Winning tips from Lee Kerry
Lee’s latest masterclass sees him visit his Norfolk roots for two big matches
WHEN it comes to fishing, I’ve got to admit that rivers will always be my first love!
There’s something about a river that you don’t get with any other venue, whether that’s their unpredictable nature, the challenge of flowing water or perhaps the fact that no two days are ever the same.
Ultimately, though, I think it is that flowing water poses a big challenge that really makes me want to get back on a river again and again.
Unfortunately for me, my busy match calendar limits the amount of fishing on rivers that
I can do, much as I would like to be on them every weekend. Therefore, when the opportunity for an early season weekend on the River Yare in Norfolk came up it didn’t take me long to say yes and get the van loaded.
DEAL WITH THE TIDE
The River Yare is a tidal river, part of the Norfolk Broads system, and that means that the flow of the river is controlled by the tide from the sea further downstream at Great Yarmouth.
A ‘flood’ tide will see the water flow in from the sea for six hours before stopping completely and then flowing back down the other way on the ‘ebb’ tide.
This change often takes place during a match, so it is important to try and understand this change to get the most from your day by studying the tide tables. That way you can work out at what point in the day that change will take place.
On the weekend of my matches, the all-in was just as the flood tide was finishing so we were faced with the opening hour of practically no flow, before the water started running back out to the sea.
Traditionally, this is a tide that roach really enjoy, and with the river being relatively clear and the vast bream and skimmer shoals not really feeding, it was roach that became the main target species for all concerned.
THINK FEEDER
Being a Norfolk boy I fished the Yare a lot in my early angling career and the first thing out of the bag when fishing for roach was always the pole. The feeder was reserved strictly for skimmers and bream.
However, with the boom in feeder fishing, anglers have learned that the feeder can produce fantastic roach catches, so this became my chosen method on both days. To target roach on the tip, you are generally looking to catch in the first third of the river. Cast any further and the whole process becomes too time-consuming.
As for my weekend, I had a brilliant two days with 16lb 6oz of small roach at 15m for fifth overall on the 90-peg open match on the Saturday before the Preston Innovations Feeder Masters Qualifier 24 hours later.
A great match saw me take 17lb 2oz of roach at 25m, enough to win the day overall and book a place in September’s big final.