Freezing temperatures at Neatishead Staithe

It has been a year and a half since my last blog entry. I haven't been fishing as often as I used to and so these pages are becoming a bit neglected. I had my first fish of 2025 last Friday when I went down to my local spot at Neatishead Staithe. It was pretty cold and temperatures were just hovering above freezing as they have been for the last week or so.

This was the scene when I was sat there in the afternoon. No boats! Well, there was just one moored up behind me. You can also make out that the dyke was slowly freezing over and it was creeping up the staithe. I have seen it again today and it has now completely frozen up. I had a kingfisher as a companion. He or she was successfully diving for fish from the other bank.

I was just float fishing using red maggots. Anyone fishing for pike would probably do well as the staithe is full of bait fish. I was trying not to catch the preponderance of small roach by fishing on the bottom and close in. This can work and perch seem to like the edges better than they do the mid water. I did catch quite a few small roach to begin with but eventually I started getting one or two bigger specimens and eventually the perch showed up (and also a few ruffe which showed how close to the bottom I was).

This was my best perch and it did require the use of a net:-

To get an idea of the size of this fish the disgorger is 13.8cm in length and by my reckoning the fish is 23.6cm long or 9.3 inches. From experience this fish probably weighs about 12 oz. I caught this fish about 3.15pm in the afternoon.

All pictures and text copyright Duncan Hale-Sutton 2025.

Happy fishing at Cold Harbour, Ludham

This is not the first time I have been fishing this season but this was the more successful one. Friday I popped down to Neatishead Staithe for a couple of hours and it was really slow.

This was the view across the water. I initially had some old sweetcorn I was trying to use up but it was obviously not even enticing to fish. So I went to the shop in the village and bought some bread which I balled up and put on the hook. This was better but in 2 hours I only caught 4 fish; 3 small roach and 1 dace. I wondered if it was because of all the heat we were having. Somebody I spoke to on a boat said that the water temperature had been as high as 16C.

Today I went to the Bure at Cold Harbour near Ludham. There are a few fishing platforms there which are still open access and one of these was available. There used to be more spots but these have been taken back by the NDAA. I brought bread with me again and, as a back up, some red maggots. I tried the bread first but without much success. A few nibbles but not much more. I was float fishing close in. I then switched to the maggots and began to catch a few small roach and a rudd.

As per normal, the problem with fishing the Bure is that it is tidal and so the float began to pick up pace as the tide began to go out. I did hold the float back and this is often when you get bites. But today I thought I would switch to ledgering off the bottom. Nothing too complicated. One lightish ball weight held between to swivels. Wow, what a difference! I hadn't been expecting the fish to be so voracious. I had been feeding in maggots regularly as I float fished but now I placed the ledger further down in the swim. The bites were surprisingly strong. They really twanged the rod and I was pleased to pull in this nice bream:-

The disgorger in the image is 13.8cm in length which makes this fish 30cm, roughly, or 11.8 inches. Previous experience tells me that this fish will weigh about 1lb 3oz or so. I carried on and caught a few perch but nothing of any size. Then the last three fish I pulled in were all eels! Again, all quite small but quite vigorous. Fortunately, they were all lip hooked and so went back unharmed which is great given their protected status. It is good that the number of eels in our rivers is coming up again. I think I will doing some more bottom fishing!

Between fishing seasons I have been down at the local carp lakes a few times. On the 6th April I was at Holly farm and picked up a couple of carp, the largest being about 4lb:-

Both fell to sweetcorn. Then I also had a couple of trips to Dilham Fishery on the 8th May:-

Then on the 23rd May where I had a nice tussle with this 6lb common (measured):-

This fell to a piece of balled up bread. This is me unhooking the fish.

All pictures and text copyright Duncan Hale-Sutton 2023.

Where have all the fish gone?

Over the last few weeks I have made a few ventures out to do a spot of fishing. Three weeks ago on Valentine's day (14th February) I went along to Irstead Staithe and I was reasonably confident that I would catch something. Wrong! Despite it being a fine afternoon it was absolutely dead. Not a bite. This can happen in winter especially along the main rivers of the broads. Still it was pleasant sitting there:-

Not to be deterred I packed up and went to Ludham bridge but it was the same story. I had better success 6 days later on the 20th February when I went down to Martham. I had intended to fish at Martham Pits but I found that it was still closed to day tickets for the winter. Instead, I fished in the dyke by Ferrygate Lane:-

The weather was a balmy 16C but the problem here was that I had managed to put my back out and I could only stay for about an hour before having to go home (very gingerly). Still there were plenty of bites here and I caught about 4 roach. Last week (the 27th of February) having recovered I tried the river Ant at Wayford Bridge but it was becoming a familiar story of blanking. No bites here:-

Thinking that it might be the open river problem I went along to Sutton Broad. Here it is a long way from the river systems but it was as dead as everywhere else:-

You can see from this picture that the water was really brown and muddy and I wondered if this was part of the problem.

All pictures and text copyright Duncan Hale-Sutton 2023

Afternoon at the staithe

I had another nice afternoon at Neatishead Staithe over a week ago on the 26th January. It was quite a pleasant sunny afternoon and I got settled down on the left-hand side near the entrance to Limekiln dyke.

I had plenty of clothes on as usual so it didn't seem to cold. Bites were a bit sluggish but in the end I caught a few. I had passed one fisherman who was leaving just as I arrived who said he had caught 150 fish. I guess that is possible if you were there all day. During the two hours or so I was there I caught something like 5 perch and 15 roach with assorted others. No bream though! I don't know why they haven't been making an appearance lately. My main amusement apart from the fish were a pair of kingfishers who were fishing from perches on the bank opposite.

The staithe is now closed because they are doing maintenance work on it (redoing the quay heading nearest the car park). It won't reopen until the fishing season is ended (the work is scheduled to end on the 31st March 2023).

All pictures and text copyright Duncan Hale-Sutton 2023

Freezing temperatures but enjoyable

I was down at Neatishead staithe again yesterday (Wednesday 18th January) and it was pretty cold. Fortunately, the latest spate of freezing weather hasn't closed off the water with ice but you could see it gathering further down Limekiln Dyke. The sun was out but this made little difference to the temperatures which were only just above freezing.

It was pretty as you can see from the picture I took above. I also had the place to myself apart from a spate of three visitors who chatted to me about fishing and wildlife. I didn't mind. It looked like the fishing was going to be hard work with bites few and far between but I had an early roach that at least needed a net to bring in. The pike were lively. There was one feeding voraciously in the water near the back of the boat in the picture. I kept seeing big swirls and it made me wish I had brought some pike gear.

In the end I did ok. I didn't keep a tally but I had quite a few roach, about three or four perch and a ruffe. Nothing of any size to write home about. The kingfishers were busy flying up and down the dyke and had obviously been fishing nearby as I heard it plop into the water after a fish. There were also a couple of herons, one of which looked like he wanted to nab a fish from me rather than get his own. Just before I left I thought I saw a big otter heading out.

All pictures and text copyright Duncan Hale-Sutton 2023

New Year's Day fishing

 

I had a couple of hours of pleasant fishing last Sunday (New Year's day) down at Neatishead Staithe. I arrived about 2pm and set up near the entrance to the dyke (see above). The weather had been pretty still for most of the day and it wasn't too cold (perhaps 8C). The staithe does sometimes get quite busy with fishermen but there was only a couple of others there when I arrived. The guy opposite was fishing for pike and he did land one whilst I was there (probably not much more than 5lb).

I was 'fishing for silvers', as they say, using some red maggots which I had had some time. I had thought that the hard frost that we had before Christmas had killed them all off (even though I had kept them in the shed) but somehow they miraculously recovered. Saves having to buy more!

I had a steady stream of fish in the two hours I was there. I kept a rough count and it amounted to about 13 perch and 12 roach. The perch were not of any size but there was probably one that was that I lost. A couple of the roach were a bit bigger but nothing to report about until the end of the day. Some roach I think were probably roach/bream hybrids as they have that more slender look about them and aren't as coloured in the fins.

The best fish of the day came as it was getting dark (4pm) and was my last fish:-

Knowing the length of the disgorger shown (13.8cm) this fish is 23cm or 9 inches in length. It weighs about 10oz. It was a bit battered and looked like a pike had been at it.

All pictures and text copyright Duncan Hale-Sutton 2023

A nice couple of hours at Neatishead Staithe

I haven't been out fishing for a while due to bad weather and ill health but I finally managed to get down to Neatishead staithe for a couple of hours today. The weather was overcast and not too cold (7 or 8C). A few fishermen were about but some were packing up as I arrived about 2pm. The staithe has been pretty popular over the winter months as evidenced by the chewed up grass where people have been parking. Really this should be fenced off again as it looks pretty untidy. I went to the right side of the water near the mouth. There were a few boats about again which is only inevitable.

I had a good time during those couple of hours. I hadn't bought any bait specially, relying on some old casters and some worms I had dug up. I started with the casters and it didn't take long before I had a reasonable roach. I decided to record how many fish I had and of what type. After a few roach I thought I would give the worms a go and they were much more fruitful. I had few brandling worms from the compost bin and some small earth worms. The best fish I caught was this one, on a brandling worm:-

This is a small bream. The disgorger is 13.8cm long so this fish is about 28cm or 11 inches long. It probably weighs close to a pound. In all I had 2 bream (one of which was probably a hybrid), 4 roach, 5 perch (nothing sizeable), 1 rudd and 3 ruffe. So not bad for a couple of hours bankside.

All pictures and text copyright Duncan Hale-Sutton 2022

It's been a while

I haven't been fishing since before Christmas as I just didn't want to take any risks whilst this latest wave of the pandemic has been going through our community. Now that virus numbers have dropped significantly and the number of people being vaccinated is going up rapidly I decided to venture out again before the end of the season. As a group of people, we fisherfolk have been lucky to be able to carry on with our sport all through this lockdown. Last week and today, I just went along to my local staithe here in Neatishead.

A bit of a cold (8C) overcast morning but briefly you could see the sun through the low cloud. I arrived about 11am and rain was forecast about lunchtime, but it wasn't so bad that it had me scuttling off at its first appearance. I hadn't bothered to go out and buy any bait. Today I just used some sweetcorn that I had left over from last week. It was interesting that last week I had bites all the time with this but today it was much more irregular but some of the fish were a better size. I was sat near the car park where it is quite shallow. The water level has dropped quite a bit from its over-winter highs.

This rudd was one of the slightly better fish that I caught. It looks a bit like a female with eggs but I could be wrong. I had another fish like this but probably slightly larger. Though you get a lot of roach-rudd hybrids, I think this is more rudd from the upturned mouth. Compare this with one I caught last week:-

This one is very red in colour but is definitely more roach like.

There was a pike in the dyke hunting in the same area where I was fishing. I would like to say to pike fishermen to please be aware that over the last year or so otters have come to inhabit this area and they are taking fish put out as bait. Please, please, try to avoid this from happening as I don't like to think of otters caught up in pike gear and suffering the consequences. Otters are relatively easy to spot if you know what to look for. They spend a lot of time underwater but they can be traced by the obvious line of bubbles that they leave as they swim. If you see this, I suggest getting your gear out of the water pronto before they take your bait (and possibly your rod as well!). They are incredibly strong animals with a bite that could easily remove a finger if you tackled one, so don't. Just avoid the situation by being patient. They won't hang around for long and will continue their on way along their regular hunting route. They are appearing at all times of the day and just not dusk, night or dawn.

All pictures and text copyright Duncan Hale-Sutton 2021

Fishing the Thurne at Potter Heigham

It has been seven months since I last posted anything here. In the mean time life has changed considerably, of course, and I do wonder when things will return to normal.

I have been fishing a few times since the new season started. Today I thought I would give the river at Potter Heigham a go as I haven't really tried it much before. It was a hot day to be by the riverside and as I drove there the outdoor temperature recorded by my car was touching 29C. It had been slightly more overcast with thin cloud in the morning which prompted me to think it wouldn't be too hot in the sun but by the time I arrived it was blazing hot. Fortunately, after walking one way up the river and back again I found a nice spot in the shade of a willow tree and I was very thankful. If you go over the bridge from the Latham's side and turn right, you will see where I mean. This was where I sat looking over the Thurne:-

I was float fishing as usual with a pair of red maggots on a size 16 hook (you can see my float in the picture). The maggots were getting a bit smelly and I was pleased that I had used them up by the end of the afternoon! The water does move quickly here and it was coming in with the tide - something I am not so used to. I set the depth for near the bottom (which was perhaps 4 or so feet deep) and to keep things under control I fished reasonably close in.

I wasn't getting any bites to start with and when that happens I try different things out to see if it makes a difference. I began feeding in my maggots and casters upstream of where I was (so that the food would get near the bottom in front of where I was sitting). I also reasoned that with all the boats going backwards and forwards the fish would be close to the bank. I was right and they were very close to the bank - I started getting bites with the float only a couple of feet from the edge.

After a while I began to catch a few roach. These were quite small but I was quite happy. I had shade, there was a nice breeze, I had tea to drink and I was getting regular bites. The afternoon wore on with the same pattern and I caught, perhaps, six roach. I was thinking about packing up when the float went under again and then I knew I was into something more substantial! I did not know how substantial until this large dinner-plate of a fish surfaced and I was gobsmacked! I had only brought my small landing net with me and I was wondering if it would fit in. Here is the beauty (a bream):-

The disgorger is 13.8cm long and so the fish is about 44cm or 17.5 inches long. I intended to weigh it but as I had it in my net in the water, giving it some time to recover, it swam off as I fished around in my bag for my scales! However, judging by other bream I have caught, this one is about 3lb. I reckon this might be the largest broadland river bream I have caught so far. I did carry on for a bit after this but, apart from a reasonable perch, there were no more bream such as this to be had.

Interestingly, a bit downriver from where I was sitting and across on the other bank, a family were swim feeder fishing and I could see that they had caught two eels.

All pictures and text copyright Duncan Hale-Sutton 2020

Another enjoyable afternoon at Neatishead Staithe

I was back at Neatishead staithe this afternoon. A mild (12C), overcast and windless day that was ideal for fishing. This time I was sat at the end of the staithe on the left-hand side where it joins Limekiln Dyke. I arrived about 2.30pm and there were three other fishermen on the opposite bank.

I was again using my 4 week old maggots and casters that I had last Sunday and without much effort a double red maggot was reaping rewards with some fine looking roach. I was again feeding in the casters to attract the fish. The advantage of a still day is that you can see the more sensitive bites more easily and not constantly distracted by ripples and the wind blowing your gear about.

I brought some pike gear along with me today and put out a dead bait (a sprat) on a float but without much success. I kept taking the gear out of the water because my friends, the swans, were back again (the same pair from Sunday) and we also had a visit from an otter. The first thing I saw of the otter was its tell-tale sign of a stream of bubbles rocketing towards me across the water. It carried on towards the upper reaches of Limekiln Dyke and then returned the same way and we had a good view of it on the surface of the water by the opposite bank.

I had my first good fish just after 3pm:-

This bream is 36cm or 14.2 inches which is probably in the 1.5lb range. Ten minutes later I had this super roach:-

This was about 28cm or 11 inches and came in at 12oz as I did bother to weigh it. This was all very rewarding and I was definitely having a good day. Anyway, I finished up with 12 roach, 2 bream and one small perch. Oh, and the ring on the swan's leg was numbered 4BYU for any of you birders out there that like to keep a track of our long-necked friends!

All text and pictures copyright Duncan Hale-Sutton 2020.

Return to the waterside

I was back fishing at Neatishead staithe this afternoon. It is good to be back there during the winter when there are no boats to contend with and the fishermen have the water to themselves. It wasn't that cold, perhaps 8C, but it was overcast and by the end of the afternoon I felt quite chilled through. At least there was very little breeze.

I had the remains of a pint of red maggots that had been sitting around in the shed for a couple of weeks. At least, at this time of year, they don't all turn into casters in a matter of days - there were enough maggots lurking in the bottom of my tin. I was float fishing as usual and began with a pair of maggots at a depth of just above the bottom. The water is still very high with all the rain we have had but the water clarity has improved; there isn't the muddiness in the water that there was a few weeks ago.

I started getting bites immediately and within a few minutes I had a couple of roach that weren't tiddlers. I fed in the casters that I had as groundbait into the middle of the water. I was sitting halfway down the staithe on the left-hand side as you view it from the car park. There were a few other fishermen present. There was a father and son (of about 9 years) at the right-hand end adjoining Limekiln Dyke. The son was doing better than the father much to the father's annoyance!

I thought I would try alternating my bait in rotation - double maggot, double caster, single caster. I also adjusted the depth of the bait to just above the bottom. This seemed to work. I was catching quite a few roach, some of not a bad size (up to, perhaps, 6oz) and I also snagged a couple of skimmers (small bream of maybe 6 to 8oz). Nothing like the bream they were catching on the river Yare at Woods End where we went for a walk yesterday! The guys there were into a shoal of bream of up to 5lb. I saw one nice specimen being landed using a swim-feeder rig.

I started to try and make a note of how many fish of each species I was catching by using casters as counters in the bait tin lid. I mostly had roach but there were about 5 or 6 perch (no size), 3 rudd, two dace, 2 bream and 1 ruffe. So six species in all.

Part of the enjoyment of sitting by the water is seeing and listening to the wildlife. There were a couple of cheeky swans (one ringed) that were seeing if we had any food for them. One was trying to nibble my boot. All through the afternoon there were robins competing with each other, tits of various sorts twittering in the tree tops, pheasants squawking from people's back gardens and, at the end of the day, the lovely sound of blackbirds chattering as they find their roosts.

All text and pictures copyright Duncan Hale-Sutton 2020.

Feeling positive about Dilham Fishery

I have been to Dilham Fishery a few times before and I haven't always been that positive about fishing there. I would like to redress this because, actually, I think it definitely has its merits. I have been a couple of times recently; once on the 12th April when it was overcast and quite cold and then again on the 16th April when things had warmed up a bit. The good things I can say about this lake is that it is nicely laid out, it still only costs £5 for the day if you are using one rod (it is definitely the cheapest day ticket in the area) and on a cold day they have a very nice clean and warm toilet facilities with hot running water where you can unfreeze your hands! Fishing wise the species you can catch is quite diverse and it is not like some places where it is like fishing in a barrel and you end up pulling one carp out after another. You have to work at it.

Both times when I was there recently I ended up fishing the second peg from the toilet block. There are plenty of places by that spot where carp might hide out - in the reeds to the right of you, in the reeds on the far bank to the left and under the lily pads opposite. I concentrated on the margins to the right and fed sweetcorn regularly into the shallows. Float fishing a piece of corn near the bottom I caught a few small carp that first day, the most unusual of which was this fantailed carp:-

I think this is a crucian but it might be some sort of hybrid. Anyway note how all the fins are very enlongated. This fish is about 37cm or 14.6 inches.

On my return on the 16th April I didn't catch any carp but I did catch this nice roach (although it may be a roach/rudd hybrid) at about 2.45pm:-

This fish is about 25cm in length or 9.7 inches. This image shows the margins of where I was fishing:-

Towards the end of the day, at 4.22pm, my swim feeding efforts were rewarded with this 32cm or 12.7 inch bream:-

and about an hour later this 20.4cm or 8inch tench:-

All text and pictures copyright Duncan Hale-Sutton 2019.

A cold but successful day at Martham Pits

I have fished Martham Pits on a couple of occasions before but I have not written any blogs about my visits. Last Friday (the 5th April) I decided to go there on the basis that the weather looked fine but, although there was hazy sunshine all day, there was an awful cold wind that had me well and truly chilled by the end of it.

Martham Pits is run by the Martham and District Angling Club and day tickets can be purchased from the Co-op (88 Repps Road, NR29 4QZ) in Martham for £7. There are four pits labelled A, B, C and D. Some parts of the pits are only open to members and sometimes pits are closed for matches. You can use two rods.

When I arrived I decided to have a go at fishing pit B because this was the last one that I fished successfully. I always stick to float fishing and I had a variety of baits with me but it quickly became apparent that I was getting nowhere. Hardly a nibble. The club has also cut the vegetation back considerably around all the ponds so it did feel very exposed. However, I wasn't put off and about lunchtime I decided to have a wander round and chat to one of the other fishermen who was on a different pit. It seems that I wasn't the only one struggling and the guy I spoke to very kindly suggested I try pit A near the bridge. As he said this was where someone had won a fishing competition in the last week or so. He suggested using sweetcorn (which I had been trying anyway) and 'keep feeding it in'.

So I moved across to pit A and this was the view from my new peg. I began feeding in bits of corn and unlike B, I began to get a few nibbles very quickly. I always fish near the bottom and check the depth using a plumb weight. Soon I was catching a few roach and after a while one or two skimmers. The bites remained very tentative all the rest of the day and nothing like a firm carp bite.I eventually landed my first of three good bream at 2.35pm:-

This fish weighed 2lb and is about 38cm or 15.2 inches long. Ten minutes later I caught this lovely 4lb fish:-

This has the classic look of a mature bream with its humped back and bronze colouration. This fish is about 50cm or 19.5 inches in length. I reckon this is a personal best for me. Later on I had another fish of 3lb but I didn't photograph it.

I came back to the pits on the 9th April and fished A pit again. It was still quite cold and windy but there was more sunshine, so it didn't feel so bad. I had another couple of bream of 2 and 2.5lb on that occasion. Still no carp.

Al text and images copyright Duncan Hale-Sutton 2019.

Fun day at Barford Lakes

So, it is the end of the season on the rivers and broads but my attention has returned to inland waters and carp fishing (plus whatever else happens to be in the pond or lake at the time). On Friday (the 29th March) it promised to be a nice sunny day and I had intended to go to Stanninghall lakes near Crostwick but when I got there it was closed as it is under new management. Having been thinking I ought to go somewhere new anyway I quickly got out my phone and started searching for other lakes to the west and south of where I was. The mistake I made was not checking first that they were members only or not and so I ended up at Layfields Lakes at Great Witchingham. So then I had to search again and opted for Barford Lakes off the Watton Road.

Barford have eight lakes, two of which, the Pleasure and Top Lakes, are available to day ticket holders all year round. A day ticket is a slightly more expensive £8 for adults but there is a tackle shop on site and you can use two rods. After talking to a guy fishing on the Pleasure Lake I opted to try the Top Lake.

A funny thing happened to me as I was setting up. In my youth I would have been severely embarrassed but nowadays I can laugh it off. I had set up my seat and was about to tie a hook sitting down but as my bum hit the seat the rear legs gave way and I went right over onto my back with my legs ending up in the air! It wasn't easy extricating myself from this position either. The guy next to me asked if I was alright but we had a chuckle. I think I just hadn't locked the back legs of my seat into position.

It was a fine sunny, and mostly warm, day but two things were niggling me until I eventually moved. One was the slightly cold nagging wind and the other was the sun dazzling me as I had recently lost my sunglasses. I had arrived about 11am and during the rest of the morning until early afternoon things were a bit slow. I had chosen a corner of the lake where I could see a few carp surfacing, so I knew where to put my bait. I had sweetcorn with me and the first carp I caught was a crucian. Then I was trying a bit of bread crust float fished on a shallow depth in the corner and I had the first of several common carp. They were a good size. I could see another guy fishing on the right-hand bank from me catching some larger carp float fishing deeper into the lake.

Later in the afternoon I had had enough of the dazzling sun and moved to the bank on my right:-

This was the view from this new peg. The peg that I was at before is in front of the red car. I had some more commons from this location on sweet corn and this nice condition fish weighed 4lb:-

The orange disgorger gives you a sense of scale. It is 13.8cm long making this fish 48cm or 18.9 inches. Annoyingly two of the fish I caught that day were foul hooked and this really gets me down. I am going to try harder at avoiding this as much as possible.

Just to say that another guy a few pegs to the left of where I sat originally had a carp of over 13lb. I guessed it was a big fish as I could see the tail hanging over the edge of the landing net!

All text and pictures copyright Duncan Hale-Sutton 2019.

A couple of personal bests this season

The problem with blogs is keeping them up to date and I seem to be falling behind with this one. It has been nearly a year again since I last recorded anything and my entries seem to becoming sparser and sparser. Not that I haven't been fishing! This season has been a good one for me as I had a personal best carp of 12.5lb at Park Farm Lakes, Hockering:

This was on the 22nd July 2018 - a hot day that started out as a family fishing trip to the lakes. For most of the day I had been with my brother and his two young boys and a friend of the eldest. We didn't really catch much all day and certainly found it hard to catch any carp. I think the boys were finding it hard to sit still and concentrate! My poor brother was run ragged! Later on they all left and I carried on on my own. I think I had a decent 3lb+ bream before this common fell to a krill carp bait float fished near some water lillies. I only had 5lb line on my reel and so the fish took 20 minutes to land!

More recently I have been fishing for pike again with my mate Tony. We have been oscillating between Wroxham (fishing between the road and rail bridges) and Neatishead Staithe. I have had success at both locations (5 pike in all) and yesterday (the 11th February) was the best when I hooked this personal best pike at Neatishead:

This was a 12.5lb fish and was caught towards the end of the day at 5.10pm. Tony had caught an 8 pounder before I arrived at about 2pm.

All text and pictures copyright Duncan Hale-Sutton 2019.

Good finish to the season

It has been a while since I have caught a pike (the last time was over a year ago in January 2017) and, as the end of the season approached, I was determined to see if I could get one. Before that, though, I had been continuing to catch some reasonable bream at Neatishead Staithe. This one I had on the 6th March

which is 9.5 inches in length. Then on the 11th March, this nice fish fell to a worm:-

This one I bothered to weigh and it came in at 1lb 4oz for a 13.5inch fish. I reckon this must be a hybrid as it lacks the depth of a proper bream. Notice that it has been damaged at some point just behind the anal fin. From the shape of it, it looks like a bite of a cormorant.

I have been enjoying my time at the staithe and often meet up with people who have become my friends over the last couple of years. This is especially true of Tony and Eddy who come down on a regular basis, usually in search of pike. It was Tony who kindly gave me worms to fish with and to cultivate at home.

On the day before the last day of the season, the 13th March, Tony and I went to Gaye's Staithe in search of pike. Gaye's staithe is further along the Irstead Road from Neatishead and has a bit more open water. I had heard from other fishermen that there were pike to be had there.

We arrived about 2pm and it was a nice sunny afternoon. We were float fishing for pike using live bait that we were able to catch from the margins of the dykes. I had a couple of early runs on some pike but nothing connected. Then about 4pm, things began to happen. I caught this one at 4.10pm which we reckoned was about 7lb:-

Tony then caught a jack which he said wasn't worth looking at and it went promptly back in the water! Then two hours later, just as it was getting dark, I caught a 9 pounder (which we weighed) and this is a personal best. I didn't feel too bad for Tony as I know only a few days before he had caught a 10lb fish and he has numerous others up to 22lb this season. Well done to him!

All text and pictures copyright Duncan Hale-Sutton 2018.

Cold and wet

It was raining most of the day today, a sort of cold persistent drizzle. When it had virtually stopped, I headed out for a couple of hours down to Neatishead staithe but it still felt cold and damp, what they would describe as 'dreich' in Scotland. I thought I would give the end of the staithe a go this time, nearest the car park. It is a bit shallower there, a place where the smaller fish tend congregate.

Float fishing with a size 16 hook and a double red maggot (the same maggots that I have had for several weeks - they have been keeping well in the cold shed) I was getting regular bites and pulling out small roach, one after the another. I was down here on the 7th Feb and caught this nice bream at about 4.30pm:-

This fish is 12 inches in length and is probably a pound in weight or maybe more. I also had this 8 inch roach on the same day:-

I also think that the staithe is a hotspot for Ruffe, as we are always catching them. This was a nice specimen:-

It looks sad with those big eyes. They have quite a pretty bluish iridescence. I also came down here on the 15th February and caught this slightly smaller bream:-

What a pleasant day that was, with plenty of warmish sunshine, a real harbinger of spring. This fish was just 8.5 inches, but a nice fish to catch.

Back to today, I didn't really catch much else to speak of. However, there was a couple that were pike fishing at the mouth of the staithe and after much effort did pull out a 16.5 pounder. What a thickset fish this was!

All text and pictures copyright Duncan Hale-Sutton 2018.

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.

Mill Road Fishery, Stokesby

I have been carp fishing at the Mill Road Fishery before, but not for some years. The fishery is found off the A1064 on the left when travelling towards Acle from the north (postcode NR29 3EY). I went there on Tuesday of this week when it was a very warm 23 or 24C. There is one main lake/pond with nicely spaced pegs and a couple of small islands. Price is £6 for the day or £4 for the evening (from 4.30pm in summer).

I knew before that this fishery can be difficult from past experience. I remember the first time I came I was new to carp fishing and I don't think I caught a carp all day! I had been advised into buying some expensive carp ledgering gear and bait by a local tackle shop and it had been a complete waste of money. The tackle has been largely unused ever since. Another time I had come in the past I had caught some nice roach and one single carp at the end of the day. I had been float fishing with maggots mainly and the carp took this bait.

Well on Tuesday I thought I was well prepared having fished for carp successfully at a number of other locations. I intended to float fish in the margins again with three sorts of bait; two of which I have had plenty of success before (sweetcorn and luncheon meat) and a new one - cheese. The latter had been suggested by going again to Golden Ponds in Hickling where I had a less successful day than the last time. At the end of the day I talked to the fisherman next to me what bait he was using because he had had a fantastic time. Turned out he had been wrapping his hook bait with bits of Kraft cheese slice. He kindly gave me some and it was deadly! I had some cubed cheddar and some Kraft cheese with me.

Because it was quite windy and because I had lost my latest favourite carp pole float, I started with a quite a heavy waggler and a 14 hook on 5lb line. I started in the margins because this is where previously it all seemed to happen. However, after a number of hours all I was catching were rudd and roach. I tried all combinations of baits and fed the bait into the water to attract the fish. Mind you some of the roach (or perhaps roach/rudd hybrids) were of a very good size:-

This fish is 11.5 inches in length and was big enough to encourage me to weigh it but it was only about 1lb. About 3pm I decided to switch to another older and lighter carp pole float that I had and to try the middle of the water:-

I was still catching roach and rudd but I felt that things were looking up as bites were coming more frequently. I was also concentrating on using the cubed cheddar cheese and eventually at nearly 4pm I was rewarded by catching this lovely 6.5 lb common:-

This fish was nearly as big as my previous personal best of 7lb that I had had at Holly Farm. Encouraged I carried on. An hour later at about 5pm I hooked into another large fish and I caught part of my struggle on video:-

This fish remained stubbornly close to the bottom and just went round in circles in front of me but it turned out to be a 7.5lb 22inch whopper:-

Broads fishing. All text and pictures copyright Duncan Hale-Sutton 2017.

Golden Ponds, Hickling

On Tuesday of this week, I visited some new carp lakes that I haven't been to before. I came across them when driving between Hickling and Sutton. These are Golden Ponds, Hickling and you can find them with your SatNav using postcode NR12 9SH. They appear to have two small lakes with nicely spaced-out pegs. After talking to a couple of the fishermen there I sat down by the first lake at a pitch that was out of the wind as much as possible. There has been no denying it - April has been cold here in the East and May is starting off the same way. As I had set off about lunchtime, it looked like it might be sunny but for most of the afternoon it was resolutely overcast with temperatures of about 12 or 13C.

It's £7 for a one rod day ticket and £10 for two and it definitely seemed worth it. I had brought with me sweetcorn and cubed luncheon meat and I started fishing with the meat on a size 14 hook. I was using my 12 foot Maver Abyss X Series rod and 5lb line. As usual I was float fishing using a float that was more designed for a pole. I started fishing near the rushes on my right:-

The water wasn't very deep and a depth of about 2ft was sufficient. As before I was dropping in bits of bait and sweetcorn into the swim. It didn't take long to hook my first common carp (at 1.53pm):-

This wasn't very big, just 12.5 inches, however, all the carp I caught that afternoon (and all but one of the fish I caught were carp) were in good condition. The commons also had this sort of ruddy looking tail. The next one I caught was just 7 minutes later:-

This common is a bit more chunky and is 14.5 inches long. In another 14mins I caught this slightly more golden coloured common:-

This is another 14.5 inch fish. I did weigh a fish like this and they are only about 2lb. The rest of the afternoon went in a similar vein and I was constantly catching all afternoon. I did pick up a couple of mirror carp as this one testifies:-

In all I caught 24 carp in about 3 and a half hours which is about 1 every 8 or 9 minutes! The largest fish came towards the end:-

This 16 inch fish weighed in at just 3lb.

All text and pictures copyright Duncan Hale-Sutton 2017.