Neatishead Staithe continues to fish well in winter

Now that the cold days of January are upon us, fishing for 'silvers' becomes more difficult at a lot of locations on the broads. The fish tend to gather in the creeks and narrows rather than in the open waters, or at least, that appears to be my experience. I have, over the last few months, been continuing to fish at Neatishead Staithe over the winter and I always seem to catch something down there.

I was down there on Monday as it was a nice sort of day; cold but sunny and little wind. At first it seemed quite pleasant in the sunshine but as the sun dropped it did become quite chilly. I reckon temperatures were only 4 or 5C. Fishing with a float and maggots in the middle of the staithe, the first fish I caught was a stonker:-

This 11.5 inch fish looks like a rudd by the colour of its fins and the somewhat upturned mouth, but from the position of its dorsal, pelvic and anal fins I think this is a roach x rudd hybrid. I would guess that this fish weighs between 1lb 2oz and 1lb 4oz. It was certainly a thick-set fish. I caught a similar looking fish late in the day on the 4th November last year:-

This 9 inch fish is not as big and has a more golden appearance. From the layout of its fins I again think this is another roach x rudd hybrid! For comparison, here is a roach that I caught on the 8th November:-

This 10inch fish is, I am pretty sure, a pure roach. As is this 9.5 inch one caught on the same day:-

I think my 11.5inch roach x rudd hybrid is probably an open water (rather than inland lake) personal best for me in the roach-rudd arena.

To end my January day I did a bit of pike fishing too. I have done this before Christmas at this staithe and I caught about a 7 or 8 pounder but I didn't get a picture. The pike are numerous around the dyke and, as you sit by the water, you often see a big swirl as they chase some smaller prey. Occasionally, you get a glimpse of a big tail. I have spoken to fishermen who are pulling out up to 12 pounders and, reportedly (!), there is a 30 pounder lurking in a pool a bit further up the main channel up towards the village. This day I decided to be a bit proactive and trawled a bait round the margins of the dyke up towards the dead end. I had left it up there and had not long sat down in my seat again when I noticed that my float had disappeared and I pulled in this jack:-

This fish is about 24 inches in length and probably weighs 3 to 4lb, so a nice way to end the day.

Cold but rewarding afternoon at Neatishead Staithe

Well, the weather has got a good deal colder but the nice thing is that now that half-term is over, the broads waterways seem practically empty of boats. As a fisherman this means that you have the bankside to yourself with virtually no disturbance. It comes as a great relief.

I went down to Neatishead Staithe this afternoon even though rain was predicted. I put on my thermals because it was only going to be 8 or 9C. Actually, the rain didn't amount to much more than a shower. I set up my gear under the shelter of a tree in the middle of the dyke. I have got out my pole rod again with some very light tackle (using two No 4 shot) and a size 14 hook. It was nice to get some bites straight away on some maggots and a few fish in I caught this nice bream:-

This fish is 13 inches in length and probably weighs a pound and a half. Notice that it has a nasty gash which looks a bit like a boat propeller injury.

I carried on fishing at this spot for a while and even though the fish I was landing were of a reasonable size, the bites began to dry up.

So I moved along to the end where the dyke meets main system and there I was catching a mixture of roach, rudd, skimmers and perch. I did have a nice fish at one point but lost it. The best of the rest was this lovely rudd:-

This fish is about 9 inches in length and may be about 8oz.

All text and pictures copyright Duncan Hale-Sutton 2016.

8lb pike at Irstead Shoals

I have decided that I am going to turn my attention to a bit more pike fishing now that the boating season is ending. I have been getting a bit fed up with catching tiddlers anyway and I felt like I wanted to have that thrill of catching something a bit bigger. This morning I dug my pike gear out of the shed and dusted it down and put some heavier duty line on a spare spool.

Having seen some guys catching some reasonable pike down at Irstead Shoals this week I thought it was a good place to start. I went down there just after lunch and set up a pike float on my trusty telescopic Shakespeare rod. Initially, I think I was fishing too shallow, so I lengthened the drop to about 3 feet so that the bait would be nearer the bottom where I thought some pike might be lying. I took my small pole rod out with me too and I want to thank the guy who I begged some maggots off because the casters I had weren't doing very well.

Actually, it was a lovely warm afternoon. It must have been 16C or so. The wildlife was good too as there were several kingfishers fishing off the far bank and a small otter was working his way along the bank underneath. I know some fishermen don't like otters but I am not one of them. There are plenty of fish for all.

Anyway, I had success in catching this very nice pike which came to the bank pretty easily and was landed for me by another fisherman:-

It measures 30.5 inches in length and weighed in at 8lb which was very nice. As you can see it has lovely markings on the anal fin and tail. Compare this to the similar sized fish I caught last winter. This one has much more pronounced markings and is more orangey colour. The previous one is more drab olive green in comparison.

All pictures and text copyright Duncan Hale-Sutton 2016.

Fishing the Ant at Ludham and Irstead

Since my last post on this blog in September I have been fishing quite a bit at two locations on the river Ant - Ludham Bridge and Irstead Shoals. There are a couple of things I have learnt whilst there; the first is that groundbait can be very useful in getting fish feeding and the second is how to float fish in the Ant when the tide is coming in or out.

I have used groundbait from time-to-time but not for a while because I am always trying to keep my fishing costs down. Having been fishing at places like Womack Water where bites seem to be hard to get I decided to buy a bag of groundbait the last time I was at the Bass Online shop in Horning. They are a nice helpful bunch of guys there and I picked up a bag of general use groundbait for £3.50. I have been quite pleased with the results and it has gone quite a long way.

I had previously been put off from float fishing the Ant at Ludham Bridge because the tidal flow of the river makes it hard work with the float being on the move all the time. However, after watching a guy fishing there a few weeks back I realised that you don't have to let your float trot along in the water in order to catch fish. You can let the float go so far and then hold it back against the flow. I always thought that this would put fish off because the bait doesn't look natural in the water but this is clearly not the case. Of course, the float will swing round until the line is parallel to the bank and so it means that you can only fish as far out as the length of your rod but there are plenty of fish within a few feet of the bank. It does save on a lot of recasting. You need to keep the rod tip low to the water, have the float tethered at its eye end and let out sufficient line.

The Ant at Ludham has a nice section of river on the east bank which has been assigned for fishermen under some broads scheme or other, the name of which escapes me now. I will make a note of it the next time I go. Basically, you walk north along the east bank past the moorings until the path divides into two. The main public footpath leads off to the right, but if you follow the riverside you come to a gate which you go through and there they have created a number of pegs by clearing away the reeds from the edge. You are free of the moored boats but not boat traffic but it is a nice spot. There is one peg further up where the river bends towards the bank making a relatively sheltered bay and this is quite good. The few times I was fishing this stretch I was catching lots of roach, rudd, skimmers and perch but nothing of any notable size. I think the trick to catching some of the bigger bream would be to ledger off the bottom, something I have got to try and get into.

The Ant at Irstead is always reliable but you have to fight a bit for space because boats like to moor up there. It is, apparently, a good spot to catch bream at night and people cast a ledger onto the bottom near a creek that leads off the opposite east bank. I like mixing with the boat people who are generally really friendly. During some of the poorer weather we have had recently I have even been offered cups of tea by these kind folk. Much appreciated!

I have yet to land a decent size bream there but I did have one on my line the other day which was probably 2lb or more but I lost it before I could net it. Here are some of the fish that I did catch there on the 11th October:-

The above bream is 12.5 inches and may weigh 1lb 8oz.

This 10.5 inch perch probably weighs about 14oz.

The above bream looks like some sort of hybrid and is 11 inches in length.

All text and pictures copyright Duncan Hale-Sutton 2016.

A clonking pair of perch at Irstead Shoals

In the last few weeks I have been fishing at a number of local places on the broads; Gayes staithe in Neatishead, Womack Water in Ludham and Barton Turf and Irstead staithes. It hasn't been easy going and at times rather frustrating. One of the places I like most is Irstead where the river Ant passes through some gravely bottomed shoals. Here the fishing does seem a bit more reliable and even though boats pass the staithe on a regular basis as they make their way to and from Barton Broad, there is enough slack water on the side of the river for peaceful fishing.

I was there yesterday morning from about 10am to 1pm. A lovely warm late summer morning with a bit of a breeze at my back. I was float fishing as usual and trying to use up the remainder of the maggots I had bought a week back which were rapidly turning into casters. Thinking that the maggots would work best I had been putting a pair of these on a size 16 hook and fishing in the shallower water of an inlet in the moorings. Initially things looked promising and I was catching a few roach, skimmers, gudgeon and one or two perch. However, after a while things began to go quiet and so I thought I would switch to a pair of casters instead to see if a change of bait would tempt a fish. I had been feeding in mainly casters into the water as they were what I had most of in my bait tin.

To my surprise I had a good bite and I pulled in a reasonable size roach. The bigger roach do go for this sort of bait. Again I was out with more casters and then I had something on the line which felt like a very good fish. To my utter surprise it was a very nice sized perch:-

This fish is about 10.5 inches and probably weighs about 14oz. I wouldn't have thought that perch would be interested in an inert bait like this. After a while, things went quiet again, and so I moved around so that I was fishing more in the main river. I began to have more bites and a few fish again and just before I had to go, this veritable clonker (in my opinion!) took my casters again:-

When I hooked this I thought I had got a small pike on the end of my line. This fish is approaching 11.5 inches and may weigh close to a pound.

Going back to discuss some of the other locations I have fished in recent weeks, I thought Gayes staithe in Neatishead was promising. The last time I was there I began fishing to the left of the promontory:-

Having been catching a selection of small roach, rudd and perch I decided to move over to the right side and this seemed more productive. The best fish I had that day was this small bream:-

This fish is about 10 inches in length and maybe weighs 9 or 10oz.

The other locations at Barton Turf and Womack Water were hard work. Long periods of not catching much and it is probably best to invest in some ground bait to attract in some fish.

All text and pictures copyright Duncan Hale-Sutton 2016.

A tench at Neatishead Staithe

It was a warm day yesterday and pushing 23 or 24C. I didn't have a lot of time to fish in the afternoon and so I went down to my local staithe for a couple of hours. There, at least, I could sit in the shade but, being the holiday season, the dyke was full of boats and there was a lot of coming and going, so not ideal.

I found a spot between two moored boats and where it was unlikely that the moving boats would interfere with what I was doing. I float fished with mixed coloured maggots and at a depth that was as near to the bottom as possible.

It was a bit slow, I have to admit. I did the usual thing of feeding a few maggots into the swim on a regular basis. After a bit I was getting a few bites but nothing was coming up. I was beginning to wonder whether I was going to go home having caught nothing at all! Eventually, I had a decent bite and was pleased to reel in a nice skimmer that needed a net.

A bit later I followed this first fish with a decent perch that gave a good tussle on the rod. Then I had my first surprise as, after what seemed like a normal nibbly bite, I struck into something very large that just took off and snapped my line. I suspect it was a pike. Embarrassingly, my expletive was noticed by a woman sunbathing on the boat opposite.

Finally, after more slow progress and at the end of the afternoon, when I was thinking one more fish and I will go home, I caught this very nice unexpected 10 inch tench:-

This is the first tench I have caught in the open waters of the Broads (as opposed to an inland fishery) and it makes me think that perhaps there are more out there that might be tempted by, say, a bait like luncheon meat. Food for thought.

All pictures and text copyright Duncan Hale-Sutton 2016.

Holly Farm doesn't disappoint

Last week I headed back to Holly Farm Lakes in South Walsham for another enjoyable afternoon's fishing. When I arrived I was glad to see that a favourite peg of mine at the very far end of the 'canal' lake was free.

The weather has been sunny and dry recently and, although not as hot as some of the days we have seen, it was a pleasant 20C. The only problem about fishing on the sunny side of the lake is that eventually the sun is right in your eyes and you can't avoid seeing its reflection in the water.

I was using my new Maver Abyss X Series rod with 5lb line, a waggler weighted with 2 BB shot and a size 12 hook. I had sweetcorn and luncheon meat with me and I was finding that the sweetcorn was doing very well. Later in the afternoon I switched to the luncheon meat and started to hook some heavier fish.

I was catching a series of carp from the word go. Early on I had this nice 15.5 inch mirror:-

Most of the carp I was catching were only up to one or two pound and nothing much of any size. They were a mixture of commons and mirrors. I also caught a few roach and a couple of very small tench. The nice thing about these waters is that the roach don't dominate the fishing. Most of what I was catching were carp (unlike at Dilham).

At the very end of the day I had a nice tussle with this 21inch 6lb fish:-

All pictures and text copyright Duncan Hale-Sutton 2016.