About Bradford No1
Founded in 1878 to provide fishing for local anglers,
Bradford No1 Angling Association is now one of the oldest and largest angling
clubs in the country, boasting an annual membership of around 2500 and holding
fishing rights on more than 70 waters, including over 35 miles of river, 12
miles of canal and 11 still waters. The
club offers outstanding value for money while providing some of the best
fishing in the whole of Yorkshire for all varieties of angling. From the faster
flowing stretches of the River Calder and River Wharfe for fly anglers and
narrow, tree-covered stretches of the River Nidd for barbel hunters to large
gravel pits at Knotford for specimen anglers and the heavily stocked Raskelf Lake
for match anglers, there really is something for everyone. A busy and popular
match calendar is run by the club with 30 matches per year, including open
matches, member’s matches, junior matches, the Calder League team series and
the annual Calder Championship which has a guaranteed first prize of £500. The
association is run entirely by volunteers elected by the membership to ensure
that member’s interests are the number one priority.
Rivers
Where to begin with the vast array of river stretches among
the club’s portfolio? The 9 miles of fishing rights which the club controls on
the River Calder begin up at Elland where the shallow, fast paced water
provides excellent trout and grayling for fly anglers, as does the stretch at
Gravel Pits. Trout, grayling and chub are the main species present on most of
the stretches going through Brighouse and towards Mirfield, although the deeper
stretches at River Street and below Cooper Bridge provide good quality roach,
perch and even some large ide. The odd specimen fish can be caught along the
river with large pike and even a rare double figure Calder barbel. The River
Wharfe and upper reaches of the Aire are also good fisheries for trout,
grayling and the chub. The lower sections of the River Aire around Beal are
much deeper with depths of over 20 feet but offer good catches of bream and
roach throughout the year.
For quality chub and barbel look no further than the rivers
Nidd, Swale and Derwent where we control a number of stretches which contain
barbel into double figures and chub to over 6lbs. The Cowthorpe stretch of the
River Nidd offers almost 3 miles of some of the best fishing in Yorkshire with
a wide variety of swims, ranging from fast glides and weir pools to deeper pegs
and overhanging willows. Good numbers of
chub, barbel and pike are present for specimen hunters but nets of dace and
grayling are also a regular occurrence fishing float.
The River Ouse at Widdington is an outstanding winter
fishery, being very deep and holding good numbers of roach, dace and perch as
well as some specimen bream. Another equally good winter fishery is the River
Ure at Roecliffe which produces good nets of roach and dace on maggot.
Although membership covers fishing from one hour before
sunrise to one hour after sunset, night fishing is permitted on the River Swale
at Maunby and an ‘extended hours permit’ is available for fishing until 10pm in
winter or 11.30pm in summer on a number of our river stretches in order to make
them more accessible to members.
Canals
Bradford No1 AA is a member of the Boothferry Aire and
Calder Joint Canal Committee which gives our members access to 11 miles of
continuous canal from Great Heck to Goole. These sections are noted for good
catches of roach, perch, bream and hybrids throughout the year. The club also
have fishing rights along Kirklees Cut Canal, Cooper Bridge Cut Canal and Milby
Cut Canal which are noted for roach in winter.
Still Waters
All of the club’s still waters are mixed fisheries with a
variety of species to suit all anglers. Carp are present in all lakes but
Knotford and Kirklees Lagoons hold the biggest heads of specimen carp. Both
these lakes have recently received stockings of carp around the 10lbs mark to
compliment the older stock of fish to over 30lbs and the new fish are showing
outstanding weight gains. Most of the fish in Knotford are high doubles or low
twenties but numerous fish can be caught in a session, whereas Kirklees tends
to be a harder water with most fish over 20lbs. The Black Heath pond at the
Queen Mary’s complex in Ripon also holds a good number of large carp which are
worth targeting. Night fishing is permitted at Knotford and Kirklees by means
of a single permit covering both waters.
Raskelf Lake is the clubs main ‘match style’ fishery with a
heavy stock density of F1 carp, ide, skimmers, tench, roach, barbel and chub.
Although most of the fish are in the 1-2lbs region, nets of over 100lbs are
achievable during the summer months and nets of 50lbs in winter from most of
the 50 pegs on the lake. A number of large tench and bream are also present in
the lake, with some tench over 7lbs. This water is perfect for beginners and is
a great place to introduce juniors to the sport.
For those wishing to target tench and bream, Queen Mary’s
ponds hold good numbers of tench to 8lbs and bream to 11lbs within the peaceful
surroundings of the SSSI site. Specimen tench and bream to double figures are
also regularly caught from Knotford and Kirklees lagoons.
Shelf Dam, Chellow Dene, Willow Hall and Gratrix Dam are all
deep reservoirs but hold very good quantities of roach, bream, ide and perch
which provide plenty of bites fishing shallow.
As part of the clubs investment into still waters over the
past few years, otter fences have been installed around Black Heath Lake at
Queen Mary’s Ponds, Knotford, Kirklees and Raskelf to protect fish stocks for
future generations as well as regular restocking across all lakes.