A visit to the Suffolk Stour ..pike, perch n chub

[Baz T]

I have just returned from a family break visiting my sister in law, who lives at Bures in Suffolk. Anyway, the River Stour was not far away from where my sister in law lives, so I contacted a local tackle shop in Sudbury who said there were day tickets available for the stretch of river that ran alongside the town itself. He said the river was a bit weedy, but there were pike, chub, perch in the river, so that was enough to get me interested, so into the boot went a couple of spinning rods, lures, landing net and unhooking mat and tools - I just took the bare essentials for lure fishing.
I obtained a map of Sudbury from the tourist office, and the map also showed the river running down alongside the town, so this helped me find viable car parking and fishing spots, with the aid of the local tackle dealers help and directions.

FIRST DAYS FISHING
The first day saw me and my son trying a stretch of the river to the south of the town, right out in the countryside, as we had driven past this spot the day before and it looked..fishy! We found a handy roadside parking spot, near a footpath leading to the river. My son, Aaron, was looking forward to the fishing, as he had not yet caught a pike, despite a couple of trips to Exeter canal over the winter. We decided to fish floating lures/poppers, and as we walked along the bank, in the bright sunshine, I cast across to a 4 ft gap between some lily pads and a willow tree, and all of sudden a pike appeared from nowhere and lunged in an arc attacking my lure - but missed! Being a thoughtful dad/angler, I suggested that Aaron cast to that area again with his lure, and sure enough another powerful attack by the pike - but it missed yet again! As Aaron retrieved the lure I could see a shadow following it, and as the lure neared the bank, I could clearly see the pike static underneath the lure in about 2 ft of water. Aaron left the lure in the margins, making it jiggle and swim on the surface, and suddenly the pike shot up through 2 ft of water and hit the lure like a rocket. Aaron soon had it under control, and a pike of about 5 or 6lb was soon on the bank. It was quickly unhooked, photographed and allowed to gain its strength before being allowed to swim off. Aaron was chuffed with his first pike, and although not a monster, he was very happy with it. We walked through the lovely countryside, following the meander of the river, trying all the various spots that looked like they may hold some pike, but no further takes. The river deepened, so I decided to try a sinking lure - Savage 4 Play - and within minutes had a small pike about 4lb on the bank. Aaron then had another on surface lure, about similar size. I had a number of follows until I hooked another jack, and then to round off the day Aaron had one final pike of 5lb. It was a lovely sunny, warm day. We had burned off some calories walking along the bank, and had a nice barbeque to look forward to in the evening, avec numerous beers and bacardies (for me at least) and we were quite happy to pack up and walk back to the car.

Lovely stretches of river
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Aaron with his first pike

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NEXT FISHING TRIP....

We decided this time to fish the stretch of river at the northern part of Sudbury, and work our way down towards general area near the centre of the town. The current was minimal, and it was quite weedy, however there was a weir pool about 200yrds further to the south, so we headed there. The pool was clear of weed,and looked like it would hold a pike. Just as Aaron was retrieving his popper lure past the lily pads he got a take, and hooked and landed a hard fighting fish of about 5/6lb. I walked further down to where the pool narrowed into a small stream about 3 ft wide.I cast downstream along this narrow stretch, and had a take but missed. I cast again, but no take this time, however as I brought the lure into the margins a fish took the lure right in amongst the reeds at my feet, and it turned out to be a chub, not huge, but very welcome as it was the first chub I have caught.
We each caught a couple of jack pike each further down the stretch.

First fish of the day from the Pool
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The Pool
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My Chub .. a first..
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Tiddler
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LESSON TO BE LEARNED!

I also learned a valuable lesson that day. A couple of times we had caught lures on trees, bushes or reeds on the far bank of the river, and each time I had told Aaron to turn away whilst pulling on the lures when trying to free them, as they could suddenly come free and fly back towards you. Anyway, we were fishing a stretch of the river with the bank about 3 ft above the water level. I always use barbless lures, and crush the barb with pliers, however that day I had gone to the tackle shop and bought some new lures, forgetting to crush the barbs. Aaron had put on one of those lures, and it had got tangled in the branches directly beneath our feet. He tried to free the lure by pulling on his rod, with no success. I said to him that as it was directly under our feet, I would pull the on the line which would lift the branch/lure, and if he lay on his stomach he could reach over the bank and reach the branch to pull it up, and hopefully clear the lure. As I leaned over and pulled on the line, the lure suddenly came free (Aaron must have loosened it when pulling on it using his rod). Anyway the lure shot up and hit me smack in the face, lodging one of the barbed trebles in my chin. There I was with a lure dangling merrily from my chin, and I asked Aaron to try and pull it free, but typically the barb had come out through my skin, and I was..er..um....hooked.! It was too fiddly to try and crush the barb or cut the treble, so I just grabbed my skin as hard as I could, and pulled the treble out, as it wasnt in too deep. I will be far more careful next time.

Next Fishing Trip...
Not much to report - Blank. Zip. Nowt.
Very windy day, and we were trying some of the more inaccessible parts of the river. Got stung by nettles, brambles, and thistles. Got bangs on the head from low branches, wet feet from soggy river banks and slippery slopes. Weedy and snaggy river didnt help either. We returned to the car, wet, sore and aching - and no fish to show for it. Couple of beers in the evening did help to lessen the pain...aaaahhh.!

LAST FISHING TRIP
Midday sun with quite a bit of cloud beckoned us, with a light breeze across the river causing some small ripples - looked good piking conditions. We decided to try a stretch behind the Railway station. Once again, we used floating lures/poppers. I tried a red and white lure, Aaron fancied a darker one, with red/green colours. Shortly after starting, he had a couple of takes/follows on his lure, whereas I had none, and after he caught a small jack on his lure, I changed to the same. Throughout the afternoon we had pike lunging at our lures, some misses, some hook ups though nothing large, but it was great fun - seeing a pike lunging at your surface lure is an experience to be believed - amazing!
We wandered down to an area called the island, which is basically an area where a very small part of the river splits off to an area which is basically thick with reeds and more like a marsh, and virtually inaccessible. As we walked around the edge of the "island" to get back onto the main river we came across one small area right next to the river where we could actually reach the bank, and although most of the area was covered in surface algae, there were a few areas clear. I suggested to Aaron that we chuck a few surface lures in the small lagoon. First cast, ....as I was retrieving the lure, I saw some reeds/pads twitch, and then a V shape of a bow wave on the surface heading towards my lure. The water was fairly shallow, and the due to the algae on the surface it made the incoming pike fins/trail fairly visible and was quite exciting to watch. It turned out to be a small jack about 2/3lb, but it jumped several times, and was fun to catch. Aaron missed a couple at his swim, about 10 yards down from me. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a swirl on the surface, near the far bank so I cast out past the area, and started retrieving....nothing...but as my lure passed the edge of a bank of lily pads and green surface algae, the whole surface erupted with a vicious take, with the fish nearly jumping right out of the water, and then the line peeled off my reel. My heart jumped, I thought that I had hooked a really large pike, due to the ferocity of the take, but on landing it, it was a pike about 7/8lbs, but what a take, and fight it put up. Luckily the lure had come out in the net, and after a quick photo I returned the fish, though I had to cradle the fish for a few minutes when returning it to the water, as it had put up such a spirited fight and it did eventually give a strong kick of its tail and swim away strongly, darting in between the reeds.
The rain then started, and got heavier. Aaron then went on to catch a perch - a first for him - not a huge fish, but good enough for a first. Some more small jacks and then another fish of about 5lb or so to end the day. It was last cast of the day, last fish from the Stour, last day of the holiday - never mind, we had a great time. Nothing huge, walked miles, some fun with the jacks, and some beers in the eveining. Cant beat it.!

THE ALGAE BLOOM LAGOON !!
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And the pike that came from it....
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Aarons first perch..
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Last fish of the day
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SOME OTHER STOUR PICS..

DOUR STOUR - IN THE RAIN
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SOGGY SANDWICHES UNDER THE TREES...
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[NICK R]

What a cracking report with pictures to match ..
Well done

[Sir Blanks-alot]

Great report and cracking sessions mate. Sounds like the river is fairly loaded with pike.

[fishypaul]

wonderful report baz, that looks a lovely stretch of river

[Dubbed Squirrel]

Well worth waiting for Baz, cracking report and photos to match. How would you like one of those houses, that back onto the river? Is that a chub you`re holding(pic.8)? If it`s not got spots and called a brownie, I`m lost.
Once again, brilliant report and pics, well done to both of you bud.


Peter

[Fishing Forum Admin]

cracking cracking report thanks