Fancied a change today, so visited the middle reaches of the Great Ouse, which surprisingly is not far from where I live, just in the opposite direction.
Todays session was really a exploration session.
I discovered the venue a while back, after taking a walk with my family across the nearby water meadows, when I came across three lovely weirpools. Never had chance to try them out, so had to give them a go.
I arrived just after first light, and started off in the main pool. It was hard to believe this was in a town centre, as all I was seeing was Kingfishers flitting up and down the bank, the odd dog walker and herons the whole day. Loved it!
The weirpool was teaming with fish and I even saw a good sized eel patrolling the margins, and then disappear into the depths.
The only thing you have to watch is the rocks and boulders around the edges. They go out quite a way, then drop suddenly, and not that easy to see at distance. I was cut off twice because of them.
Anyway nothing major, but once you have worked out where the drop off is, the fishing is brilliant.
I have heard that this area is well known for it’s quality roach fishing, so had to try it out. I used a feeder setup, with double maggot as bait, and ground bait mixed with hemp. After throwing a few balls out, and on my first cast, I was into a nice perch. This continued for a while, then the roach switched on.
All the roach were a good size and in immaculate condition. None had signs of missing scales or fin damage. The rumours I heard were true, and I cannot see any reason why this part of the Ouse, can not produce that rare 2ib roach. This continued for most of the morning, then went quite. After the bites slowed up, I then decided to move to one of the other weirpools and try for a chub.
Hidden Wilderness
After a few minutes walk, I found a overgrown path disappearing into a small wooded area, and arrived at the second pool. At first it was a bit bewildering, but after reading the water, and seeing where the dace and chub were topping. I cast out a line.
After throwing a few cubes of meat in, the rod hooped round and I was into my first fish. I had a great scrap with it, then it disappeared into the cabbages and snagged me on a log. As you can imagine, I was gutted.
I fished it for a few hours, but had nothing else, and returned back to the main pool to get back into the roach action, that kept me busy earlier.
There was another weirpool I wanted to try nearby, but this was full of weed, so not that easy to fish which was gutting. I have decided to return to these weirpools in the winter months when the weed dies down. I am convinced there are some lumps in these pools, and will not stop trying for them.
Other Species
Aswell as the weirpools, there is also a nice stretch of the main river to try. This has all the usual species like bream etc, and can be very good for pike fishing in the winter months, as they feed up on the roach shoals that live here.
I am planning to return to go after the pike at some point in the winter months, so watch this space!
If you want to fish this water, contact http://stanjayfishingandtrophies.co.uk/ for info
Overall it was a lovely days fishing, and I definitely will return.