Source
to Estuary I've been fishing the Severn, from its source in the mountains of mid-Wales to to its estuary in the Bristol Channel, on-and-off now for most of my life and it's certainly seen some Ups and Downs !
THE MAGNIFICENT SEVERN
All-round angler Dave Williams sings the praises of one of the UK's longest rivers and its teeming tributaries
Source
to Estuary
I've
been fishing the Severn, from its source in the mountains of mid-Wales to to
its estuary in the Bristol Channel, on-and-off now for most of my life and it's
certainly seen some Ups and Downs !
I'm very happy to share some details of some of my favourite venues and the the magnificent specimens of pike, chub, bream, perch, grayling and zander that can be found in the River Severn and its teeming tributaries — I hope you find them helpful.
Tidal
to Tewkesbury
With its estuary emptying as it does into the Bristol Channel, the River
Severn, with its renowned Severn Bore, is tidal up to Tewkesbury Weir which
itself provides very good all-round fishing with pretty easy
access, although it's even easier to fish from a boat if you've got access to
one — I use one of the slipways, down-stream of the weir, at Lower Lode
.... and there's a nice pub there too!
Big
Zander !
There are some big zander to be had from below the weir. Salmon and sea-trout
also run up the river and over the weir, and I've been lucky enough to catch
one or two in daylight hours,
which goes right against what everyone says about how and when to catch sea-trout
.... but there you go, that's the magnificent Severn for you!
Also at Tewkesbury is the confluence of the Severn with one of its major tributaries, the Warwickshire Avon, and it's certainly worth fishing the Avon for pike and zander, if you get the chance — one of my favourite Avon day-ticket stretches is just up-stream of Tewkesbury at Tywford Farm — try bottom-bouncing your wobbled deadbait or spoons along there, and standby for ACTION !
Big
Pike too !
The region between
Tewkesbury and Worcester is home to some
very big pike in the Severn and its tributaries, and by "very big",
I mean pike in the 25 to 30 lb bracket. I've
had them to 26 lbs 3 ozs but I have heard of much bigger ones being caught.
The stretches between Tewkesbury weir and Worcester are favourites of mine for
pike, and as I've already said, for zander too of course.
These big predators are numerous in this section because of the plentiful supply of a wide selection of species as their food source, and on their menu they include eels which are abundant at certain times of the year: this is why I often use big spoons with strips of eel skin attached, and that's what caught my P.B. magnificent Severn pike.
Fortunately, there are quite a few nice big weirs on the Severn which give the water a good re-oxygenation and despite the boat traffic, the stretches downstream of weirs are good venues for fish of many species.
Flipping
Floods !
As I said, this amazing river has had its Ups and Downs over the years and in
2000 was hit by some of the worst floods in my living memory and some of my
favourite venues were unfishable for weeks on end. The same can be said for
the other rivers that I fish most frequently, the Wye and the Usk.
While the River Severn's coarse and game fishing has been pretty good over recent years, the game fishing on the Wye and the Usk has been dire — that's why I regard the Severn so highly, because it has given, and hopefully will continue to give, me some of the best and most consistent all-round fishing — for you too I hope!
Like any big river, it is affected by rainfall in its hinterland and this in turn does affect the fishing but once it starts to fine-down, the Severn seems to recover fairly quickly, though never quickly enough of course, and the fishing seems to soon return to its former glory, sadly maybe not completely though.
Dream
Teme
& Tributaries
Another of the Severn's important teeming tributaries is the aptly-named River
Teme itself which flows from Ludlow through Tenbury Wells and joins the Severn
just downstream of Worcester.
In
my opinion there are few more scenic and, when the conditions are right, productive
rivers for chub than the beautiful River Teme — it's just got to be one
of the Severn's top tributaries!
Although it's probably best known for its brilliant barbel fishing, when the conditions are right, big fat chub go on the feed and provide some fantastic fun.
And
for a very special treat if you're in the area of Tenbury, why not treat yourself
to a Day Ticket on the lovely Ledwyche Brook? I don't know how's it's been affected
by the floods because I haven't fished it recently but it's got chub, pike,
trout, grayling and, at certain times of the year, even salmon! What more do
you want?!
Magical
Mid-Reaches
The mid-reaches of the Severn are probably most to my liking because of their
superb chub which will readily take flies and lures if that's your style and
technique. One of my most favourite venues is Stourport where the Stour joins
the Severn. And
in this area, on the River Severn itself, there's excellent fishing at places
like Bridgnorth and Bewdley, with specimens of several species to be had when
the going's good.
Chub
& Bream
I'm
often asked which is my favourite species but when you're as lucky as I am to
be able to fish so many splendid rivers including the magnificent Severn and
its tributaries, it wouldn't be fair for me to favour one splendid species for
another — I love them all equally, and yet
there's always something very special about catching
a chub of 5 or 6 lb., and believe me, they're in there all right!
The Magnificent Severn is also home to some massive bream which I have enjoyed catching ever since I was a lad when I used to fish for them just below the weir at Tewkesbury.
There are also some nice if rather elusive grayling in certain reaches of the Severn and its tributaries, well worth seeking out if grayling appeal to you — they are muscle-packed and not only fight extremely well for their size and weight, they feed even in the the coldest conditions.
Perch
Talking
of predator species, really big specimens of perch are the one species that
have have eluded me over my years of fishing the Severn — perch seem to
favour slower-moving sections of the mid-reaches. I've never seemed to be able
to catch perch of the weights that I hear have fallen to other anglers' baits.
Ah well, you can't win them all!
BUT ...... I've just got this sneaking feeling that more guesstimated weights are grossly over-estimated where perch are concerned than with any other species! After all nothing looks bigger than a big perch, but on the other hand, because of this, it's very easy and forgivable to over-estimate weights; I've done it myself! A perch that I would have sworn would have weighed over 3 lb actually weighed just less than 2 lb! After all, I think that anything over 2 lb 8 oz especially in a river as opposed to a lake, is truely a specimen perch.
Boats!
A Pain in the Butt !
During the summer months, though, the boat traffic can be a real pain in the
butt, and I tend to fish more in the evening and into the night when everything
has quietened-down and when, I like to think, the bigger more wary specimens
go on the feed.
There's no doubt in my mind that boats do have an adverse effect on the fishing and over the years I have proven this with my catches, or lack of, on many occasions!
I would say that probably in the order of 80% or more of my specimen chub from the mid-reaches of the Severn have been caught in the hours of dusk and darkness. Unfortunately, it's not always possible to fish such unsociable hours and so, like many other pleasure anglers on the Severn, I just make-do and enjoy the times when I'm fishing, whatever the time of day or night.
Upper
Reaches
I love the River Severn from top to bottom, as you've probably already gathered,
and I like the various sections each in their own special ways, but I have to
confess a very soft-spot for its upper reaches and head-waters.
I still get a special kick out of my fishing in the upper reaches, although this sort of small-river and stream fishing doesn't suit everyone, but I can tell you that there are a lot of very nice surprises hidden-away on some of the smaller swims and venues in the upper reaches of the Severn.
Its source is in the hills of mid-Wales near Llanidloes, Powys (Radnorshire, as was), not too far from my great-grandparent's farm and where I had some of my first and most enjoyable fishing adventures. In those early days I fished with basic tackle and worm as bait but now I mainly use flies or small lures — it's great fun fishing for truly natural wild brown trout, small but beautiful!
At
the other end of the River Severn, I have had some very memorable days fishing
the side-streams that join the Severn and Avon near Tewkesbury, where delightful
dace and busy bleak sometimes fall in huge numbers to my flies and tiny spinners
— the fish may not be massive, but the fishing can sometimes certainly
be that of which dreams and memories are made!
The
Magnificent Severn !
Yes, from its source to estuary and via its tributaries, the magnificent Severn
can provide some of the very best all-round fishing in the UK — whatever
specimen species are your quarry, there are plenty of venues for you.
There
are zander probably unequalled in size anywhere in the UK, with plenty of big,
powerful river pike into the bargain, giant chub and some perch if you're lucky!
Not to mention grayling, sea-trout and the odd salmon here and there, and barbel
in the Teme too of course.
Similarly, if you enjoy lure fishing for wild brown trout or small coarse fish species such as dace and bleak, then the tributaries and upper reaches of the Severn provide unlimited fun and excitement — small hackled spinners are the name of the game here.
Yes,
there's superb fishing for all to be had in the River Severn and its teeming
tributaries, that's for sure — and I very much hope that my hints and tips
about species and venues are helpful and that you have as much fun fishing the
Severn as I do!
All the Best and Tight Lines!
Dave
Williams.