Far Bank
Wander down the Wandle
SPARE a thought for London anglers. Peace and quiet, let alone anywhere to wet a line, can seem tricky for many who live and work here. Which is why a fishery like the Wandle strikes you as such a blessing.
Not that getting on to the water with a pint of maggots is exactly easy. Parking is awkward, while bait gets harder and harder to source. At least, that’s the case as I whip to the local tackle shop with Garrett Fallon, the laid-back Irish angling writer and editor of Fallon’s Angler quarterly, who lives here in the thick of it.
We battle through mid-morning traffic only to find his local fishing den, Hemming’s, caged shut with a ‘closed for good’ note in the window. I’m praying the fish like bread and sweetcorn.
The river itself, though, looks delicious as we meet with Tony Relph, who is already tackling up at Merton. There are lovely bends and pools amid concrete ramps and random back gardens.
I set up by a bridge where, bizarrely, a large koi is swimming around the debris on the far side. Further along is a lovely steady run and adjoining eddy where I already fancy positioning my bait.
Bread would seem a sensible option, as we witness a passer by tipping in leftovers. I mash some slices, fill my feeder and launch it into the crease. Even for a confirmed urban fishing fan, it’s a bit weird to have so much company. About seven different pedestrians point out that koi.
How many fish can really be here among the empties and a flow of water made up of at least onethird treated effluent? More than you’d imagine, judging by how quickly the quivertip flickers after virtually every cast.
The first fish are all gudgeon, including some real whoppers. Even in my big paws, they look impressive. I soon add a lovely half-pound roach and a chub. Given my light tackle, it’s probably just as well that the koi shows zero interest.
Later, I re-join my friends on a walled section, where they’re also getting quick, sneaky bites from roach. Amazingly, Tony once caught a barbel here.
Below us, the water is deeper and more mysterious than on first inspection. Along with random junk and an old sack, the roach keep coming. If anything, they grow bigger just on the cusp of pub o’clock. Most amazing of all is Tony’s net-filler of well over the pound. You’d be happy to catch fish like this from any river, but in the heaving heart of London it’s bordering on the miraculous.
MORE INFORMATION
See www.wandlepiscators.net for more info about fishing and conservation on the River Wandle.