Norfolk Broads cruiser hire - Advice wanted

[birchy]

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.

Edited June 12, 2012 by birchy

[Guest Chris Perch]

You should find quite a few bream - roach - maybe the odd chub but I dont know of any barbel on the broads itself???

Loads of pike though.

Night fishing tends to be far better for the bream.

In my limited experience of the broads.

[dant]

P.S. We already have webbed feet.

 

 

You'll be fine then!

 

I would definitely hire a boat to get about.

 

http://www.whisperingreeds.net/?page_id=23

 

I can't see you getting it much cheaper than this really, it's not as cheap a holiday as it should be. Whispering Reeds are a good little family company and I think this is the only motor cruiser they have. I've hired their half decker sailing boats loads over the years and they're good guys.

The only way I could think for you to do it cheaper might be to get a day boat or a half decker and then camp but for what you'll save you might as well go comfort first..

If I can think of any of the other smaller yards I'll let you know.

There's also these guys http://www.marthamboats.com/broads-cruiser...or-hire/9_jayne but I'd be very wary, they've got a bit of a dodgy nickname - Martham Boat Wreckers. I hired a 5 berth sailing cruiser and it wasn't fit to be afloat. Lovely looking boats from the outside, real traditional Broads cruisers but the inside of ours had'nt been touched since the 70's, not eve with a mastic gun!

 

As for the fishing, you'll be going at just about the best time of the year to fish the Broads, the fish will be virtually everywhere along all the rivers.

If you hire from Hickling you're straight onto the Upper Thurne which is probably the number one Broads beauty/nature spot and there will be some big catches of Bream to be had from areas such as Deep Dyke which connects the main Broad to the main river. Bring plenty of groundbait for the Bream and don't be shy with it as the shoals are big and will hover it down and move on.

All the Thurne will fish for Skimmers, Bream and Roach.

There's not too much on the Thurne in the way of Pubs e.t.c except at places like Potter which I would'nt stop at unless I really had to and Thurne Mouth.

 

You could work your down the Thurne and onto the Bure which is a much bigger river with quicker tides and deeper water. Virtually anywhere you stop to fish from the Thurne Mouth up to Horning should fish. Early morning, evenings and through the night for the Bream with Skimmers, decent Roach, Hybrids in the daylight, with increasing numbers of Perch as you work up river.

There's a good bit more in the way of pubs and the like on the Bure in places like South Walsham, Ranworth, Horning and Wroxham but it's also a much busier river...

As the Pike they'll be spread out right along the river.

 

I'm sure closer to the time someone will be able to give you more detailed advice on where exactly is fishing well as I'm afraid I'm a little bit of a Norfolk ex-pat these days...

Edited June 12, 2012 by dant

[Peter Waller]

Whispering Reeds have some very well placed house-boats at Hickling, nice and near a fine pub and excellent fishing. They also hire row boats and day-boats but don't reckon that you need to travel far, if at all, from the house-boat.

[dant]

Whispering Reeds have some very well placed house-boats at Hickling, nice and near a fine pub and excellent fishing. They also hire row boats and day-boats but don't reckon that you need to travel far, if at all, from the house-boat.

 

If you had your heart set on a few bumper hauls of Bream that might just be the way to do it. You could easily lose a week on Hickling and it's various dykes and bays. Head out in the day time and bait 2 or 3 separate areas and then fish them on rotation and a few 100+lb bags of fish might'nt be a problem at all...

[Mat Hillman]

I've used this company before (but a long time ago) and am planning on trying them again this summer

 

http://www.richardsonsboatingholidays.co.uk/

 

Mat

[Renrag39]

+1 for Richardsons from Stalham. Probably the best value (still not cheap but very close to your budget).

You may be able to find cheaper if you dig harder though.

 

No Barbel on the tidal system afaik, very, very few Chub on the Northern Broads, more on the Southern but still not particularly numerous.

[birchy]

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?

Edited June 13, 2012 by birchy

[dant]

I'll try my best, but it'll be quite 'broad' and general, as you can put together a decent net of fish virtually anywhere on the Broads if you get your tactics right. There's a lot of water on the Norfolk Broads.

 

The main species on Broads would be, Bream from 1oz up to double figures, Roach up to specimen size with a very large head of fish to the lb mark, Roach/Bream hybrids that can run up above 6lbs, a good head of Perch with higher concentrations in the upper reaches of the rivers, Pike to ?, Eels, a few Dace, the odd Rudd, then you're on to bits and pieces like Ruffe and the very very occasional Tench.

The bigger bags of fish generally come after dark.

 

The Thurne

Upper Thurne Hickling, Horsey, Martham to Potter Heigham.

Whole area dominated by the 2 broads Hickling and Horsey and especially Hickling which is at the end of series of long dykes and channels leading off the main river at Martham. Horsey in turn, then leads off via a dyke from the main channel to Hickling.

Hickling - Very large expanse of water. It's very shallow in the bays and anywhere out of the boat channels but you can put together decent daytime bags of the smaller species with a few Rudd chucked in. Main attraction is the large Bream shoals of fish up to double figures, taken at night over big beds of groundbait.

There's mooring in the dykes and channels and at the far end of the Broad where there's a pub

Horsey - beautiful broad and packed with some of the main natural Broadland attractions as is Hickling. Medium sized broad with a fairly even depth excluding the shallow margins and bays with the odd deeper hole. Plenty of Roach, Rudd, Good Perch and it's less fished for Bream Shoals. Mooring at the far end by the mill with a pub a short walk away.

Martham - On the main river, you have maybe 20-30'ish metres of width with varying depths from say 5-12ft. All the broads species are in attendance with some good Bream going in out of the main Hickling dyke. Above Martham the speed of the river slows up through the nature reserves and the river peters out into the dyke at Somerton. Below Martham and you're on to...

Potter Heigham Not my favourite place on the Broads. A half hearted pub, a big discount store Lathams that's full of tat although it did once have a reasonable tackle shop, I think that's gone now and an awkward old low stone bridge to go through. Plenty of human and boat traffic.

 

Lower Thurne

Thurne The flow increases from Potter as you pass a small channel that takes you up to Ludham which is a nice little village with shops and pubs via Womack Water. Fishing wise you're better off sticking to the main river.

Continuing on to the well known fishing area Cold Harbour lane on the right hand side of the river. It would be worth a stop, as you can fish both float and feeder here comfortably and the fishing has been consistent over the years. Lots of good match weights are taken from this stretch.

You then get to the top of Thurne Dyke. Thurne has a small shop and ok pub. There's decent fishing from this point all the way down to the point where the Thurne meets the Bure, bearing in mind the increase in flow.

 

The Bure.

Upper Tidal Bure. Coltishall, Wroxham, Woxham Broad, Salhouse Broad, Horning, Woodbastwick, Ranworth with Malthouse Broad.

Coltishall-Wroxham Coltishall is the tidal limit of the Bure and I'll skim through this stretch a bit down to Wroxham as this part of the river really comes into it's own in the Winter, especially for the Pike fishing. It's an attractive nicely wooded stretch of river but the main concentrations of fish are a way downriver until October time.

Wroxham The self styled shopping capital of the Broads, lots of shops due to one sprawling department style store Roys, plenty of pubs and Hotels. It can be quite lively but touristy in the Summer but now also has an Angling Direct store.

Summer fishing can be night on impossible outside of early or late sessions due to the boat traffic in the town reaches but as you leave you head on towards..

Wroxham Broad On the way here the river broadens and deepens a little but keeps the tree lined banks. Wroxham Broad itself is a medium-large sized broad popular with the yachties. Fairly even depth of say 6ft'ish, areas of lily beds with fairly straightforward fishing from limited mooring or mooring on the mud weights. There's a few wandering Bream shoals which can give big bags of fish along with some very good sized Perch.

The flow begins to pick up a little as will the fishing in the main river as you move down towards..

Salhouse Broad Pleasant smaller broad, tree lined with a slight upland area behind and a small bank mooring area. Again fairly even depth of around 5ft and easy fishing on the float.

The river starts to grow in stature a bit with a noticeable increase in the depth, colour and flow of the river as you pass through a widening section of lily leaved margins and swampy Alder carr on to.

Horning It can get busy round here with weekend sailing races but you definitely notice you're on a bigger river as you pass through the riverside houses, pubs such as the Swan and the odd shop. Higher concentrations of fish are to be found here than upriver and decent bags of fish can be taken through the day if you dodge the boats on both float and feeder with decent Bream at night on the feeder. From here on the feeder begins to hold sway over the float as the tide increases as you get to.

Woodbastwick Quite a well known spot and could fish well in September time with Bream on the feeder. The river's losing clarity all the time as you head downriver towards

Ranworth You begin to lose the tree lined sides and the yellow lillys as the river widens further to something like 30 odd metres with about 10ft of depth you then approach Ranworth Dyke. If you go down the dyke you're onto

Malthouse Broad There's a pub, The Maltsters which serves food and a shop but the broad itself isn't much to write home about, for the fishing too. If you do stop here Ranworth Church is worth a look as you get a helluva good view from the top, think it's the tallest in Broadland? The nature walks around the bottom edge of Ranworth Broad which is non navigable are also worth a look.

As you leave Ranworth dyke the Summer river fishing starts to come into it's own as you wind through the more open marshland of.

 

The Lower Bure. Ant Mouth, South Walsham Broad, St Bennets Abbey, Thurne Mouth, Upton, Acle, Stokesby onto Great Yarmouth.

Ant Mouth - South Walsham Broad Plenty of fish along this length as you encounter more tidal flow and greater depths. Ant Mouth can fish particularly well as can the mouth of South Walsham Fleet Dyke for Roach, Bream and Hybrids.

Down the Fleet Dyke where there's plenty of mooring and some very good after dark Bream fishing. Bags of above 200lbs have been had with fish approaching double figures and onto.

South Walsham Broad Really two inter-connected smaller Broads both nicely wooded. For some unknown, archaic and mean spirited reason you can only moor on the mud weights and fish in the first part, the Outer Broad. The Inner Broad is out of bounds to all but sailing craft under sail who can't sail in there anyway due to the wooded banks.

This used to drive me mad as a youngster as they're keen to enforce it and the Inner Broad looks so enticing, as most places do when you can't fish them. Plenty of fish in the Outer Broad though with a couple of big Bream Shoals and some good Perch.

Coming out of South Walsham Fleet and you're now entering the prime area of the Summers fishing on the Bure. From here past.

St Bennets Abbey an unmistakeable old ruin with a story worth looking up, on past

Thurne mouth and

Upton which has a boat dyke leading off to limited mooring at the end and then the nice little village of Upton with the White Horse pub which is worth a look. then on towards

Acle you have a river of about 50 odd yards width, anything around 15ft of depth in the middle and full of fish. You can fish the float or pole tight inside and the feeder across if there's not too many boats. The tide can motor through so bring some decent sized feeders. There's still a good few eels along here but you won't go far wrong with a decent bit of groundbait, reasonably sized open ended feeder, fishing red maggot, caster, worm or corn. As throughout all the broads early morning and evening sessions should far you better.

Past the Acle Bridge which has an ok chicken in a basket type pub and onto

Stokesby the fishing begins to die off as the tide really starts to push through. I've caught flounder and small Bass in big tides in high Summer just past Stokesby Ferry. From here on the effects of the sea began to take hold, the land opens out on the flat marshes through to places like Runham and then onto

Great Yarmouth where the Bure empties into the estuary Breydon Water. These last few miles are'nt to be taken lightly in the broads cruisers as the tides quick, the waters deep and there's not a lot of decent mooring to be had on the run up to Yarmouth. The last thing you want to be doing is battling the light trying to get to up that way as it's further than it looks.

 

The River Ant. Wayford, Stalham, Barton Broad and Irstead, How Hill, Ludham Bridge.

A nice little river that often gets over looked. It really starts it's life canalised way up towards North Norfolk but is only naviable from

Wayford Bridge a pleasant spot but one that only really fishes well after october. You then continue on a narrow little coloured, reasonably shallow waterway past the dykes that connect to Sutton staithe and

Stalham is a nice enough place, which has, or at least used to have a tackle shop, a few pubs, a Tescos and some nice attractive surrounding Broadland fens, tiny broads and wildlife rich swamp carr. It only tends to really fish with any consistency in the boatyards when the fish shoal up for the Winter as does Sutton which is extremely shallow now and weedy in the Summer. From here you go to...

Barton Broad and Irstead which offers some of the best fishing on the Ant. Barton is a large sheet of water but is suffering badly from silting problems and occasional oxygen and algae troubles in hot spells.

Itt does still have sizeable Bream shoals with the odd really decent fish. Very shallow outside the channels but with maybe 6ft in places inside them you could get decent sport on the float and continue to fish the float with a starlight through the night as the flow is light. From here to move on to the...

How Hill area which is a well known and lovely spot which offers reasonable fishing on the float if the there's not too much boat traffic. As will the next section through to.

Ludham Bridge Up to this point the Ant is probably one of the shallower, less consistent of the three rivers and due to the twist and turns the boats can come at you in all sorts of funny directions making daytime fishing occasionally tricky. From here down towards the junction with the Bure the river does eventually open out a little, depth increases as the influence of the tide begins to tell, as a consequence the fishing improves with some really good Bream, Roach and Hybrids in the last mile or so....

 

The two remaining rivers are the Yare and the Waveney which are separated from the Bure system by the mud flats, wading birds and churning tides of Breydon Water.

I could do a similar thing for those if this little lot helps anyone.

The tricky thing with the broads if you look at something like Google Maps is you begin to imagine lots of great expanses of open broads you can fish and boat on, there looks so much water to know where to start but most of it is out of bounds for various reasons.

I think I've covered most of the open water you can get on with the exception of the tiny Bridge Broad on the Bure near Wroxham, as the rest is either barely covered with water and is more Alder Car or marsh than broad or is just damm right Private.

There's a lot of land here that's under lock and key. Lot's of it is for very good reasons such as very well run nature reserves, others less so.

Edited June 14, 2012 by dant

[Renrag39]

Ok Mat, remember that farty little PM I sent you? Delete it, forget it and read this ^^^

 

THAT'S how you fish the broads!

 

Impressive dant