How often do we, as anglers, pass tiny waterways littered with rubbish and clearly polluted, only to wonder whether any fish could possibly be living in them? That hunting instinct and natural curiosity ingrained in us through fishing often means we just can’t resist having a go, which is exactly what Jacob Barnes did during a recent session on a stream in Manchester City Centre.
This isn’t the first place you’d expect to see a specimen fish caught, especially not a huge brown trout, which are typically indicators of excellent water quality. However, Jacob has been having some success on this type of venue with trout, and this surprise capture further proves that, somehow, the fish are not only surviving there, but thriving.
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"I’ve been lure fishing for trout on urban rivers for a while now and have caught some impressive fish, as well as my fair share of blanks," Jacob told us.
"These venues are so unique because you truly never know what’s lurking in them and while most of the time it seems like there’s nothing, this latest capture proves they’re definitely worth a shot."
"Since they’re so underfished, you often get the sense you might be the first angler to walk that bit of banking and there aren’t many types of angling left where you can still experience that feeling'" he added.
On this occasion, Jacob was fishing inside a long tunnel that runs beneath the city centre. The river isn’t in the best shape here as you can probably imagine, and despite the noise and waterborne pollution from surroundings roads, the fish are still finding a way to survive. He has caught trout there before but nothing of this pedigree.
"Just as I began to see the light at the end of the tunnel, a huge trout smashed my 5g Rapala Elite lure," he recalled.
"It fought like crazy, and my heart was in my mouth the entire time. I didn’t expect to hook a fish even close to that size in a spot like this!"
"Unbelievable for a fish, especially trout, to thrive in such a heavily polluted, neglected river. It just goes to show, if you think it’s worth a cast, go for it!"
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