitats, removing weirs and introducing fencing in partnership with the Ribble Trust. And riverbank trees that shield the water from sunlight, as the native trout prefer? We maintain these, too.”
He points upstream. A silver-bobbed woman is wading in mid-river, fishing pole in one hand to help her keep her balance on slippery rocks, rod poised in the other. I watch entranced, half hoping she doesn’t catch anything. But after several whip-like casts, the rod bends double. A fish has taken the bait.
The angler is joined by another, who slips a net beneath her captive. Keeping it submerged, they return to the riverside and disengage the hook.
The club forbids the use of barbed hooks, Ian tells me. “And 99.9% of fish caught are returned.” The second angler keeps the net immersed then points the catch upstream, allowing it to catch its breath before release – just as I realise I’ve actually stopped breathing.
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