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Fishing Tips Facilities for disabled anglers Accommodation suitable for disabled anglers Detailed history of the River Waveney Back to Angling Page click here
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Dave Gladwell writes...Big Fish from small streamy waters!
These specimens with their territorial homes are not just creatures of habit, but know how and when their larders will be replenished. Big fish tend to hang together in small groups or become loners. On the Waveney there is no better example of this than the upstream areas. Some of the hefty chub hanging around compressed water leaving bends, and also just below nifty boils sweeping across sandy beds. Swims such as theses are full of mussels and a variety of aquatic insects. It is at these stations where big baits and short trips can really score. Travelling light with that bulky smelly old keepnet left behind, and the box looking like a space station still in the shed, we can feel like an angler born again. A small knapsack with pockets, the dull-coloured smock or waistcoat full of minimal essentials, we can roam and draw in much more of what is around us, kingfisher, dragonfly and dimpling dace! So where are these paradise places? Well, Harleston Club have them at Shotford and Needham; Diss Club around Hoxne, then there is Angles walk two fields below Frosts game farm at Brockdish. The Bungay Cherry Tree's stretch above and below the former Earsham Buck on the old road to Harleston is a great example. Here, at the end of the downstream field, a small natural island sees impetus in flow swirling away into a narrow channel of decent depth, then meandering over sandy edges stuffed full of fry. For members it is one really beano mouth-watering swim to tempt a trot! Upstream of the House the three bends invite a cast, but it is the water that is compressed in and out of these is where the chub lie in wait. With a bit of fresh rain in the flow and edge of colour, it's fish like this one pictured, from off the centre bend which take lobworm on a 5lb maxima line under a bulky float Around 4lb this September evening fish fought like a Trojan. A smaller one about 2 lbs and a couple of handy dace made an appearance, then it was time in my mind to move down stream from a now worn-out swim. On to the next spot. With the fishable water now only ten or twelve feet wide from overhanging bushes, it is the slackening exit which becomes the hot spot. Worm and bread flake alternate, because the maggots and casters back home in the fridge. A good roach is always on the cards, or a half-pound dace, but it is something more unusual for this far "Upstream" that takes the bread. Bream are a rarity here with just a few big ones about, bred on having found their way down from an original shoal of massive fish that used to live above Homersfield and near to Weybread Mill. They will take bread if held a few inches on the bottom, but they avoid a swimfeeder like the plague. Beautiful bronzed creatures with an edge of purple to their fins that fill the landing net when they get around 6 lbs.
Notice how this chap below from the River Severn at Worcester though, looks almost like a different species with the broad tail to fight the current and its silver hues from cloudier water.
Our upper Earsham stretch, and the higher length around Waveney Farm House towards Homersfield, (off the Old road too), has one of the most varied faces of all the River and holds enormous potential. It is vastly underrated and the least fished Club water. Its bends and sultry quiet runs by Alder trees plumb at 8-10 feet in places where the deep bowl may only be two or three yards long. Stripey highly coloured perch nearing 2 lbs find plenty to eat, dining out on the abundant crayfish and caddis. These selective spots are also home to several carp which look to be in excess of 20 lbs when they decide to roam over the gravel shallows creating a bow wave, or falter in the streamer weed where it is 4 or 5 feet deep. A 30 lb plus fish many say is not out of the question either with a choice of rich natural foods. They don't know what a pot-bellly and a boilie is, for these fit fish have a 100% natural diet. Not many pike either but those about are a good size too.
Dave Gladwell © Can you let us know by email if there are any questions you would like to ask Dave regarding fishing technique, equipment or any fishing tips. www.bungay-suffolk.co.uk
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We make the first angling decision before we leave the house as a selection of venue. Wind and rain may make us opt for a sheltered spot, or fierce summer's sun a bit of shade. Predominantly the length of time we intend to fish for is of paramount importance. Not all the best fish come from sitting it out all day on the bank or bivvied up for carp.
Short spells on narrow rivers often produce the fish that live there and few others move in. 
