The River Ure - Westwick Lock and Boroughbridge

Early September and another work trip (this time to the northeast) had me scrambling for another opportunity to catch a fish from a new river! Disappointingly I was unable to find a single day ticket beat on the Tyne, and the options seemed equally limited on the Tees. I'll save my thoughts on that for a separate blog post! Without a realistic prospect or local knowledge of these rivers I turned my attention to the alternatives a little further south in Yorkshire.

I'd made a couple of successful trips to the Swale in the past and really enjoyed fishing for barbel in its peaty depths. However, keen to fish an entirely new river I resisted the temptation to revisit and confined myself to options on the Ure, Nidd or Wharfe. The Ure seemed the best bet, and a little research threw up beats at Westwick Lock and Boroughbridge. My thanks to James Simpson for putting me onto the waters at Westwick Lock. I would visit one on the way up north and another on the way south, planning my journey so that I could get a few hours in on the bank before dark.

The River Ure - Westwick Weir

Arriving in Yorkshire I set my satnav, trying my best to interpret the map the fishery had provided. After fifteen minutes of driving round private farm tracks I eventually reached the weir. However, it quickly became apparent I was on the wrong side of the river. With a microhydro scheme dominating the near bank there was simply no way to fish downstream of the weir from my side of the bank. Another check of the fishery map with the river in front of me confirmed my suspicions. Hugely frustrated I jumped back in the car and made a 40 minute round trip to get out of the fields, across the river and into the lock car park. Overall I'd lost more than an hour of an already short evening session.

Compartmentalizing any negative thoughts I made my way onto the lock island and fought my way through the vegetation until a clearing in the trees led me out onto the weir. The river is very wide here with a fish pass against the right-hand bank presumably installed at the same time as the microhydro scheme opposite.

Westwick Weir - Snag Pit!

Whilst very picturesque, the next few hours did nothing to improve my mood. Cast after cast found snag after snag. With one rod positioned in the deep hole beneath the fish pass which was at least snag free, I persevered with rod number two; sacrificing a considerable amount of tackle to the gods of the weir in the process. There's nothing worse than fishing without confidence in what you're doing and at no point did my approach feel right. With an hour left before total darkness I decided to gamble and make my way downstream to the next fishable swim. Deeper and narrower here, the swim looked fishy enough and with a little bait introduced I cast one rod mid-flow straight in front of me and hammered the second rod as far downstream as I could cast. After seemingly no time at all the upstream rod gave a heavy thump and I lifted into a fish that surged for the far bank trees. As soon as that first run was conquered the fish turned and headed for the near bank in characteristic chub-like fashion. A few moments later I scooped the net under what appeared to be a personal best chub. It was huge and had a head like a staffy! To my amazement, it only weighed 4lb 14 oz. I weighed it three times. Once in the net and twice in the sling. Each time checking the adjustment on the scales. I've never caught a chub so broad across the shoulders and with such a large head. I was quietly disappointed in the weight but delighted not to have blanked.

Lovely chubbly!

Looking back at the photo's now, the fish lacked the depth of the fish I'd routinely encounter on the Severn and Wye, perhaps because the Ure didn't have so much bait supplementing a natural diet. I've little doubt that a fish of the same length and girth on either of those rivers would have tipped the scales towards, if not over 6lb. A second smaller chub followed shortly after, but was to be the last fish of the evening. It was a pity not to have bagged a barbel, but it was great to catch a few chub to christen my trip to the river.

Small but perfectly formed! Another pristine Ure chub

The River Ure - Boroughbridge

A few days later and my journey south took me back to the River Ure. I contemplated fishing Westwick Lock again, but decided to ring the changes and try somewhere new. Calling in to the Boroughbridge sweet shop to buy a ticket, my first challenge was to choose a beat. I must admit I was arriving expecting just to have one to choose from, rather than three or four. I had no idea which one was best to head for and the sweet seller didn't seem to have much knowledge, so it came down to blind guess work. Hopefully this isn't a glimpse into a future without tackle shops. Doubtlessly a local tackle dealer could have described every inch of each beat, recommended which one to head for in the conditions and even recommended a couple of pegs. 

Challenge number two was to find access to the beat. The sweet seller had drawn me a hand drawn map and given me a long and complex description of where to park and find access. I drove round and round more times than I could count but couldn't work out (a) where I needed to be to access the river and (b) where I could and couldn't park. With 20 minutes lost to procrastinating over which beat and another half an hour just trying to park up and find the river again I'd lost about an hour of valuable bank time. It just goes to show the value of a bit of local knowledge and advice!

Eventually arriving at the river, it looked absolutely perfect. Deep, slow, turbulent and the colour of Bovril; with a foam line kindly indicated the position of the main current. I had a chat with another angler who was already set up and fishing who reported he'd lost one barbel after fishing for about an hour. A good sign! Alas that was to be the closest I would come to a barbel, or indeed any fish. I tried six different swims, each offering something slightly different - a shallow beach-like peg, a couple of long straight deep runs, a gentle sweeping bend, and a confluence. But it wasn't to be.

The River Ure - Boroughbridge - Stunning

Still, it was a lovely warm late summers evening to be on the bank and I'd have otherwise just been sat in a hotel bar or pub. Thoroughly relaxed as I made my way back to my accommodation I reflected on the two sessions, sometimes you just don't need to catch for it to have all been worthwhile!