River Colne, Staines A30 bypass

[chris.oldgit]

Originally Posted by BoldBear

Sorry to hear that the river didn't match up to what you had hoped.
I have never fished the river but the writeup you showed does mention some much deeper areas where the Barbel show, are you sure you walked the whole length?

Not all small rivers are as bad as that. The ones that I regularly fish in Hertfordshire are the complete opposite.

If you look at the river in the back of my avatar you can see how small the river is, and in it there are some huge Roach, Dace, Perch and double figure Barbel and Carp as well. some parts are wide and so shallow that you can cross it wearing only boots but other sections are between 2ft to 3.5ft with the occasional 4 and 5ft-plus deep gulleys; and as you can guess it is controlled by a club.

Chris is right, Clubs own nearly all of the better stretches of these small rivers and streams, but if you know what features to look out for you can find the occasional good areas where it may be free fishing but if you find one then keep it close to your heart and don't tell everyone else exactly where it is.

there are some good free stretches on the colne, my local river, have had barbel to 8lb, chub to 5lb, roach to 1lb, carp iv'e hooked but not landed.

The wife and myself had a days pleasure fishing and we had over 100lb of chub between us, not bad for a small river, as you say you tend to keep it close to your chest, about where exactly.

[BoldBear]

Hi Chris,
Yes a lot of anglers look at a small river/stream and think that it could only hold small fish, but how wrong they can be.

Our club has a couple of short stretches of the Colne south of Watford plus a couple of excellent stretches of the Upper Lea where it's little more than a stream plus a couple of stretches of the Ivel and the fishing as you say is absolutely superb.
They even fish better than some of our larger rivers like the upper Gt. Ouse where although the Barbel run bigger; Blanks are often common.

Free stretches:
Upstream of one of our upper lea venues the river runs through a park and although the depth is very wide and very shallow it starts to narrow and deepen at the downstream end just before it leaves the park and the last four or five swims produce some very nice Chub and smaller Barbel (up to 5 or 6lb) and in the park the fishing is completely free.

Our private club stretch begins just below the park for a mile downstream and members have had Barbel up to 13lb+ Chub to 5 or 6lb, Roach to 2lb 10oz, Dace to over a pound and a friend of mine has recently had a 4lb 3oz Perch while after Chub and all from a stretch that you could almost jump across in some places.

Stangely the river then changes its character again and for a mile or two the river bed gets a little bit silty and the Barbel start to dissapear. however further down river the bed gets cleaner with a gravel bottom once more and the Barbel start to appear again. This sort of thing is repeated all the way downstream to Hertford with good and not so good areas.The famous Red Spinners also have a good section along this stretch but you hear little of their catches because they keep very quiet about what they catch.

I haven't fished the Colne but I suspect it to be similar in character.

It still amazes me how different stretches of the same river can be so very different within a mile or two of each other.

[chris.oldgit]

I fish from the A40 at denham right through to where it joins the thames, a few private sections along the way but a lot of water to have a go at, as you rightly say the river changes drastically within short distances, it's only experience which tells where you should try it, water craft takes a long time to aquire, when you begin fishing, you have to gain the basics or you fail miserably.

Like a learning to drive you need an instructor, likewise in fishing you need a good mentor, some though think you buy a fishing kit, and you can go fishing and catch, as you and i know that does not happen that easily. to catch quality fish consistently you need the knowledge of how/when/why, master the basics, then go forth and develop your skills.

As they say, you can only advise, they then have to learn, the easy or hard way, their choice.

Most become disheartened and stop. because they find it to difficult.

shame really because its a great sport for self disciplne.

[saladdodger]

Originally Posted by BoldBear

Free stretches:
Upstream of one of our upper lea venues the river runs through a park and although the depth is very wide and very shallow it starts to narrow and deepen at the downstream end just before it leaves the park and the last four or five swims produce some very nice Chub and smaller Barbel (up to 5 or 6lb) and in the park the fishing is completely free.

Any chance of pin pointing this section on google maps, im not sure where you mean buddy. Thanks

Originally Posted by chris.oldgit

Like a learning to drive you need an instructor, likewise in fishing you need a good mentor, some though think you buy a fishing kit, and you can go fishing and catch, as you and i know that does not happen that easily. to catch quality fish consistently you need the knowledge of how/when/why, master the basics, then go forth and develop your skills.

so true, i agree. Ive lernt so much on my own + from reading and watching programmes/youtube about fishing.

---------------

cheers guys

[BoldBear]

Originally Posted by saladdodger

Any chance of pin pointing this section on google maps, im not sure where you mean buddy. Thanks
cheers guys

I will email you the info as I don't want everyone to home in on it, as there are only around 4 or 5 deeper swims and it could get ruined if too many people started to fish it; especially as it is free fishing.
So please keep the info to yourself.

If you tread very softly you can peer through some of the tree roots from above and see the Chub and Barbel shoaled up right under the roots, once the light starts to fade the Barbel come out to play although the Chub and Roach feed all through the day. You can also see the very occasional small Carp moving along the far bank sometimes, but it is very important to keep low and out of sight of the fish.

The rest of the Park has very shallow water of between 6 inches to a foot in depth so is too shallow but the last 5 or so swims are up to 4ft-plus deep and are the ones to fish.

When I used to fish there I used to leger using 3lb line and red maggots for the Chub and Roach during the day and then change over to slightly heavier line and use either pellets coated in a fishmeal paste or spicey luncheonmeat for the Barbel once the light started to fade.

But I now fish a section downstream which is fenced off and private where the fishing transforms and has some of the best river fishing around for miles and where a blank is almost unknown, so it is definately worth joining a decent club if you can.

Surely with you living in Berkshire the river Kennet and river Lodden would be far better for you; or perhaps searching the Colne for other areas with more features and deeper pools.
If I lived in Berkshire I would seriously think about joining Reading & District Angling Association (RDAA) as they have some superb stretches of river.

The Kennet and Lodden was where I began fishing for Barbel many years ago and it was briliant, although even there you needed to hone your watercraft if you wanted to be consistant and fish in the right places at the right times.

best of luck and tight lines

Keith (BoldBear)

[saladdodger]

Originally Posted by BoldBear

I will email you the info as I don't want everyone to home in on it, as there are only around 4 or 5 deeper swims and it could get ruined if too many people started to fish it; especially as it is free fishing.
So please keep the info to yourself.

If you tread very softly you can peer through some of the tree roots from above and see the Chub and Barbel shoaled up right under the roots, once the light starts to fade the Barbel come out to play although the Chub and Roach feed all through the day. You can also see the very occasional small Carp moving along the far bank sometimes, but it is very important to keep low and out of sight of the fish.

The rest of the Park has very shallow water of between 6 inches to a foot in depth so is too shallow but the last 5 or so swims are up to 4ft-plus deep and are the ones to fish.

When I used to fish there I used to leger using 3lb line and red maggots for the Chub and Roach during the day and then change over to slightly heavier line and use either pellets coated in a fishmeal paste or spicey luncheonmeat for the Barbel once the light started to fade.

But I now fish a section downstream which is fenced off and private where the fishing transforms and has some of the best river fishing around for miles and where a blank is almost unknown, so it is definately worth joining a decent club if you can.

Surely with you living in Berkshire the river Kennet and river Lodden would be far better for you; or perhaps searching the Colne for other areas with more features and deeper pools.
If I lived in Berkshire I would seriously think about joining Reading & District Angling Association (RDAA) as they have some superb stretches of river.

The Kennet and Lodden was where I began fishing for Barbel many years ago and it was briliant, although even there you needed to hone your watercraft if you wanted to be consistant and fish in the right places at the right times.

best of luck and tight lines

Keith (BoldBear)

Thank you very much buddy, i'll keep quiet about the spot.

Ive only just started fishing, read more than ive actually done so im new as to where is the better fishing spots, i feel i cant tell good from bad though, i was trying to fish free areas to build up some quiet time and get to understand my equipment and a feel for correct methods and confidence so i understand the fish and understand hooking fish before i pay for a membership, not sure if that makes any sense to you and others but that just me i guess.