2025 Round Up / Bankside Report

Seasons greetings to all our permit holders, farmers, landowners and friends. Some momentous changes to the running of OAPS during 2025 have kept us busy. The committee decision last February to move away from the traditional paper permit purchased at tackle shops to the online solution clubmate has been a great success. In some ways we took the plunge with a heavy heart, our hand being forced by the closure of 2 of our tackle shop outlets. However, the upside has been significant and pleasing in many ways. Notably an uptick in permit sales, always useful to keep us on an even keel. Beyond and above that clubmate gives us another channel of communicating with permit holders. Allowing us to quickly get and receive information via the platform’s messaging function, which can only be good. Do use this! We monitor it daily (mostly) – Alternatively daveh@ouseaps.co.uk is the primary email for the society.

Another step to modernise our offering was our first foray into social media organised by Callum Brown. The ‘permit holders only’ Facebook group now has 57 members.  It has been a success in exactly the way we wanted – with members posting issues, questions and catches in a way that’s not sensationalist and crucially for a small / medium sized river – doesn’t give away swims and exact locations. This was our big worry when setting it up, that swims would end up ‘all over the internet’ – It’s a testament to all those who have posted that this hasn’t been an issue at all. Thank you.

Onto the fishing! Sea Trout first – There is no denying that summer 2025 was challenging. The opposite to the ideal conditions of 2024, where mild weather and good flow rates saw good numbers caught and released up to 8lb. 4 identifiable heatwaves this year with water temperature and dissolved oxygen levels way too high and too low respectively meant that the fishery was closed for sea trout for extended periods during the summer. For the benefit of non sea trout fishers, the reason we close the fishery for sea trout during high temperatures is the same reason that we don’t allow spinning / fishing for pike until 1st October. Fish that give their all during the fight often don’t survive once released due to exhaustion and the inability to get enough oxygen.

So, natures cycle was not in our favour this year with half the number of fish caught and released. Having said that by paying close attention to conditions fishing was still possible. Congratulations to anglers John Hall and Mike Deacon who were 2 of our permit holders who endured periods of enforced inactivity but ultimately caught this summer during cooler periods.

As anyone who was on the bank regularly during summer would have witnessed there was no lack of fish making their way through our river system this year. One occasion stands out for me. I was having a hack at the Himalayan balsam during late July. It was fantastic to see a shoal of large chub in excess of 5lb materialise and start casually picking the insects off the balsam that fell into the water. It was almost like they knew I didn’t have a rod with me! On close inspection there were several large sea trout hanging back a little. Not taking insects but very much part of the shoal. This is not uncommon apparently. Thanks to Stuart Allum for supplying this photo of chub and sea trout on the upper tidal stretch. Further observations this year have included verified mobile phone video of fish jumping weirs on the middle Ouse and several reports that have reached me of close encounters with large sea trout that didn’t quite make the net!

Preservation is a big part of our remit as The Ouse Angling Preservation Society. During 2025 committee member and head bailiff Bill Durrant along with Stewart Allum and Mike Deacon really kicked on with maintenance work in some of the upper tributaries started in 2024 to give the sea trout the absolute best possible chance of successful spawning. We’ve recently been rewarded with some fantastic footage of multiple groups of sea trout spawning this December. Thank you and great work Gentlemen!

I hope that gives a balanced picture. We will of course have good and bad sea trout years as the climate continues to change. We will also put every effort in with our friends and landowners to give the fish every assistance we can. Here’s to a successful 2026/7 season.

Coarse fishing was also affected by the heat and low flow rates this year, with water levels way below normal well into October. The day ticket stretch was fishing as good as anywhere during this period with Carp in the 10 – 15lb range showing from opening day onwards. I often like to get the float rod out above the Mills and was pleased with the resulting catches of roach and bream to waggler fished corn just off the bottom.

Two coarse fishers who seem to have had their tactics spot on this autumn judging by their posts on the OAPS Facebook page are Alistair Irons and Paul Bradford with Alistair posting chub catches of 5lb 7 and 6lb 1oz, with Paul posting some cracking chub and a 3 - 4lb barbel. Well done Gents! For those not signed up to the Facebook page the link is below.

Current OAPS permit holders only please.

https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1A4ScWsYgD/?mibextid=wwXIfr

My own personal chub odyssey continues – A slow start this Autumn with multiple consecutive blank sessions during October. However, after the first couple of flush throughs and the mild weather during mid November the fish seemed to have moved to their regular winter haunts. I then had some good catches of fish in the 3-4lb bracket. I also thoroughly enjoyed one of those rare days when there were plenty of people on the bank. Chatting to Joe and Becky who were piking, as were Shaun and Phil Holder – Good to see you folks. Bailiffs Jim and Bill were around as well as some other locals, with James, Dan and Phil appearing as I walked back downstream – So more chatting than fishing that day!

Following the cold snap and heavy rain during the 1st and 2nd weeks of December I had a fantastic day just as the river was starting to fine down on December 21^st, with 3 fish all over 4lb. It was notable that on arrival I thought that the water was still too pacey and carrying too much colour for it to be more than a ’good to get out’ type of day. Just goes to show that the angler and fish’s idea of perfect conditions do not always align!

Pike news is a bit thin on the ground. Anglers reported a productive enough early season on the tidal with fish caught in the low double figure range. Its often late season before I get reports of whoppers from the top piking months of Jan and Feb.

We are a bit chub heavy in this report, So how about a seasonal bonus feature? One thing we all love about the tidal Ouse is that you might be sea trout, chub, carp or pike fishing but you are never quite sure what is going to turn up! While spinning for sea trout John Hall was shocked to see how far this bass had meandered up the tidal reach - Fantastic catch John!

Or what about this? Took quite a debate to figure out what it was. An American brook trout? or tiger trout cross? Eventually confirmed by the Angling Times as a tiger trout. Had possibly escaped from someone's pond in a flood or mixed in with a batch of stocked brownies somewhere along the line? Lawrence Horwill was certainly pretty shocked to catch it on a piece of bread! Lovely picture Lawrence.

That’s about all for now. Plenty being planned by the committee for next year. I look forward to sharing as we approach 2026/7 season. In the meantime, Happy New Year and tight lines! DH