birchy

I did look at the hoseasons and rochardsons prices when we booked, but whisperingreeds were quite a bit cheaper and were recommended by a local. A very useful and informative post as usual! We were planning on cooking breakfast and having evening meals at a pub. I'm wondering if we might be better off having a takeaway or fish n' chips something? Haven't a clue where we will be travelling yet as I don't know the broads at all. We'll have a map once we collect the boat, so I'll print this off and take it with us so that all will become clear when we're afloat. I'm taking a gallon of homebrew Perry, so we'll be alright for a night or two.

Righty ho boys and girls, a mate and myself will be venturing onto the broads next week. We're hiring a cruiser from http://www.whisperingreeds.net/?page_id=23 and will be living on her for the 5 nights. We're planning on traveling there via Wroxham Angling to collect bait, then to Tesco in Stalham for the weeks' food and down to collect the boat. Plan so far is to buy a 20Kg bag of bread crumb (£20), 10 pints of red maggots, worms, sweetcorn, flavoured groundbait to mix with the crumb (all from Wroxham Angling) Just wondering if any of the locals can recommend any baits that are doing well at present, places to head for, fishing tactics, places we can moor up for a pint and an evening meal, etc, etc. All advice welcome (preferably good) Thanks.

Having spent quite a few hours searching, we've now secured a cruiser named Bittern from http://www.whisperingreeds.net/?page_id=23 (thanks again, dant). I will most likely awaken this thread early September to ask more questions about where we should be heading, how the fishing is going, etc. Thanks to everyone that replied.

Dant, that is an absolutely fan-bloody-tastic guide you've written! It's a great help to others as well as myself. Is there somewhere on this forum that his guide can be stickied or at least saved for future reference? We're spoilt for choice now. Oh decisions., decisions.

Thanks for the great advice, it's very much appreciated. To be honest, I'm a little unsure which areas to aim for. For example, I've seen mention of Acle, Stalham, Wroxham, Horning, etc on the various searches I've done. Forgive my ignorance, but what's the difference between these places? I assume some are nearer the sea, some have more rivers, some have more lakes, some have more boat traffic, etc, etc. Can someone please give us a brief description of each area and what to expect? And in particular what fish we're likely to catch?

A friend and myself fancy dangling some bait on the Norfolk Broads as we've not been there before. We'd like to hire a cruiser so we can park up, throw the gear on and float about for 5 to 7 days. The target date is around mid September, after all the kiddies go back to school. The prices of cruisers seem pretty high at around £500-£600 for 7 nights but appear to be aimed more at families. Can anyone (particularly from the Norfolk area) please recommend some places to hire a cruiser for around £400 or less? We don't want anything too posh as we'll be either fishing or sleeping, but obviously need facilities for cooking and piddling. The other option is a lodge with house boat, but we quite fancy the freedom of cruising and mooring up wherever we fancy. Also, we're not really sure which areas/rivers we should concentrate on, so some local knowledge would be great. I understand that the Bure is a good choice, particularly if using a cruiser? We'll be mostly fishing for the usual coarse fish such as barbel, chub, bream, etc and possibly pike if they make an appearance. All advice would be very much appreciated. P.S. We already have webbed feet.

Just looking at Bureside again, how much of the river do they have? Their map suggests they've only got 1/4 of a mile or so? Does Norfolk generally attract a lot of boats? I've fished the River Severn around Worcestershire a few times but the constant wish-wash from the boats is bloody annoying. While on the subject, what's the Dorset Stour like for boat traffic?

Hi John. We normally camp out as the driver has a converted mini bus and we plonk a party tent against the side and a couple of small tents. One sleeps in the van, the other 2 have a tent each. This year, we were gonna posh it and go for a static caravan or better. Do you have any knowledge of Waveney? www.waveneyrivercentre.co.uk. Has a river stretch but looks like it might be over run with boats?

Right, here's the situation. I'm now keen to go to the Norfolk Broads as it looks perfect with plenty of choice, however the driver of our threesome wants to go to the Dorset Stour as it is apparently fishing well and he doesn't want to spend more than £150 on accommodation. He's spotted a campsite with static caravans and a 1 mile stretch of the river. Think he said it's £350 for 5 days. Dunno why the budget is so tight as we spent more last year, but it's my job to find something similar on the broads. So here's our approximate requirements: Fishing: MUST have river fishing. A nearby pool or lake would be a bonus should we get fed up of the river(s) and/or fancy a change. Cost: Maximum £150 per person for accommodation and boat hire (IF we need a boat?). Will be 3 of us for definite and possibly a 4th member. Dates: early season, before the school holidays, so June 16th to mid July or whenever the kids break up? Accommodation: Static caravan is fine. Anything above that (i.e. log cabins and cottages) will be gratefully accepted if within budget. Sooo, can any of you locals help me compile a list of suitable places? Would be very much appreciated as I quite fancy a trip to Norfolk! EDIT: Bureside camping park has good reviews and has both river and lake fishing, however I'm not sure if they have static caravans? http://www.bureside.com/ suggests not.

Thanks to everyone for your replies. The Wye and Severn are local waters, so we'd like to try something a bit further away from home. Last year's week in Ireland cost 3 of us about £200 each for the ferry, camping and boat hire, plus bait, fuel and food on top of that. For that sort of money, we're thinking of a static caravan or possibly a house/cottage. Maybe it would be worth looking at some organised holidays? Can any of you recommend some holiday companies that specialise in fishing?

Obviously nobody can predict how the fishing will be in 6 months' time, what I meant was places that are known to be OK. For instance, it's quite well known that the Irish fish stocks have dropped significantly and I don't know anybody that has been there in the last couple of years and given a good report. We may well be spoilt for choice...that's why I'm asking for help...

Just starting to think about this years' fishing holiday. There are 3 of us and for the last 2 years we've been to Ireland but to be perfectly honest the fishing was total shyte, so this year we are thinking of staying in the UK. We usually go around July/August time, for around 5-7 days and camp out, costing us about £200 each all found. We prefer river fishing (the Wye and Lugg being our locals), with occasional days (in the close season!) on the carp pools. This year, we were thinking of perhaps having a static caravan instead of camping out. We want to get away from the Midlands. Can anyone recommend some areas/rivers that are fishing well? Or maybe you had a fishing holiday in the UK and had a good time?

Make your own groundbait by putting dog or cat biscuits (or stale bread, biscuits, etc) through a coffee grinder.

Was just checking some of those eBay listings and am wondering how the hell THESE SEEDS (and many other listings) pass off as "fishing bait"?? Nobody in their right mind is going to pay £15.99 for 10 seeds to use as fishing bait. In fact, those adverts are very misleading because it would be easy to bid on them, not realising you were only getting 10 single seeds. I'm quite annoyed to be honest, why don't they just list them as untreated seeds suitable for growing cannabis instead of disguising them as fishing bait? As far as i know, it's not illegal to sell the seeds in the UK but it DOES become illegal if you try to cultivate them...

I wonder if they do these with treble hooks yet?