Friday 22 August 2008

River Frome, Snuff Mill, Bristol

This is a small river in the middle of Bristol.
It is in the Fishponds / Stapleton area.
It can be accessed from River View off Broom Hill.
Our dog Puddles is showing me what he thinks of fishing,
he is sticking his tongue out.
This is what I call the car park bank.
The next phew pictures give a little look at some
of the spots I fish from.



What you can expect to catch.
Bream, Chub, Carp, Roach, Eels, Dace, Minnow and Gudgeon.

The main fishing style is to keep mobile and spend around 15 minutes per swim

and move on when the bite stop.

I generally float fish, covering the area down stream using bread, maggots or casters.

I also use a fly rod and 16mtr pole.

When the river is running hard after heavy rain I

use the feeder float method.

46 comments:

Che Rudge said...

Pat - I was just wondering have there been any Barbel caught in in the Bristol Frome? I have heard rumours but never anyone who can confirm.

Thanks Che

Pat said...

I've only heard rumours as well. In twenty years fishing I've not had one or seen one caught.

REN said...

Pat - i am new to Bristol, still finding good spot to fish around. There is a Duchess Pond nearby which have to pay for day-ticket. So i wondering to fish in this river, do i have to pay ? Or i just need a fishing license ?

Pat said...

The River Frome up stream from the bridge at the bottom of Blackberry Hill is free, down stream belongs to the Amalgamation Club.
The River Avon at Conham off Crews Hole Road is also free.

m- woodward said...

regarding barbel on the frome- i had one about 2 years ago on stick float and maggot - it was about 2lbs and was part of a mixed net that included dace roach gudgeon chub and also a small carp!

Mr m bowler said...

Barbel on the Bristol frome poppycock

m woodward yate said...

ha ha i know that isnt the m bowler you want us to think it is! seriously- when i fish the frome i very rarely see another angler! its taken me 3 years to get some sort of grip on this intricate but challenging river and nothing would surprise me! people tell me there are pike in there but all the times i have been spinning there with jigs and lures i have only caught chub perch and trout! i have never seen a pike but that dosnt mean there arent any in there! so no one can say whats not in there- only what is in there! thanks for letting me air my views!

Pat said...

There used to be plenty of Pike in the Frome. Had over a dozen at varying times take Mimmows and small Roach whilst using the pole down there. Obviously I managed a couple of little Jacks on the bank.
However over the last few years the eastern Europeans and others have hit the river hard. The shoals of Chub are badly hit by the catch and keep mentality of these people.
Hope to get back down there soon.

matt woodward said...

thanks for enlightening me about the pike situation pat! there must be some left surely? i suppose the problem with pike is that when their hungry then even total novices with crude tackle can "snare" them! if poachers have been targeting the frome then that explains why in some places it seems "unbalanced" with either just minnows or minimal amounts of small silvers and odd trout! i remmember when i was a teenager and the vassels stretch was absolutely rammed with good roach perch and a good head of carp!in fact my two best ever roach at 2 lb4oz and 2 lb2oz came from that stretch! its a shame its now a shadow of its former self but things change and now its just as enjoyable going for the chub and dace! one last thing- has anyone had any bream from the vassels stretch as the depth and pace seems spot on for them!

Anonymous said...

I've seen pike more than once in the Frome, in the Frenchay Moor stretch.

Anonymous said...

i've fished this river for years now, and i have caught almost every species it holds, all except the elusive barbel that i have heard many storys about and the carp! I have actually had 3 of my best fish out of the top section of the first weir, a 3lb 12oz perch, a 2lb 8oz roach and also an amazing 5lb 11oz brown trout!

Chris Wells said...

I am looking for places that have free fishing and wondered if this was true about Snuff mills.. I am also open to suggestions on which stretches that are productive with being a relatively new angler(Fished since I was a teenager but gave up for a number of years and just gettin back into it)

Chris (Chaos)

Pat said...

The river Frome is free upstream from Blackberry Hill. Take a walk from the car park and look for over hanging trees and deeper stretches. Thats the fun, use water craft to find what your after. All the usual baits work well.
Also try Crews Hole, Conham on the Avon.
Look on Google earth to check out the areas.

Che said...

Pat

I've just caught a 4lb wild brown trout from the Frome! So pleased to see a wild fish of such quality in our river!

http://www.wildharvestuk.net/1/post/2013/06/wild-brown-trout-bristol-frome.html

Ché

Anonymous said...

Che I just saw the date you posted, I hope you wernt fishing out of season? ;)

Im going to give the frome a try for the first time tomorrow, Ive never done much river fishing so thought its about time. Im very keen to have a pop at the chubas Ive never caught one before. Most of my fishing has been on still waters so looking forward to a nice change.

Anonymous said...

There are definitely pike in the frome, was at huckford quarry earlier and there were 10 or 15 dead fish on the river, including a foot long pike. Not an angler so couldn't identify the others, think there ere a few roach

Anonymous said...

has anyone fly fished the frome for the trout chub and dace and if so which were the best bits
was it better to wade or to fish from the bank

Pat said...

I have used fly tactics and they do work quite well the main problem is being able to use the casting methods. There are not many places were it can be used due to the trees and walkers. I have used all types of baits and flies, which can produce some grand fish. Carp of 6.6lb on a dog biscuit glued to the hook.
Enjoy if you do go out, try early or late in the day to keep clear of the walkers and the dogs.

Toby said...

How big do the chub go and what's the best bait for them? Also is it any good for a reasonable net of fish?

Pat said...

I,ve had Chub up to 5.2lb but that area has had its fish taken and was emptied of water. There were a few spots where a good net of Bream could be had, also some nice Carp but over the last few years they have dispersed. As I have not been able to fish the areas like I used to I,m not sure what can be had now.

I mainly do roving type fishing with bread, maggot or worm. As I,ve been out on the Avon I don,t know what its like with all this rain.
Good luck down there and just try trotting a float through a likely looking swim. You will soon find where the fish are and can get a few chub for a couple of hours.

Unknown said...

Hi peeps I was brought up in fishponds and fished that river I would recommend parking in vassels walk to the bottom of the hill
Take a left towards the wier fish a 3x no 4 stick float 3lbs mainline to 2lb hooklink to size 18 hook about 5 foot deep ive pulled some big roach and good quality bream and even
Tench and carp secret I
is feed little and often

Che said...

The brown trout season is 15th March to 6th oct?

Unknown said...

What would be the best none live bait to use at snuff mills / what hook size and how deep should my line be i am struggling there. Ty

Pat said...

Hi Ben. What is your target species? Most baits work, as do various spinners, plugs and flies.
As always what works one day might not work the next day. Also there are not the head of fish in the Frome these days due to various reasons.
I can't help more as I have not fished much this year.

Unknown said...

Ty for the reply Pat. I have tried bread / sweetcorn / luncheonmeat / fake maggots the lot nothing is working for me i use a size 16 to 18 hook so not to big and not to small. There is big fish in there you can see them sleeping under the tree's they are pretty impressive sizes. Maybe they have become smart and wont go for bait knowing a hooks in it. I really want to succeed there because i love snuff mills its a beautiful place. I walk from filton to snuff mills to fish "dedication" lol. I dont know where the best spot for fishing is in snuff mills. The main spot i go to is just past the 2nd weir where its deep not the 1 near the car park. If anyone knows of any good fishing spots in snuff mills I would much appreciate it Ty.

Pat said...

I used to fish the stretch below Vassels Park / Oldbury Court. I would fish the same swims regularly with the same baits. That way the fish knew where the bait was. If I did not have enough time for a session I would cycle down and feed the same swims.

I'm afraid there are to many dogs down there these days for me to enjoy the fishing. Thats why I fish the Avon.

Keep trying and try adding Turmeric spice to the Maggots, this used to prove quite productive.

Good luck.

Unknown said...

I switched from bread / sweetcorn / fake maggots to using just live maggots and caught 3 chubs there. Sadly snuff mills seems like there isnt much species there anymore i remember when i was little use to be a ton of diff species there including eels etc. Thanks for the replys Pat.

Unknown said...

I was fishing at snuff mills yesterday and caught a brown trout id say at least 2.5 lbs to possibly 3 lbs. I caught it using 3 live maggots coated in turmeric powder. Could not find out how to upload photo on here so i uploaded it to my google images. Here is the Brown trout i caught: https://photos.google.com/search/_tra_/photo/AF1QipNA1vmxtCO1zoeEiXSPVB1JsZ-0oPsX7pbKkT6r

Unknown said...

Caught my first fish on my first attempt at vassals park. It was a chub about 4 lbs. Ended up catching 4 more slightly smaller. They love blue cheese paste, swim feeder seems to work very well

Anonymous said...

Hi!What is the actual season for brown trout on Frome?Aparantly there is another Frome river somewhere in SW.Cheers

Unknown said...

Have any of you seen any Chinese Mitten Crabs while fishing in Bristol?

Unknown said...

Have any of you seen any Chinese Mitten Crabs while fishing in Bristol?

Unknown said...

I have not seen any Crabs in snuff mills Shariff John Tbealeh sorry.

Unknown said...

All snuff mills has now is Minnow, Roach, Dace, Brown Trout, Chub. What makes snuff mills bad for fishing is the dogs because the owners let them loose and they jump in the water and it makes the fish harder to catch in the day time. However there are spots in snuff mills that dont have as many dogs going in the water. My advice is to fish from about 5pm. All my big catches have been from 5pm and up. Bait to use: Live maggots coating in turmeric powder seem to work really well there i have caught chub / brown trout / roach / dace all on live turmeric maggots. Hope that info helps. Good luck fishing. :-)

Pat said...

Thank you Ben for your up date, very informative. I hope to get back down there in the new season if all goes well for "She who must be behaved" as she is back in hospital with an infection.

Unknown said...

I've had barbel to 9lb there.. just the deep side of the small waterfall..

Unknown said...

barbel in snuff mills ? Have you got any photos ? Sorry but i am struggling to believe a 9lb barbel would be in such a urban river. Something strange happend to me recently after fishing snuff mills for years as a way to relax i have never caught a bream there but recently caught a bream in snuff mills. Either they are new to snuff mills or i have just been very unlucky at catching 1 ? Here is image of the Bream i caught at snuff mills: https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipNW4E3Tk4TWjHMVAZC7vUPB8A4x3cY8P6LZ6s1u

Pat said...

Used to be plenty of Bream but no longer around, not sure why.

Unknown said...

Still bream there, had one of 4th last summer. Other species that are definitely still there (as I have caught them) roach, dace, minnows, brown trout, chub perch, and eels

Unknown said...

A lot of Otters on the river now see them in broad daylight from Eastville park up as far as Downend (Ring road bridge). That's where a lot of the fish are going down their throats,,

Unknown said...

I caught a catfish at Vassells of about 3lbs in 2011. Never seen any since!

mike tennear said...

is there any good fish here havent tried this lake yet thanks mike

mike tennear said...

is there any good fish here never fished this river thanks mike

Unknown said...

Fly fishing from? ??? Any one tried it

Unknown said...

I’m after chub this year to tick a species off the list. When you fish a water regularly, like morning and night for a year....I’ll swap where the 4 lb + trout are ( as long as they go back in) for a good chub stretch!

Anonymous said...

I've just started river fishing again I was using a waggler on the frome the other day it seemed kinda slow but hopefully I'll have some better luck on monday