The waters which......

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EC

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For me two stand out.

During the early nineties the River Dee was a proper struggle, despite it giving me my biggest ever chub, it was always hard, the water nearly always being very cold.

Number 2 is the Upper Severn. The distance from mine is about 65 miles one way, and I did catch some spanking fish there, but they were really hard to come by and 2 blanks out of 3 sessions were the norm, for me at least. The scenery, and having the banks to myself was fantastic, but that journey was a long old trek in winter.
 
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Beecy

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the Witham around tattersal/kirkstead when I regularly match fished, a real sod of a place to crack and realy sorted the wheat from the chaff (i was mostly in the latter camp)

you could practice on the friday and its a roach a chuck and you think you have it sussed, then on the saturday match it would sometimes just shut up shop and youd struggle for a bootlace or two.

or when it did fish you could work your wotsits off for 8-9 lb of bits only for some git to snare a couple of slabs in the last 10 minutes and do you.


for all the frustration and blanks ive suffered here though I still have an affection for the place and try and get down to tattershal at least a couple of times a year

in fact I'm long overdue a visit and might go next week, apparently its been fishing well and some very respectable weights have been recorded in the matches.
 
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Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA)

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A big lake, about 30 acres I guess at about 6500ft above sea level. First time I fished it, with Jim Gibbinson, it produced grown on wild rainbows to 3 1/2 lbs.

Went back the following year and all the fish were in the 6 1/2 to 7lbs bracket, including browns to 5lbs. I have rarely seen such magnificent fish, all bright silver with deep shoulders which took up to 150 yards of backing off your reel. The browns looked like seatrout.

Went back 6 months later and the place had been drained. The dam wall was destroyed and the fish all perished!

There is no doubt that that water could have produced grown on rainbows to double figures.
 
Neil Maidment

Neil Maidment

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Ah! The Witham! As a "southerner" my first sight of it came when practising for a National. As you say, Beecy, after several practice sessions I thought I'd sort of cracked it (or at least was confident of good section points). But on the day, a couple of eels and the odd roach!

But for me it's got to be the Leeds-Liverpool canal around Aintree. Again for a National where I'd caught a fair few tench and bream in practice and was very confident. Even drew well on the day only to spend most of the day watching tench after tench "parade" past me as they cruised the swim totally oblivious to my attempts.

Both those Nationals were well over 20 years ago and it still hurts! Hundreds of miles travelling, kipping in the car, God knows how much money! Those were the days!
 
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MarkTheSpark

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Rutland Water. When I was a fledgling fluff flinger, I went there 16 times, yes 16, boat fishing, at huge cost, before I caught my first Rutland trout. I could catch them everywhere else, just not Ruttie.

The day I broke my duck I got everything right and had a limit.
 
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Beecy

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Those were the days indeed Neil, when you'd expect to have a chance of a pick up with 10lb whatever the venue

you can stick all these 90lb for 6th place venues up your wotsit as far as im concerned



back to the witham, i once read an article titled " Wonderful, Wicked, Witham " I think that summed it up perfectly
 
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Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA)

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As old **** Walker used to say Mark, the hardest part about fly fishing is catching your first trout. And when you are good enough to catch one trout, you are good enough to catch thousands.
 
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Rodney Wrestt

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My local canal, the only predators in it were perch and the odd trout. The bream, carp and roach all benefited and even for up here they were above average fish for my local waters.

Two things have happened over the last 3-5 years:

1)Someone introduced some pike which have flourished on the abundance of food and now it's full of jacks, they will smash into the keepnet whilst you fish trying to get at the silvers etc.

2) There's been a huge carpet of duck weed covering the entire stretch, it's a couple of inches thick and you can't even fish the water now unless the wind shifts it enough, even then it's temporary.

It was always a difficult water but now it's almost impossible at times.
 
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Fred Bonney

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Adams Mill,too many times to remember,none of the big barbel.
But,the most full of anticipation, stretch of river I've ever fished.
PB chub though.
 
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BAZ (Angel of the North)

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None of the waters that I fish or have fished have ever broken my heart. I can't say the same about some of the morons that fish them though.
 
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Steve King

Guest
For me the Kennet! I fished it for a whole season (for barbel) and only had chub and pike! I also lost the most hardest fighting fish I have ever latched into - I suspect a river carp!

A few years later and with more time on my hands (divorce!) at last I began to understand the river and could guarantee a few barbel from a few swims in a short stretch of the river.

When I say "guarantee" it was often a case of advising friends to fish a bit downstream or "over there". I had the great pleasure of introducing a few anglers to barbel.

Suddenly things changed! Not once or twice, but thrice!! One - The trees were massacared by the E.A. About the same time my favourite willow tree got undercut by a flood an went in - my best swim just vanished overnight!!

Lastly the club stretch I fished received notice that the lease would not be renewed. It is now a syndicate stretch.

Gutted, heartbroken?! I should say so and don't even get me started on the Teme!!!!!
 
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Robert Woods (ACA)

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I too fished Leeds & Liverpool canal. Watched Tench swim by...spent all day reading Liverpool Echo on canal bottom as it was very clear...lol
 
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Phil Hackett The common Boastful Expert :-)

Guest
This might sound pretentious, but I never had my heart broken by any water.
As anybody who knows me well, will tell you, I never give in on a water until I cracked it. Some I?ve cracked better than others, but never have I failed to catch my intended species.

And I?ve fished some dogs over the 35+ I've been a specialist angler.

On one water I fished for bream in the later 1970s, I fished for 2 whole summers before I set a hook in a bream.
But when I did, it gave me a fish of over 10 lbs when the record stood at 12lb odd.

As the years have rolled by, cracking them seems to have got easier for some reason.

Nop don?t let the B******s grind you down!
 
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Frank "Chubber" Curtis

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I'm like Phil. Fished some real crap places in my life but never let them break my heart.
 
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Beecy

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crikey Phil, two years on a water to get a bite, I cant decide wether to call that total commitment and determination or just plain madness !



they say you big fish men are a diferent breed, amd that proves it
 
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