AS forecast, the weather over the weekend proved to be a continuation of the wind and rain which maintained high river levels. There was a couple of short dry spells on both Saturday and Sunday but the Aire was carrying far too much water for any chance of angling.

Earlier on in the week, a couple of anglers were in action below the Carleton Stone Bridge during a quiet spell in the weather but the float fished maggot failed to attract anything other than the odd small trout.

The length on Heslaker Lane, fished by both of the Bradford clubs and the Skipton AA, has hardly been fished at all in the New Year judging by the absence of vehicles in the main parking areas.

Flooding in the Aire Valley has also been more frequent lately, although luckily, it has not been particularly bad. Just how many fish get swept out of the main river will no doubt depend on the speed of the rising river and the overall severity of the flooding, but fish definitely do come to grief.

Small fish such as minnows and sticklebacks will succumb in their thousands leaving little evidence of their fate. After an average flood in summer some years ago, I saw several minnows in an animal drinking hole on a drain some 400 yards or more from the river with little chance of getting back. Fish will not swim up or down a drain or culvert unless they can see light at the end of it – hence the openings on Eller Beck in Morrisons car park at Skipton.

Larger fish such as chub or pike also fall victim to flooding. During a Skipton AA. match on the Snaygill length a few days after a flood, a chub of about 900g (2:0:0) was seen floundering in a receding pool in a field and was returned to the river. The fish itself had a bent back so its deformity may have contributed to its misfortune.

On another occasion I received a phone call reporting a large fish seen swimming in flooded fields near Carleton Stone Bridge. By the time I went down, the water had receded somewhat and the fish was in the deeper water in one of flood water underpasses on Limehouse Lane. It was caught in a big landing net and was a good conditioned chub of about 2050g (4:8:0).

Unfortunately, the vast majority of stranded fish are never seen or rescued for as the water level goes down, they become prey to fish eating birds such as seagulls. There is little doubt that fish do fall victim to flooding so the less flooding there is or the more gentle the rise, the better it is for the fish, big or small.