The Weir pool at Broxbourne today

[Fitz]

After much planning and preparation I fished the weir pool and surrounding areas today. This is the very 1st time Ive fished a river with spinners and surprisingly... I did OK. One perch about a pound around 2 o'clock and a further evil looking monster perch of about a pound and a half at around 4.30.

I arrived about 10.30 after taking the kids to school... bought my ticket... tackled up as fast as I could. Using 8 pound line a wire trace (just in case) a medium weight red Mepps spinner on the end and went to fish the upper Weir first ... on the advice from Dave the lock keeper.

Very 1st chuck I hit bottom... lost the wire trace and spinner. 2nd chuck I thought Id be clever and fish the margins and ended up in a tree. Two casts and lost both trace and spinner.
OK, maybe there's a bit more to river spinning than just chuck it and see.

Tackled up again and started fishing properly. I thought the best tactics would be ... just circle the venue and hopefully find where the fish are. So I spent the morning fishing the upper weir... the weir pool and both sides of the river. Although the morning was unproductive fish wise... I was gaining in confidence with judging the depths and casting correctly.

After stopping for a bite to eat. I thought Id spend the rest of the afternoon specifically on the weir pool. As there were others fishing already...I thought Id stay out of their way and have a good go just by the booms. Although it was still quite shallow and I lost some tackle again... I quickly got a follow from a jack pike around 6 pounds. I quickly moved my tackle out of the way and chucked it out again. Bang .... hooked a wonderfully conditioned Perch of a pound. Thankfully it was lightly hooked and I released it immediately without touching it.

So that's how I spent the afternoon fishing the two swims just before and after the boom.... rotaing between both.

I pulled out another evil looking perch later on and fished until it was dark.

From what I saw however... there wasn't much caught... other than the odd silver fish being caught on what looked like maggot feeding techniques. Although I did hear that someone caught a big bream before I arrived. Also, from what I saw it was fishing quite hard.... which shouldn't matter that much... considering the season is over in a few days.

Anyway chaps... another fabulous day fishing. I think us fisherman are the luckiest people in the world. Roll on the 15th JUNE.

Tight line and very best regards,

Fitz

[Norfolkboy]

Nice one Fitz

[fishypaul]

very well done fitz,are you going to any local stillwaters now the rivers are finished ?

[Fitz]

Yes mate ... Im hoping to. Not too sure where though? Any advice would be very greatly appreciated. I drive... so driving a distance is no problem.

Whilst fly fishing ... a round trip of about 150 miles or alot more was always considered completely acceptable.

Regards

[dougwoolcott]

Hatfield Forest lake - big pike about 20 -25 mins from you

[Fishing Forum Admin]

well done

[Fitz]

Originally Posted by dougwoolcott

Hatfield Forest lake - big pike about 20 -25 mins from you

Do they have a website? Ive googled it but just brings up National Trust website.

Thanks in advance