Flyfishing on the Rivers Ribble and Hodder, in England

The Ribble rises in the Pennines in North Yorkshire and flows via Settle, Clitheroe, Ribchester and Preston befiore entering the Irish Sea at Southport.

Tributaries
The main tributaries to this substantial English river are the Hodder, Calder, Darwen, and Douglas. There are trout on all of these rivers, but the Hodder, which joins the Ribble just south of Clitheroe, is a particularly good trout and sea trout fishery.

PICTURE
Caption

Trout fishing
The Ribble and Hodder have good hatches of March Browns on their faster stretches, and later in the season all the usual olives associated with healthy spate rivers appear. Sedge hatches on summer evenings are sometimes very prolific, and both trout and small sea trout rise to them. (Pat O'Reilly's bestselling illustrated book Matching the Hatch covers all of these aspects.)

If you need detailed advice on river trout flyfishing, our Beginners' Guide to Trout and Grayling Fishing, available online...

The late Ivan Duxbury stocking the River Hodder
with brown trout

Sea trout fishing
The Ribble is one of England's best sea-trot rivers, and in early season double-figure fish are sometimes encountered there. A large fly and sinking line give best results early in the year, but as summer advances lighter tackle, smaller flies and floating lines can be used more of the time.

Salmon fishing
In the Ribble catchment rod- catch returns for 206 some 870 grilse and 137 multi-sea-winter salmon were reportedly caught, making this one of the most productive salmon river systems in England.

If you are new to salmon and sea-trout fsihing and need an essential guide to getting started, our introductory Guide to Salmon and Sea Trout Fishing is available online, and of course we recommend it unreservedly if not altogether impartially!

Tackle
For trout and grayling fishing a 9 ft or 9.5 ft #5 or #6 rod would be ideal for most situations on the Ribble and Hodder. For salmon fishing a 13ft 6ins #8 or 9 rod would cope with most casts, and the same length rod could also be useful for the sea trout fishing on the lower river (the Big Ribble) which can call for some fairly long casts.

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