As an ongoing commitment by Cadence and Edge Tackle to bring you up to date information on interesting venues to explore, Dave Coster reveals some of his favourite rivers in the East Midlands and Cambridgeshire, just in time for the new season.
Prices are accurate as of 1st June 2024
Tidel Trent Collingham
Collingham AA control over 300 pegs on the tidal River Trent from Cromwell Weir, downstream to Carlton Ferry Lane. The first 10 swims below the weir need to be booked in advance and provide some of the best big barbel fishing in the country, so much so there’s normally a long waiting list. On the rest this stretch, you simply pay the bailiff on the bank, where it costs a tenner for the day. Many anglers along here use specimen rods pointing skywards, but traditional river tactics still work well. Stick floats, 3gr plus pole rigs or powerful quivertip rods are all viable, considering there are lots of species to go for. With the feeder you need at least 40g to 60g to hold bottom in normal flow rates, which is a good way of finding decent chub. Closer in, just off the rocky margins, there’s plenty of dace, roach, bleak and perch.
Suggested Tackle: Edge N6 Pole Floats 3g – 5g. Edge Groundbait Feeders large/extra-large 40g, Balancing Weights 12g/20g. Cadence CR10 13ft 8in Power Feeder Rod.
Different Ways
Much of the River Trent has changed. It used to be all about methods like the stick float, waggler and Black Cap blockends. You see mainly specimen anglers these days, with maggots and casters taking a back seat to fishmeal products. It’s currently all about rod pods and barbel, although big catfish and even sturgeon have been landed in recent times. I certainly got some funny looks running a stick float down with my hemp and caster approach. However, I caught well every time I tried this, discovering the lower stretches are full of fish. Although tidal, levels at Collingham often only fluctuate by a few inches. I’ve caught plenty by switching between casters, maggots and tares on the hook. A mate close by tried banding pellets on conventional feeder tackle and did just as well, finding better quality by avoiding the small bleak and dace.
Suggested Tackle: Cadence CR10 13ft Match Rods #2 or #3. Cadence CR10 15ft Match Rod #2. Cadence CR10 Barbel Rod 12ft 3lb.
Newark Dyke
The River Trent at Farndon is known as Newark Dyke. This stretch offers 36 custom swims for £6 a day from the bailiff on the bank. The wide pegs opposite the power station provide cracking bream fishing when the water is carrying some colour. Big barbel can show here too, also where the river narrows by the weir. Legered baits like boilies or big pellets are popular, although plenty of hemp, maggot or caster feed can do just as well. Top float fishing pegs are in the high numbers at the downstream end of the fishery. Good mixed catches can be taken on stick float, pole or waggler tactics. In the summer months, the hemp and tare combination works well for some cracking bags of roach and dace. Groundbait feeder tactics are best for the bream and skimmers, while a maggot blockend can score for chub over to the far side trees below the weir.
Suggested Tackle: Cadence Barbel Rod & LS 5500 Reel Package 2lb or 2.5lb. Cadence CR10 16ft Match #1 or #2. Cadence CR10 13ft 8in Power Feeder Rod (for targeting bream and chub).
Rolleston
A day ticket costs £8 on-line from Nottingham Piscatorial Society, or £10 from the local post office as Fiskerton if you want to enjoy the River Trent at Rolleston. This is where James Robbins shot a great video catching roach on hemp and tares, perched way out in the water on his seat box, using the Cadence CP 2000 Competition Pole. I visited the venue shortly afterwards and picked a swim a bit further downstream. It was deeper close in, allowing me to use a long whip to-hand style with a 2g pole float. I caught plenty, topped off with a cracking bonus bream, although I did have quite a lot of pike trouble. On this part of the river I’ve discovered stiff groundbait gets the pole working a lot faster, in combination with loose feed if the flow isn’t too pacy. This is mainly feeder country for the majority, but float fishing can still work wonders.
Suggested Tackle: Cadence CP Competition Pole 13m. Cadence CP200 9m Whip. Edge N4 Pole Floats 1g – 2g.
Upper Witham
Grantham and District Angling Association run the Upper Witham in the Westborough area, which is a shallow and narrow waterway with high flood banks. The club’s website hasn’t been accessible for some time, but you can still find an application form for membership on-line. A full coarse fishing season ticket costs £30 and a very reasonable £15 for OAPs. There are regular midweek matches on the free town stretches of this famous old river, but I preferred the much quieter and private countryside option, a short trip up the A1. There are more chub in this area, with good chances of fish to over 4lbs. There are roach, dace, grayling and trout too, but shoals tend to be localised. There used to be bream and barbel, but I suspect these have long gone. However, this is still a pleasant place to trot a small stick float and do some exploring.
Suggested Tackle: Cadence CR10 11ft Match Rod #2 or #3. Cadence CR10 12ft Match Rod #2 or #3. Edge Float Mono 3lb to 5lb.
River Glen
It’s hard to find any strong info about the River Glen in the Pinchbeck area. I fished this drain-like waterway many years ago when my parents lived close by. Going back in recent years, an old sign on the road advised it was private fishing, but that day tickets were available on the bank. I met another angler who said he didn’t think the local club existed anymore. Over several visits I didn’t get approached by anyone anyway. I soon discovered there were some cracking perch to be had. A chopped worm approach on beefy pole tackle found fish close to 2lbs, although much bigger specimens are known to inhabit this area. Only trouble is a dearth of safe places to park your car. There are a few spots along Glenside North, where the fish tend to shoal above Money Bridge, especially in winter. On this occasion a mate caught plenty of roach on hemp seed.
Suggested Tackle: Cadence CP Competition Pole 13m. Cadence CP 6m Whip. Edge N1 Pole Floats 0.3g to 0.5g.
Old Nen Benwick
The first ten pegs on Nene Parade at Benwick are free fishing. The main match length is Chapel Farm, which runs from the footbridge above the cemetery, downstream to the posts near Halfpenny Toll. It’s a £6 day ticket here, although a season permit from the local post office only costs £15, or £10 for OAPs. Well known for its winter matches, this stretch is little fished during the summer and yet capable of producing excellent bream and tench sport, along with plenty of roach, rudd, perch and bleak. Swims often require clearing before the match calendar kicks in, both on the bank and with a weed rake out in the water. There’s only light boat traffic, but it helps to keep the main channel reasonably clear, which is a good spot to target with pole tackle. Don’t ignore the waggler either, especially for the shoals of rudd that tend to hug any far bank features.
Suggested Tackle: Cadence CP800 9m Margin Pole (big fish down the middle or margins). Cadence CR10 11ft Match Rod #1, or Cadence CR10 12ft Match Rod #1 (rudd, roach and perch far side).
Old Nene March
The two park stretches in March are popular for winter matches. Huge shoals of roach, rudd and skimmers shoal up in these sheltered areas. It’s free fishing, offering some of the best silver fish sport in the country, mainly to pole or whip tactics. There are another 50 pegs above the A141 bypass bridge, where a car park has recently been installed. This section is run by March and District Angling Association. Day or season tickets are available on the bank or from Mill View Angling. Season permits are only £15 for adults, £8 for seniors/disabled and £5 for juniors. It’s a £20 refundable deposit for a key to access the new car park. This is also known as the Marina stretch, where bumper catches are common, including chances of big rudd, bream, tench and perch. The river widens out here, so the waggler and feeder become worthwhile options.
Suggested Tackle: Cadence CP Competition Pole 14.5m. Cadence CP 6m Whip. Cadence CR10 11ft Match Rod #1 (town stretches) Cadence CR10 12ft Match Rod #1 or #2 (wider marina stretch).
Town Welland
This is Tom Legge from our Angler’s Mail days, fishing the River Welland in Spalding. It’s a similar venue to March in the winter, where huge shoals of fish from the surrounding drains seek shelter from predators. Massive framing catches of mainly roach are taken here in the popular matches. The fishing used to be free, but from June 2024 Peterborough and District A.A. membership, or one of their day tickets will be required. The latter costs £5 for adults or £3 for juniors and details can be found on the club’s website. Light pole rigs are used mostly, combined with baits like punched bread, hemp, pinkies or maggots. Big catches are also taken with whip rigs on this narrow and shallow river, fished to-hand style for speed purposes. Bread punch is the most popular cold weather bait, switching to hemp for bigger sized roach as sessions progress.
Suggested Tackle: Cadence CP Competition Pole 14.5m Cadence CP 6m Whip. Edge N3 Pole Floats 0.5g – 1g.
Name Games
The source of the River Slea is just outside Grantham, but once the waterway passes through Sleaford it becomes known as the River Kyme of Kyme Eau, eventually joining the River Witham downstream of Tattershall. This small waterway was badly polluted in 2003, but roach and chub have made a strong recovery. Fishing is free along the South Kyme road section, but isn’t allowed at the Sleaford end, from Carre Street to the A17 bypass. It gets very weedy in the summer, so most regulars wait until the winter, when extra water adds some colour and flushes out any debris. This is a perfect venue for the stick float, with punched bread working well when the water is running clear, switching to maggots or casters when there’s any colour. Two-pound roach are a strong possibility. You can often see them during low levels, along with bonus chub.
Suggested Tackle: Cadence CR10 12ft Match Rods #1 or #2. Edge Float Mono 3lb or 4lb.
Twenty Foot
When I first visited March in Cambridgeshire, I thought I was driving over a drain on the Wisbech Road. It turned out to be the Twenty Foot River and like most of the fens, this waterway has high flood banks. It’s part of the Middle Level system, which links up with the River Ouse and main River Nene, so there are many miles of water fish can move about in. I never imagined I would end up living on the doorstep of such an amazing venue. Most anglers head for the famous Old River stretches in town, but just outside in the surrounding countryside, the Twenty Foot holds many surprises. You might be catching roach and mixed silvers one day, tench the next, or stumble on a big shoal of skimmers – even bigger bronze slabs. This is proper wild fishing, often challenging due to summer weed or increased winter flow rates, but the rewards are amazing.
Suggested Tackle: Cadence CR10 13ft Match Rods #1 or #2. Cadence CR10 12ft Match Rods #1 or #2. Edge Insert Crystal Clear Insert Wagglers 1.5g to 2.5g. Edge Sinking Mono 3lb – 4lb. Cadence CP Competition Pole 16m. Cadence CP200 9m Whip.
Secrets Revealed
Most of what you have read here is down to enquiring in tackle shops, searching the internet, or studying maps to discover interesting venues. I certainly didn’t expect a little-known river, which is more like a drain or canal, to provide fantastic fishing like this. In fact, this was only at the beginning and catches got even better as I learnt more. Tackling rivers can be tricky, because as I’ve already mentioned, shoals are often tightly localised or prone to migrating at certain times of the year. I’ve bagged up big time on favourite pegs like this one, but also struggled on it. Fish move, or switch off, which is a risk you must take. However, at least I can tell you all the places I’ve covered are very capable of producing big catches, or special fish. There’s no magic formula to river fishing, but some clarification as to where to give it a go is a useful starting point.
