Essex fishing??

[Jub Hurren]

Hiya just wondering if any1 knows soem great rivers to fish in essex and whereabouts they are? thanks Jub

 

[Alan Cooper]

Bit late to reply Jub but only just seen the query. There are only three rivers of note in Essex. The Stort runs on the Herts / Essex border - LAA has some stretches, but also try Harlow and Bishops Sortford clubs; the Roding runs from Dunmow south. There is fishing from above Ongar to Loughton. Some very good chub. Also reputed is a few barbel around Stanford rivers (Billericay AS has a few miles of this river). The river suffers terribly from extraction in summer (little more than a flowing ditch in places) and has had more than its fair share of pollutions. By far and away the biggest river is the Suffolk Stour which runs the border of Essex / Suffolk. Again, this river has some barbel and has been recently stocked with a few thousand more. Some good chub. In years past it was a noted roach river. Main clubs for the Stour are the LAA again, Colchester Fish Preservation Society (CAPS) and Sudbury AS. I don't think any of these rivers are day ticket.

 

[Fred Bonney]

Alan,I take it from your response, that the Chelmer is not what is was, when I was in my formative years ,40 years ago?

 

[Jub Hurren]

Thats brilliant really helpful thanks. The river roding is the nearest to me and ive been looking around but cant find a good spot to fish. is there any way i can go about finding a good swim? Thanks again Jub

 

[christian tyroll]

i dont no anything about the river rodling,

but im geussing its very low and clear in which case i would look for a deeper faster flowing section as it will be more oxygenated!

 

[Bob Hornegold]

You do have the Lea at Waltham Abbey, if its not in Essex, then its on the boarder.
That holds a few Good Fish ?

 

[Alan Cooper]

Old age Fred - that's what it is! Completely forgot the Chelmer and the Blackwater too come to that! And Bob's right - the Lea isn't far - the Stort runs into it after all. As to the Chelmer, most of this river (although not all) is in the hands of Chelmsford AS. There are rumours of good barbel in places but it is mainly a bream ad roach river with some good carp to boot. The Blackwater has some good stretches for dace and roach with wild brown trout in the upper reaches (above Braintree) where it is called the Pant. Billericay AS, Kelvedon and District and Maldon AS all have significant stretches of the Blackwater. I understand there are barbel to about 6lb+ in the Maldon stretch which has some faster flowing water below Wickham Bishops.

The Lea of course is a bigger river altogether than anything I have mentioned so far with a significant barbel population from above Hertford all the way down to Fishers Green. And some massive chub and carp knocking about - previous chub record came from Dobbs Weir on the Lea. Some good day ticket stretches here - Hertford town, Dobbs Weir, Carthagena Weir and Kings Weir.

 

[Alan Cooper]

To answer your second question Jub - I don't know where you're looking! The lower end of the river - Loughton through to Ilford is free if you can get to the bankside without upsetting anyone. Some decent chub too. Personally, if I were to fish the Roding again I would join Billericay AS as they have near 4 miles of this river from Stanford Rivers all the way down to Passingford Bridge and another stretch near Abridge on the river below Passingford. Much of the upper end of this part of the Roding runs over a gravel bed and that is where the barbel are reputed to be (up to about 5lb).

 

[Jub Hurren]

Thanks alan uve been a great help. I live in Woodford Green if that helps. Today i went to fish the Roding by the roding lakes. I found some great swims that just need a month or so to fill and get a bit of speed up. i didnt catch myself but saw another bloke pull out a few little chub. What i really want to catch though is barbel, ive caught a few in lakes and they put up a great fight. I'd love to have 1 on the end of my line in a fast flowing river. ill look into billaricay as, as abridge is only a 15 minuite drive. What was great about my exploration today is i found the roding lakes which i didnt realise were so good or so close. Apparently it is a very tough venue, one of the guys i spoke to hadnt caught in 9 days and he had been there 8 weeks. Anyway its been a brilliant day so i thought id report back with my findings. Thanks again Jub

 

[Alan Cooper]

Ok Jub - better not mention the subject of still water barbel - Aargh!!! But the very best of luck to you in catching a "real" one from a river. Yes, they do fight hard! Especially in a little river like the Roding! I have heard of a barbel about 1.5lb coming out from the Ilford / Woodford area. Even a river-honed one that size will snap you as nothing if you use too light a line in a confined swim as would be inevitable on the Roding. And Roding Lakes are good. Tight lines!

And if you really get into barbel fishing in the future join the Barbel Society and get yourself out to Worcestershire and the river Teme one day. And there you will (hopefully) catch something called a "Teme Tiger" i.e. barbel that fight like blazes! Come along to the next Barbel Society Essex meeting if you can (not set up yet). I'll advertise it on here when it is to be.

 

[Fred Bonney]

Me too Alan,I forgot the Blackwater.
Also used to fish on the Stour,all my old stomping grounds,happy memories of all of them and the Lea too.
My first night fishing session was just above Passingford Bridge, in the old mill pool.
Frightened the life out of myself cycling home to Harold Hill in the early hours, no lights on the bike and the shadows moving in!
Jub,I don't know if it's still there but, the Roding at Buckhurst Hill Cricket ground used to give me some fun.

 

[john Thomson 3]

best place for barbel in essex is fisers green at warthem abbey,i joined there the other year and had one of 5lb on first trip. fish the carpark disables swim.. its not unheard of for people to have out a few doules in one session.

 

[thomas wicker]

Waht is the best rig to catch a arbel in the roding on the fast deeper stetches ?

 

[Fred Bonney]

thomas,are there barbel in the roding?

 

[Cliff Hatton 2]

Jub: If you can find them, the Chelmer holds good fish. I've had chub to 5.4, roach to 2.7, pike to 20 and carp into double figures in relatively recent years.

About 14-15 years ago (quite a while I'll admit, but not THAT long ago) I looked down from a bridge on the Blackwater to see 5 or 6 roach - unquestionably roach - all of which would have nudged or broken the British record. I could see them perfectly clearly right under my nose in 12-14 inches of clear water over gravel. I was alone but I remember swearing out loud...you can imagine! I had no tackle with me at the time but I returned on many occasions - without success.

 

[Cliff Hatton 2]

PS: The Blackwater at Langford is strictly Ilford & District water though the b*****d cormorants don't seem to care.