Neatsihead Staithe January 2018

I haven't put anything up here for 8 months and I thought it was high time that I did. I went down to Neatishead Staithe yesterday on a pretty cold (4 or 5C) but sunny January afternoon. I sat at the end of the channel on the right-hand side, near to where it joins Limekiln dyke. The last time I was down here (before Christmas) I had some success at catching a few perch up to about a pound at this location. Thinking that this would be a good spot again, I set to float fishing near the bottom with a pair of red maggots on a size 16 hook. Often, you get the idea pretty much straight away if it is going to be any good and yesterday wasn't one of those days. I started in the middle of Limekiln dyke without the float so much as twitching. Then I tried closer to the quay heading, just under my feet, and began to get the faintest of nibbles. Eventually, I caught one small roach.

Still, it is a nice place to sit with, at least, a bit of sun on my back. I could also hear the peep, peep, peep of a kingfisher flying upstream. Another fisherman came to join me on the opposite bank. He was dead-baiting for pike. Sometimes you think to yourself, 'shall I stick it out,' if the fishing is bad but I recommend, even though it is a pain, that the best thing is to move. So I set up again half way up the staithe and amazingly enough, began to have bites straight away. I then began to pull out a succession of small roach, none of them any size. I was surprised at how pale some of the roach were. Others were probably immature bream.

Another fisherman arrived, and was spinning for perch. He was using a small silvery jelly lure and near the car park end he caught a 1.5 pounder, which is a decent fish. Further along he pulled out another pound fish.

I struggled on in the cold wind (the sun had begun to disappear by this stage) and I was beginning to freeze. In the end I had about 15 roach and one small perch and I wasn't disappointed any way.

All text and pictures copyright Duncan Hale-Sutton 2018.