Beccles Quay is best bet

WAVENEY VALLEY: With the River Waveney still running high, fast and coloured from its source above Diss down through to the tidal Ellingham conditions for enjoyable fishing have been a job to find recently.

Those in the know for quieter backwaters and off-stream havens managed to find a few obliging roach and dace but 4lb was a better result than most places.

By Sunday things were becoming more settled and fishable with at least some roach to make double figure bags coming on to the bait. Beccles Quay continued to provide the best options where obliging skimmers took up the role of day savers.

The main stream at Beccles became fishable at some points in the tide change as the water slowed, but on the feeder it was a few one pound bream or a couple of 10oz roach that generally rewarded a three or four-hour session.

Commercial fisheries experienced a welcome boost in attendances after the bad spell they have had over the last six weeks, with inclement weather and ice often all over the surface up to four inches thick at some venues.

With no mortalities reported locally and fish ready to feed, catches were good at Broome Pits. The carp that fed gave a weak fiddly bite and when hooked chugged off at a mighty slow pace before eventually realising a fight was on their hands. Small baits appear to have been the best option for consistency with only very few loose offerings cupped in or tightly spread with a small catapult.

Certainly at Marsh Trail this was effective for some nice roach to pound taken within a couple of decent bags near to the gate on pegs one to three on A Lake. C Lake's carp have eventually settled down to feeding best later in the day and well out towards the centre and it has been the best local venue to make 25lb with a cautious chopped worm approach successful.

With its generous summer weed growth supporting masses of small insect life this natural larder for grazing fish has kept them plump and firm throughout the winter and clearly developing spawn in their fat bellies.

Be fortunate enough to land one of the 8lb commons taken this week and its golden scales with the bronzed back and broad orange tails are a recipe for delight.

Fish of this quality have shown at Topcroft too on the feeder although best results have come from the end farthest from the car park where cold water runs in off the land.

Wissett down in Halesworth is part of the Quiet Sports abundance of fisheries and has three rather exposed open lakes but the results there have been quite good with carp between a pound and two on the feed.