River Medway advice

[cookus]

Tangler there must be somemot i am doing wrong then, i do notice though when i normally fish it it is normally merky

i have tried lots of baits close in and quite often dont have a bite all day, only shitty little ens on bits of maggots or worms

 

i dunno,have you fished the lakes in larkfield?

[Dunk Fairley]

Cookus, I'm very glad you mentioned the barbel in the East Stour near Canterbury. I first saw them about 10 years ago, but everyone I told, said there weren't any (they've never been officially stocked).

 

The trouble is with the East Stour, is that quite a lot is tied up with fly fishing clubs. But there are good stretches we (coarse anglers) can get on, so the tackle shops down that way are a very good bet for info.

 

Dansmudge, the Medway is my local river and I'm in 3 clubs which each control sections. You're right, it's not an "easy" river, but I've found if you do find a bit you like and can sit there until dusk onwards, you can be rewarded with very good fish indeed. Pike are everywhere, but will tend to group up around any "town" stretches in the winter. I reckon it's because that's where the prey fish will group, due to the amount of bait going in on those lengths. The more open stretches don't see many anglers during the winter, so not much "free" bait goes in.

 

In the summer, you can probably count on a good Carp (doubles mainly) every night, but the Chub will take a lot of boiles. There are numerous other species to be caught, some of which may be a bit "exotic". Grass Carp have been cropping up around the Teston-Maidstone stretch this season. Some of which have been......(ooops!)

 

Don't forget though, a previous british record barbel, was caught not that far away from the stretch you mention. I've not managed to snare a Medway barbel yet, but it's very high on my "wants" list.

[nick_gilbert]

i agree the medway does hold some big fish, you can single them out with bigger baits, corn, tares, hemp, bread, worms, all work well. Maggots are ok in the winter.

 

try east farleigh weir for barbel, i have heard there are a few in there

[The Tangler]

East Farliegh wier does hold some nice barbel, a friend of mine fishes for then quite oftern there.

 

Also try just below the bridge at Yalding fishing tares over hemp that works well. You can get 2lb plus roach, chub and bream fishing that way there or the feeder close to mid-way for the large chub, bream on worm, sweetcorn etc.

[nick_gilbert]

I did hear a rumor that some barble were caught in the town between the bridges at maidstone too