Topcliffe; River Swale

The Barbel society stretch at Topcliffe on the river Swale is about 1 mile in length. It has a predominately sandy bed with the odd gravel patch. There is plenty of cover in the form of overhanging willows on both banks. Depths vary from about 4ft to about 8ft with the odd deeper hole. Generally the water has a brownish tinge but during flood conditions it turns to something near drinking chocolate. Fish spotting is impossible and only rolling and leaping fish give away their presence.

The Top field (Andy's swim and the top swim)

Above the bridge the river is wider and shallower than the rest of the stretch. The bottom is sandy but leading around will show one or two gravel patches. These swims produce plenty of small Barbel and Chub early season, with the odd larger specimen present. Although there are no overhanging trees a dense weed bed down the edge provides cover for the fish. When the river is flooded a very obvious crease running diagonally across the river may be observed and dropping a bait along this feature pretty much guarantees a bite.

Motorway Bridge Swim

Here the river narrows and deepens and the bed becomes very sandy with no gravel. A large tree on the opposite bank is the home to numerous fish but they tend to stay put in daylight only venturing out to feed after dark. To the left of the swim under the bridge itself reside some very large Perch.

Middle field (Barries, the tree swim, the path swims)

Here the river is fairly deep and slow flowing and the width varies. There is lots of cover on both banks There are plenty of Barbel and Chub caught in these swims, with Barbel into double figures and Chub approaching 6lb.The main flow of the river is the spot to target here, but a bait fished tight down the edge will also produce bites.

Bottom field (Cow drink and Chillys, June 16th, 20lb pike bush, end peg)

Here the river maintains its depth of about 8ft but gradually widens out towards the End Peg. Once again the bottom is mostly sand but the odd gravel patch can be located. The far bank has plenty of cover from willows, which are the homes to plenty of fish. These are all excellent all year swims and particularly productive in flood conditions.

The whole stretch responds to various methods, and either roving or bait and wait will catch. The fish can be caught at any time but the daylight hours can be hard. The fish do move around a fair bit and no swim is a flier, and they have all produced fish. Experience has shown that once the Chub start having a go the Barbel wont be long in following.

This is an excellent fishery, it is very picturesque and not heavily fished although at times it can be tough going. The upstream swims can get a bit noisy with the A168, but it doesn't put the fish off, but when you do finally get a Swale Barbel in the net you know you have had to work for it.

Warren Haywood 2007

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