gorton

I live in Hoddesdon which is just down the road from Broxbourne and think I have a reasonable knowledge of local waters and I am afraid I have never heard of Broxbourne lake. I do recollect seeing the John Wilson programme you mention though and I think this lake was somewhere up near Broxbourne woods even possibly in the Wormley West End area, it might even have been on a private property. Thats probably as clear as mud but best I can do.

Went last year beginning of September with Cascade Fishing Adventures with nine others, six guys stayed for 5 days cost £1200, four of us stayed on and fished a further five days cost £1700, prices included air flights, transport to Chilliwack and back, hotel only (found it was easier and far better to eat away from the hotel having used the that hotel before in 2004), all tackle, bait and the very excellent guides. So the only other extras were meals which in Canada are cheap and lots of it and your beer money, must admit we did struggle for a decent pint, strangest pint of Guinness I have ever tasted but the Canadians love it, if they went to Ireland they would think they had gone to heaven. If you can afford it a wonderful holiday in a wonderful country there is no other fish in freshwater that can pull your string like the Great White Sturgeon.

Hi Vagabond See you were with Mark Laynes (great guide and bloke) went with him September last year with a few of my friends, we had them up to 335 lb. Not the cheapest holiday but if you can a holiday to remember.

I think you will find that the Coppermill Stream was decimated by comorants a few years ago to the point where the only decent swim was under the bridge. A great shame as in its prime it was a superb fishery.

Looks like he's been 10 rounds with "Pike" Tyson

I have fished the Lea for more years than I can remember and have only seen one that was more than ten years ago and less than four inches long. There are lots in Stanborough lakes adjacent to the Lea but you are not allowed to fish for them.

I fished there just before the end of last season when all I could catch believe it or not was tench, all caught on red maggot in conjunction with a small blockend feeder, at that time of the year crayfish were not a problem but as the water warms up that might not be the case although my overall experience on the Lea last season at all venues was that there did not seem to be as many crayfish as previous years. If they are there the feeder is a no no as it just encourages them with the loose feed so it might be worth using the bomb with larger baits. There are some massive chub along the stretch and as previously stated waggler to the far bank is always worth a try or a small crayfish with a size 2 up its a**e, oh no sorry you are not allowed to do that are you. Anywhere upstream from "Crown" pub is worth a try and obviously any far bank feature is a bonus although the trees have been cut back severely over the past few years. I took the tench about 200 yards upstream from the pub where there are sometimes some boats moored against the other bank. One word of warning, at weekends the local rowing club are up and down like the proverbial's knickers so legering can be a bit awkward. Have not been there so far this season so would be interested to know how you get on, if you require anymore info let me know.

Whats the matter with you lot bit of rain never killed anybody and always more chance of catching in overcast conditions on a river than blazing sun. Myself not going until mid afternoon through till dark so with a bit of luck the rain will have got rid of most of the early birds and I will have the river to myself. Its being so cheerful keeps me going.

Dont worry about eating them from the Lee I've eat thousands of the little buggers. Mind you I am a bit worried about this extra head I seem to have grown.

I think prawn or scampi would be a better description, but you can use them in Indian or Chinese cuisine or indeed with any sauce you can come up with and I dont mean tomato ketchup or daddies.

Release them into a saucepan of boiling water, yum yum, pass the garlic butter

Hi Jigotai Was there for a few hours first thing Sunday morning (peg 1) lots of small roach but not a lot else bit disappoiniting really but the water is still cold all the fish I caught were freezing cold, bit more of this sunshine should liven them up a bit. I had some great roach there last year and also some good rudd. Might be there this weekend but I am afraid it is also Ware Beer Festival this weekend so could end up anywhere if you know what I mean. There did not seem many fly fisherman there this weekend for some reason, the fly lake is well worth a coarse fish later in the year when you are allowed to do so, there are some massive roach in there.

Have a look at Rib Valley Lakes just north of Hertford (just off A10) its got a website. Not a fluff chucker myself I fish the coarse lakes there but I think it has got a pretty good reputation certainly seems popular throughout the season.

There all still lots of fish in the Lee, instead of just turning up and fishing if you can spare the time use the weeks before the start of the season walking the river, I promise you that you will be amazed by the amount of fish you see apart from all the other wildlife that has the river as its habitat. It is time well spent and can put you on fish straight away.

"Conkers" at Broxbourne fished its socks off the last few weeks of the season, large chub, perch and can you believe lots of tench.

It is the Direct Debit licences that there has been a cock up with and as Ferg has already said they were being posted yesterday so we should all get them in the next few days.

Could not agree more with Anderoo and Steve W most enjoyable, the programme covered lots of aspects (history, geography, culture, scenery, natural history etc) and not only the fishing, I am afraid the BBC are never going to make a fishing programme which only appeals to the fisherman it will never happen. I particularly enjoyed the fact that for all their hopes and anticipation they only caught the one fish, seemed to ring a bell with me I think we have all been there sometime, you cant catch all the time but thats what brings you back for more although that might not make great TV for some.

Could not agree more Anderoo

Just to enter this thread from a slightly different approach regarding deep hooking, as I think Greg mentioned in an earlier post I think it is extremely important to ascertain the depth of your swim by plumbing before you start when using sliding floats with deadbaits. If floats are set as accurately as possible (I know you have to allow a bit for surface drift etc) in my opinion only of course it eliminates an awful lot of deep hooking, I have experimented this season striking at the very first indications on the float and have not found any great difference in hooking up ratios to previous seasons.

Hi Mark Can only comment on last week when I was on a piking trip on the Shannon which was pretty full to say the least but between Shannon Bridge and Banager was stuffed full of roach especially the Banager end around the harbour area.

Hi David I said I would update you on my return regarding River Suck, unfortunately the River Suck had turned into Lake Suck and as you turned off the Shannon into the Suck it was impossible to tell where the river finished and the fields started so we gave it a miss. The Shannon was just as bad and lots of places we normally fish were impossible to fish this year but thanks to Ray Duthie at Banager we found a backwater near the town and had lots of pike to 16lb on deadbaits. River around the town was absolutely alive with roach especially the harbour, fish a chuck averaging 3-6 ozs with some as big as a pound, would have been great fishing if I had the right kit with me. Sorry thats not a lot of help to you but as I said earlier stating the obvious January weather could be anything and that will decide your fate there is certainly no shortage of pike in the area.

We organised it ourselves this will be the sixth year running on the boat (best so far 24lb) and have been going coarse fishing in May to Ireland since 1989. Never really felt the need for a guide if you find where the coarse fish are the pike wont be far away. Biggest problem is staying out of the pub sometimes the lunchtime quickie turns into 6 or 7, never miind could be worse I could be at work. Trouble with January is you are taking a real chance with the weather, will let you know how we do.

Arrive Saturday to pick up boat at Portumna and will be fishing for pike between there and Athlone all week with quite a bit of time spent on the Suck around Shannon Bridge, so will let you know the following week. Any of our Irish correspondents out there know the state of the river in the area at the moment, methinks it might be pretty full at the moment.

The Lea in your area is alive with pike but unfortunately it is also alive with crayfish which can make deadbaits sometimes a problem at this time of year but as it gets colder your chances will improve. I tend to fish gravel pits in the area more these days but St Margarets on the river was always a good hunting ground for me in years gone by and especially if I walked downstream to just above the bypass bridge there is a reasonable size bay there that was always good for a fish or two. Dobbs Weir, below Fieldes Weir on the old "West Ham" fishery, and more local to you perhaps the meadows at Hertford just before it joins the Lea have also yielded me lots of fish. If you spend a weekend nosing about on the local stretches near you watching where other people are fishing and what methods they are using it will really help and you can always do a bit of lure fishing at the same time. Hope this helps.

A) 41 years 60 days C) 4 times in last ten years, cant remember longer than that, its me age you know.