Fordwich Lakes and the river

Fordwich Lake - still has plenty of water!

Still no fishing, but a chance to have a look at another of C&DAA (Canterbury and District Angling Association) waters. After the recent rain, the rivers are in flood here with very high water levels on the rivers running through the towns where it is most obvious and of greater concern to the public in general. Our trip to the lakes at Fordwich, found the river very high and covering the staging in places. It had obviously been even higher, as some of the visible staging was covered with debris where it had been covered earlier.

This place is a fantastic venue for me. It is less than six miles, door-to-door, from our new home and it only takes a shad over ten minutes to get there. The more I explore these C&DAA waters the more I am convinced I did the right thing by investing in a ticket. The 'complex' is gated and secure which is always a bonus in my books. If I am paying to fish a water I really want it to feel secure and safe.

The site is enormous, with three lakes and a good stretch of the Great Stour available to fish. The only drawback I can see is that is is subject to closure during the 'closed season'. This appears to be part of the licence agreement, granted to the C&DAA, to allow its members to fish this SSSI designated site.

We got there on a very cold and frosty Saturday morning in late November to find a fair few people about. Some had obviously been there overnight, bivvied-up awaiting for that big carp. Personally, that does not interest me that much. I would rather be catching fish than sitting there waiting for a buzzer to go off, but each to their own and I am always amazed at the size of some of those big fish, when they do get caught.

There are numerous places to fish these waters and a good selection of fish to target. I will probably take advantage of the river first and I am thinking a spot of lure fishing might be my first outing. It looks as if there could easily be pike in the river, which will give me a chance to try out my new spinner/baitcaster set up. I might even try a spot of dropshotting for perch in one or two places.

By today, the river level had dropped to well below the staging - might need a bit of a scrub though!

We only had time for a quick sortie on Saturday and did not get around the whole site. Sue and I went back on Today and there was still a lot of water in the main lake, but the river was down a fair bit with all the pegs on the river now above water level, although there is a good deal of mud on and around the platforms. Some are better then others, but I think a deck-scrubber might become an essential piece of kit over the winter!  A stroll around with light tackle will be my next trip, just to get the lay of the land, and water, so to speak.

Ralph.