Commercials And The Canal Are The Only Option

The last couple of week or so has seen the sport on the rivers drop off with a couple of light frosts any faint hint of colour has well and truly gone. This was quite evident on Sunday 23rd when we went over to Ten Mile Bank on The Ouse, the river was like tap water and 2 of us didn't have a singe bite and that was from two different locations. The previous weekend had seen the Skimmers go on a feeding frenzy but this time the same pegs were all but dead.
We could really do with a few days of heavy rain to put some colour and flow into the rivers but I guess that we have more chance of winning the national lottery but until then I will have to find other ways to keep myself fishing.

Skimmers Go On The Feed

I must admit to getting it wrong this week because with the weather cooling down considerably and the skimmer sport dropping away over the last few weeks we had planned to have a go at the Great Ouse Roach. As usual we stopped at various points along the Kings Lynn AA stretch of the Great Ouse to see if there were any signs of fish moving about. We had seen quite a few  Roach topping at three locations between Denver and Danby Drove but could make our minds up which area to try and so we drove the whole length again to decide. There were plenty of locals between the chapel and Modney bridge that made us think that they probably knew something that we didn't but it was getting busy along there so we thought we would give it a miss. We carried on and as we got near to the piggeries we bumped into Les the bailiff and had a chat with him to see how the river had been fishing in the week and it was a chance comment from him that made up our minds where to fish. With that we bid him farewell and set off to the area we had seen Roach topping when we were looking there earlier.




Map of Kings Lynn AA stretch of the Great Ouse



Ten Mile Bank, the Piggeries

This weekend was pretty much the same as the last with a trip to the Great Ouse but we had decided to fish a section that we had never fished before. A recent mach on the Ouse had seen most of the better weights come from this section which is at the bottom end towards Denver Sluice. It rained for most of the journey there but had just about stopped by the time we arrived at the river, as usual we had a quick drive along to see if there were any signs of fish.
We spotted fish topping at the Piggeries and at Danby Drove but very little in between and so elected to fish the piggeries section for a change.
Today I was accompanied by my friend Graham and my son Callum who is an occasional angler and so my first task was to get him sorted out and fishing. We all decided to fish the feeder with Graham fishing 3/4 across and me and Callum fishing down the middle.


With the venue being so deep the boats do not trouble you at all.

Great Ouse Sunday 2nd October

After my disappointment of blanking on the Ouse last Sunday I thought it would be a good idea to get back down there and make amends this week. I didn't bother writing about it last week as I couldn't really summon the enthusiasm to tell about not getting a bite all day.
Anyway we arrived at the river just after 08.00 and after looking at a couple of area's decided to head for the area around Danby Drove, we stood on the bank for a few minutes and watched countless Roach topping which was enough to make up our minds.
It was decided that a couple of hour on the feeder might be a good way to start as this would give us time to feed up a pole line for later in the day.




The Great Ouse, wide and very deep



Great Ouse on Sunday, Grand Union Canal on Monday

I had two really contrasting sessions this weekend with the river Ouse being a big deep sluggish river and the Grand Union Canal being quite narrow and shallow.
Great Ouse:
Sunday saw me back on the Ouse on the same peg as I had feeder fished the week before but as I had caught Roach on the drop on the feeder I fancied a go on the float this week.
On arriving at the peg I was pleased to see plenty of Roach topping so I fancied my chances with them coming up in the water and hurriedly set up a 15ft float rod and a bodied waggler at about 13ft as a starting point. I know the river in this area is a good 18ft deep but thought that I would be ok without fishing at full depth, I had chosen to fish 1/3 of the way across as this was the area most of the fish were topping in.

The Great Ouse towards Danby Drove

Mixed fortunes on Ten Mile Bank

Well having spent the last few weeks fishing the river Welland I fancied getting back on the Great Ouse at Ten Mile Bank and fishing for Roach on the pole. We arrived at the river and decided to fish the stretch by the chapel as it was a lot more sheltered than most other sections of the river as there was a strong wind blowing. I put on a 3gr rig on my top 5 and had  plumb around the swim, I settled on a line at 11.5m as if I had gone out any further I would have been off the top kit because it was 16 ft deep and still sloping away. I had a plan to start of with a couple of balls of groundbait and then to loose feed casters and hemp over the top and get the Roach up in the water and then switch to a lighter rig.

River Thurne - Norfolk

I have just returned from a few days break near Great Yarmouth and I managed to get a couple of short session in on the River Thurne. I had spoken to an angling friend who has fished this river many times and got as much information as I could about the venue and soon found out it was about 8 - 9 feet deep and tidal. I also discovered that there are many miles of bank that are quite inaccessible without very long walks and so the info on access points was invaluable as I wouldn't have time for any long hikes as time was limited.

I planned to fish at a place called Cold Harbour which is a couple of miles below Potter Heigham as there is good parking at the bottom of a track right by the river with pegs both up and down stream of this point. My first session was early on Wednesday morning and after a half hour drive I arrived at the river at 6.30am and was set up and ready to fish by 07.00am.



Sunrise over the River Thurne