Dinton pastures lodden

HI TANGLERS
HAS anyone got any news on the river at dinton pastures on the river lodden
is it day ticket an is it easy to get to river bank cheers

Was in Anglers mail last week I think, £6 dt

The last time I looked, about 8 years ago, it was very overgrown and neglected with only a few swims fishable - there's also a heck of a lot of walking involved. IMO you'd be better of joining THIS club for £37.50 if only for the Loddon - you can park in the Wagon and Horses pub across the road and wet a line for some quality fish.....

PS This stretch is across the road from what used to be the RMC (CEMEX) stretch - it is now run by the Dinton lot (Wokingham Council) on a syndicate called Twyford Reserve to which there is a waiting list which includes the lake for silly money.............

Hi mate. You can buy your ticket from the machine in the car park which also does day tickets. However, last time I went (about three years ago) you cannot start before 7am (the machine will not allow you to buy before this time) and you need to be out before the car park closes which from memory is at dusk, but there will be notification. When you get to the bridge over the Loddon, the swims to the left of the bridge are the better ones and tend to be taken up quite quickly. Had some good sessions there with my son and there are certainly plenty of fish there. Now that the hotter weather seems to have gone, there is less chance of you having to put up with idiots jumping off the bridge, but keep your bait close to you as there are often a lot of dog walkers. The park is very popular when the weather is good. Good luck and let us know how you get on.

You are certainly getting about the country fishing.

I think he's writing a ' Where to Fish ' book...........

Pretty dreadful journey to Dinton from your neck of the woods; A1(M) - M25 - M40 - Marlow by pass - A4 and then fiddling around through the lanes, so good luck with that if you do it on a regular basis !!

Anyway, I know the water and area fairly well, although NOT recently, and whilst it has yielded some stunning fish in the past it is not an easy water ( IMHO ) and very prone to massive variations in level ( after continual rain ) as is much of the Loddon....

Without doubt what Gerry suggests is the way to go as Dinton Country Park, being a ' family' type of place can be diabolical at week ends and what Lambert1 says is totally true. That said, if you can spend time walking the stretch BEFORE you go to fish and sort out WHERE you want to fish, you could do well. However, don't ever be surprised if nice gravelly runs seen one day are under 3' of water a couple of days later !!
The Loddon is a wonderful river, but IMHO I believe it's a place you need to live near to to be able to judge the river - levels, colour, weed levels and the like - the day before you fish AND also get used to it's foibles......It's a river that certainly has a mind of it's own if the weather is uncertain !!

However, don't be put off, go look for yourself and if you choose the Dinton stretch the whole Park is/was well managed. Not only that it has a decent café for bacon sarnies etc., although during the week lots of nice mummies gather to 'do lunch ' on the cheap. I use the place if I am walking some of the local waters on a recce and it's a good place for a rest and a cup of tea.

As Gerry rightly says, lots of walking involved so if you don't catch you will certainly be a mite fitter !

My advice? Do the journey first !!!


ps If you walk from the café to White Swan lake ( which sits alongside the Loddon ), via the Black Swan lake you will walk past a seemingly insignificant stream. Narrow, yes, probably unfishable, yes, but I have in the distant past seen fish holding station that would make your eyes water.....

pps Back in 2007 ( ? ) I think it was, after considerable local flooding many of the gravel pits in the area that sit alongside the river burst banks and release many very big carp into the river, and many local clubs lost massive amounts of good fish so always a chance of these via a 3' wrap round !!

Good luck with the fishing ( and book ), though !!!