AN ACCESSIBLE day ticket stretch of river is having one of its best seasons in decades – and the fishery manager has just had a bumper brace of chub scaling 7 lb 8 oz and 6 lb 14 oz.
Andrew Tredgett, who runs the famous Kings Weir stretch of the River Lea near Broxbourne in Hertfordshire, has now had three 7 lb-plus chub in as many weeks.
The 34-year-old told Angler’s Mail: “This season I have mainly been targeting the chub which I’ve spent many hours walking the bank in search of them.
“I had the day off so thought I’d pop down and trickle couple of boilies into the chosen spot. I got on the bank around 7.30pm and trickled a couple more on the spots for 15 minutes whilst I set up.
“First cast was bang on the spot and after no more than five minutes the centrepin screamed into life, which ended up being the 6 lb 14 oz chub.
“I’ve learned not release the chub , and I carry two landing nets, so with this first fish retained I cast back out whilst Mike came and took the photos.
“I was getting hammered by weed so I decided to place the bait just further downstream.
“I had my tea in hand and phone in the other, checking social media, the ‘pin screamed off again… and the tea went everywhere! As soon as I hit it, I could feel it was a bigger chub.
“To my delight, she went 7 lb 8 oz and in pristine condition. It’s my third seven in no more than three weeks… I’m certainly on ‘cloud 9’ at the moment.”
Kings Weir improvements are paying off
Improvement work is ongoing at Kings Weir to get its fishing right back to the famous high quality of the past. And already sport is on the rise, as Andrew explained.
He told Angler’s Mail: “The fishery, this season, has been the most productive in my eight years here. That’s not just for the big fish but also the amount of silvers that have been caught.
“The river has over the last few years has boomed with so much small silvers from roach, dace and chub – which is fantastic to see.
“The improvement works that have already been done have had a massive impact and the future works in the pipeline will take the river to the next level.
“This season we have had four 16 lb barbel caught and all were different fish up to 16 lb 8 oz. Plus we have had three different 15s out and various other doubles as well as baby barbel to 1 lb.
“The unknown here is the predator fishing. Not many anglers target the perch and pike but those who have been doing so certainly have been rewarded, with perch to 4 lb 12 oz and pike to 21 lb.
“We are starting to see more anglers target other species we are getting bream just shy of 12 lb.
“We were successful in our application for the Angling Trust’s Angling Improvement Fund for disabled access to numerous weir pool swims and work will be starting soon (in January 2019).
“We are looking to collaborate with various organisations provide summer fishing days and events at Kings Weir,” concluded Andrew.
The weir pool at Kings Weir is a bookable day ticket section with nine swims and cost is £12 a day for two rods fishing from 8 am until 10 pm. And they have a members’ 34-peg section at £85 per season.
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