Exploring the UK's Clearest River!

Join me as I fish for a variety of species that live in one of the UK's healthiest rivers, known for it's water clarity - only, upon arriving, it seems that may not be the case at all...
Big thanks to my brother Stephen for helping me film this one, and to ‪@The_ginger_fisherman‬ for putting me on the fish!! You guys are the best :)
Follow me on Instagram: / tomwilshawuk
All music licensed and supplied by The Music Bed.
© Tom Wilshaw 2024, All Rights Reserved.

[@TurDyTurt101]

hands down my favourite fishing channel, well done 🙂

[@jamesb9070]

The quality of these videos are brilliant. Well done and thank you

[@tomwilshaw]

Thank you for watching! :)

[@Manassa1917]

The idle is a beautiful clean river. River meden a small tributary of the idle also is as clean which too contains quality fish

[@jonnyseller]

Lovely video. Great watch

[@metalbenderuk9791]

Great video man, and well done on the perseverance!

[@jakewilliamson]

you make a great fishing video tom, well done for persevering - that barbel was well worth it!

[@tomwilshaw]

I was genuinely over the moon, tricky sessions are tough in the moment, but the reward is always so much sweeter - cheers Jake!

[@fishwithcarl]

17:29 !!! You’ve given the game away now! Off to the River Swale next week 🎉👌👌👌

[@tomwilshaw]

Cat’s out the bag now 👀

[@BenjaminScott-ep4xo]

Hehe I saw that to

[@benjames9364]

We all know the ginger fishermans local haunt isn't the Swale. Nice try though 😉

[@benjames9364]

​@@BenjaminScott-ep4xohe isn't fishing the Swale 😉 I think it was a trick to throw people off the scent

[@fishwithcarl]

@@benjames9364 ah yeah, the lack of a Yorkshire accent is a dead giveaway 😂

[@LG_Fishing]

Fantastic video, keep them coming.

[@tomwilshaw]

Thanks so much :)

[@FisherDMC5752]

Great video mate! Keep them coming.

[@tomwilshaw]

Thanks so much 😁😁😁 I will!

[@hasansegundo9959]

You definitely deserve more views and likes! Quality videos mate👍👍

[@mikecampbell7421]

I really loved the shot of all the new crappy build housing in the flood plain !!!

[@tomwilshaw]

😂

[@derry5039]

Great video, much easier and more accurate for bites to use a stick float when trotting on river than a regular waggler. Tight lines Tom!

[@tomwilshaw]

Thanks Derry :) and yes!! A stick float really would have been the one on the river, I need to get myself practiced with that technique, and important one for the future!

[@BenjaminScott-ep4xo]

I new that was gingers river as soon as I saw the arched bridge 😱😱😱

[@samuelgarrod8327]

It's nobodies river mate.

[@BenjaminScott-ep4xo]

As in the one he fishes😁

[@tomwilshaw]

Haha, it’s a legendary stretch of water!

[@BenjaminScott-ep4xo]

@@tomwilshaw indeed. have you seen the one where he catches he pb perch from the swim next to that bridge?

[@samuelbrucemartin]

if you want to see a really clear river catch a train down to the chalk streams down in Hampshire!!

[@tomwilshaw]

That's something I'm dying to do!! I really want to catch a big grayling at some point :-)

[@BenjaminScott-ep4xo]

the lambourn is kinda messed up right now i think😑

[@letsgofishing_amhi]

Great video Tom 👏

[@tomwilshaw]

thanks guys! ☺️

[@MartynsAnglingAdventures]

Awesome edit!

[@tomwilshaw]

Cheers Martyn 😁 appreciate it mate!

[@michaelclark9916]

Great vid mate

[@tomwilshaw]

Cheers! 😁

[@DemonMonkeyBoy]

Is that a custom Fish With Carl rod? Sure I saw the logo on the blank and butt cap 👀

[@fishwithcarl]

👀 shhhhhh 😜

[@BenjaminScott-ep4xo]

😱😱I see it clearly😱😱😱

[@tomwilshaw]

Whoops… 😳

[@BenjaminScott-ep4xo]

@@tomwilshaw your giving everything away. and i love it😂

[@fishwithcarl]

@@BenjaminScott-ep4xo 😂

[@DannyFR30]

Trust them to clean the cleanest river 😂

[@tomwilshaw]

😂😂😂

[@SkiSummer]

Wow the EA doing something, that makes a change.

[@SavageRob_]

Let's goooooooo!

[@tomwilshaw]

😁😁😁😁😁😁

[@ontcarpn]

First!!! Love your videos man! Keep them coming 👌🍻

[@tomwilshaw]

Haha, thanks so much mate!!!! I'll do my best!! Glad you enjoy them :)

[@matheobelanger6617]

great video btw very cool images and a great story! do you guys know what was the machine that past in the river?

[@tomwilshaw]

Thanks so much!! and I'm not fully sure to be honest, it was there to cut back the weed, it kind of floated, but also had caterpillar tracks.... a really strange device!

[@AaronsAnglingJourney]

Brill mate

[@tomwilshaw]

Thanks Aaron!

[@isaacbell.]

Haha your bro “mu mu meeee?!😮”. Class film too bro

[@tomwilshaw]

That bit made me laugh so much in the edit 😂 thanks dude

[@isaacbell.]

@@tomwilshaw love it haha!

[@joshharpin9567]

Different gravy Tom 🎣👍🏻

[@tomwilshaw]

Thanks Josh :) I try really hard to make these the best that I can, feels like a huge win when I read comments like yours!

[@joshharpin9567]

@@tomwilshaw editing is incredible and the way you tell a story is brilliant absolutely love watching your videos and those who you edit for :) 🎣

[@JrzOutdoors]

Good stuff, come on over to Washington state, there's some awesome fishing here

[@tomwilshaw]

One day!

[@JrzOutdoors]

@tomwilshaw if you do, let me know, I'll show you around

[@johnathonandrew8952]

A little late to the party on this one Tom but once again top work

[@tomwilshaw]

Cheers Johnathon! Only went live late last night haha, not late at all!

[@JamesParsons-go4nu]

what rod do you use could u put a link please. Great vid as usual

[@tomwilshaw]

I used a couple of rods in this video :) some I actually can't talk about yet, but the main shorter rod I used for float and lure fishing was a korum light lure rod

[@NicholasElder-w9l]

The river test is the clearest river in the UK check out the chalk streams of Wiltshire and Hampshire. Far superior clearer water compaired to that river.

[@tomwilshaw]

I'm most certainly checking out some chalk streams later in the season, I've always wanted to catch a big Greyling! The river I was fishing is usually a lot clearer than in this video, it just didn't work out for me haha

[@benscarping2941]

I fish this river myself, and have had the same issue with them cutting the weed and it completely ruins the fishing, not sure why they do it as it doesn’t really benefit the river to cut the weed. On a good day though the river produces class fish, I’ve had double figure barbel and perch to 2lb plus as well as 5lb chub

[@tomwilshaw]

It didn’t really make much sense to me either, especially considering that at the time the fish hadn’t spawned yet. It’s a wicked bit of water :) I do hope to be back to try and win one of those bigger barbel!

[@johnstevens5042]

🍺🍺🦈🍺🍺

[@tomwilshaw]

🎣🎣👀🎣🎣

[@silasestlander]

That red braid is so sexy man. Loved this video. Saved my friday night😄

[@tomwilshaw]

Haha, I only bought it because it was the only one in the shop at the time, but now I feel it's a mainstay of the channel 😂 thanks man :)

[@albiewilliams6830]

Great video tom and makes me laugh how the enviroment agency detroy all that natural habitat for so many species not just fish by getting rid of the weed but they cant do the jobs they need to do anyway great video and well done for persevering

[@tomwilshaw]

Thanks Albie, and yes, it's pretty non-sensical, especially given that many coarse species have not yet spawned in the rivers! Maybe not the brightest move 🤦‍♂️

[@averageguy8090]

Never walk downriver as the vibrations can scare the fish below you, always fish against the current as the vibrations will carry away from the fish you're looking for :)

[@tomwilshaw]

That makes a lot of sense! Do you then cast upstream and try and keep the tension as the float comes back towards you? Always learning :)

[@andk3423]

In my country, Indonesia, there are lots of fishing spots like this, but rubbish and factory waste make it unsafe to explore😅

[@Roowfc705]

I'm sorry to hear that

[@tomwilshaw]

That’s awful 🙁 is there any plans to stop that happening?

[@andk3423]

@@tomwilshaw coldplay has helped by sending sophisticated equipment to clean dirty rivers and lakes but the government is instead using it as a way to make money haha

[@tomwilshaw]

Jeez… Not good mate 🙁 such a short-sighted view, money’s great but it’s comes and goes, our planet? Once we ruin it, there’s not a whole lot we can do..

[@benjames9364]

I noticed you slipped in the name of a different river, the Swale. You and i know you aint fishing the Swale 😉 that isnt the ginger fishermans hunting ground. I can see through you deception 🤣

[@tomwilshaw]

😂😂😂 shhhhh 👀

[@MrTim207]

I’ve worked out the exact location of this swim 👀 but even though it’s only 40 minutes from me, I’m not going to fish it as I’ve got plenty of quality river to go at locally. And I wouldn’t want the place hammered due to KZbin exposure.

[@petertomo95]

Came here to say this, I'm very familiar with the area too

[@joeking57]

Great video but slightly weird how ur just copying everything thats been done already... No challenge

[@tomwilshaw]

Catching any kind of a fish is a challenge for me 😂 but interesting comment, do you mean it's cause I want to a location a lot of people have gone to? Keen to know more, always want to make cool interesting videos 😁

[@LG-RiverFishingUK]

Have u evet fished the river medlock? Now thats a very clear river no weed no nothing like that mate

[@tomwilshaw]

I haven’t! I’ll have to check it out :-)

[@LG-RiverFishingUK]

@tomwilshaw I fish it daily you'll get an average of 20-30 trout on a session