A national angling magazine has awarded Broads rivers the venue of the year accolade.

Contrary to some of the readers, who voted the River Wye their favourite venue, the Angling Times has come out in favour of the prolific natural waterways of the Broads water park.

Echoing the local angling verdict that Broads rivers are the most abundant wild coarse fisheries in the country, the paper described the esteemed international nature reserve as 'back to its best.'

It's good to see a national angling magazine appearing to be sympathetic towards Broads anglers.

Angling Times reporter Richard Grange, who earns the compliments of the season for marking up the Broads rivers as the best in the country, has listened to Norwich and District Anglers chairman Tony Gibbons and local match stars Robert Hubbard and Nick Larkin.

Larkin, who is also a fishing tackle dealer, told the reporter that fish stocks in our Broads and rivers were sufficient to support match and pleasure angling as well as predators such as the cormorant, the otter, the heron, the bittern as well as great crested grebes and kingfishers.

'Our rivers have been getting better and better year on year, not just in terms of the fish to catch but in nature generally,' he said.

Hubbard added: 'Our River Yare used to be seriously polluted by industrial effluent but since this was stopped fish populations are excellent.'