River Colne, Staines A30 bypass

[saladdodger]

If i can find decent parking im off to fish here tomorrow, its free fishing and ment to be ok.

I'll keep you posted

[BoldBear]

I love these small rivers and streams and there are some real lunkers in most of them for those who are prepared to look for the underwater features.

Are you going to be fishing into the evening until it gets dark? This is the time when the Barbel seem to come alive and seem to appear from nowhere and feed more confidently.

Look for deeper holes in the far bank reeds and changes in depth and bends with overhanging branches and roots nearbye and streamerweed as this is the sort of place they hang out during the day.

It’s worth having a word with ‘Davies Angling’ to find the better areas to fish.

Good luck and I’m looking forward to your report.

Tight lines

Keith (BoldBear)

[saladdodger]

Bad day, no fishing, my central locking on car wont work so dont wanna leave it some where unlocked also mum fell over so im gonna try and fix car and make sure mums ok, hopefully go saturday instead

[saladdodger]

So i went here today, not very impressed i must say. Its so shallow the horses were walking through the river and standing in it, barely covered 1ft of the horses legs. Also the horses pester you and stamp their feet, they get too close for comfort i dont mind saying.
I left within the hour as it was pointless, just pulling up weed, i tried a really short length between float and hook but just getting snagged.

I just dont know how any big fish would make it up/down the river its so shallow, even the dogs walked through it lol

Spoke to a local who knew his stuff and he said he read the article in the latest anglers mail and disagreed with what had been written, he hasnt found an area of 7ft deep and he has fished it alot, few fish caught by him and others. Interesting.

3/10 only because its a lovely walking area.

[SIMPLE MAN]

Sorry to hear that SD and better luck next time,but at least you got out for a hour

[saladdodger]

was good excercise carrying and pulling my trolley for about 2 miles lol, wont be trying fishing there again though.

I can now see why people have pay for a membership to a lake, cuts out all the trekking and issues

[chris.oldgit]

question you need to ask yourself is : why is it free ? long walks, not good fishing, bad banks to fish from, if the water has any potential, any decent club would have bought it, all clubs are continually looking for 'new' waters for their members.

[saladdodger]

Originally Posted by chris.oldgit

question you need to ask yourself is : why is it free ? long walks, not good fishing, bad banks to fish from, if the water has any potential, any decent club would have bought it, all clubs are continually looking for 'new' waters for their members.

i totally agree with you dude, this is the answer to a previous thread of mine about free/day tickets/membership, i guess with experience the reason show for themselves.

That lizard fishery looks good, im gonna call them to see if i can just urn up of do i need to book in advance??

[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.

[chris.oldgit]

ref, lizard, nope just turn up, payment machine on site, two things you must have is a large landing net and a unhooking mat.as norm for most puddles.
as you arrive the lake on the left is slightly more produtive, (more bites). right hand lake better fish.