Waveney Valley: Rain puts anglers on back foot

Before the weekend there was good action in the town reach at Beccles with the Lido and Scores popular, and producing a number of 40lb quality roach and skimmer/hybrids bags on single red maggot.

As always a bit of pressure and time spent in the keepnet soon moves the shoal on, and out towards the middle of the river well beyond the longest of poles.

The upstream river was just starting to adopt some clarity when the weekend rains and rapid thaw put vicious pace and water on the marshes to the highest and widest level for several years.

Prior to that, several anglers found good chub averaging 4lb on the Common and further up river around the Harleston Club's Shotford Bridge marshes some even better specimens were taken. There are miles of the river in this peaceful part of the valley, little fished every season, and with amazing potential.

Mainly anglers won't walk, and secondly a lot of the river is in an absolute rubbish state with reed at the edges making it impossible to get within 8-10' of the edge without sinking in over your knees.

At Homersfield, canoeists recently logged a complaint, with the River Waveney Trust Association to pursue, that it was almost impassable and dangerous for a canoe.

Cherry Tree's Dunburgh had fish remaining there all through the winter this year, the first time for several seasons. This reflects the tidal waters have been superb and back to much of their former glory right down to Oulton Broad.

It's the last day on the rivers tomorrow and then it is all action on the commercials. With around 20 set in the Waveney area, and something like 60 in the area from King's Lynn to Bury St Edmunds, there is plenty of scope.

As yet we have not seen day tickets rise to the rates charged in some parts of the country. Of course the news that goes with these is not always widely published – some have very few attendances with nobody present on bad weather days.

Then a few have gone broke simply because there is only one customer base to share round. Every new fishery that starts up attempts to eat from the same plate of anglers, and like all gluttony, there is going to be the situation of not enough to go round.

Nobody has been able to create a new supply of anglers year on year. Some come into the sport, but every year a lot drop out or off the scene.

We are fortunate to have Environment Agency licence sales to give us a factual return other sports and pastimes do not have. That too will need renewing before long as it runs out on the last day of March. Meanwhile, buy some bread, fix your braces to a broomstick and get out there, ready to catch the carp.