WHY I LOVE... Tidal rivers by Bob Nudd
Four-times World Champion Bob Nudd is a force to reckon with on the Broads waterways – here he explains why they appeal to him so much
FAST water, changing depths, wild fish and, of course, water that stops and then flows in the opposite direction... no wonder tidal rivers pose anglers a challenge.
They can off-putting to people who’ve never fished them before, but once you get to grips with a tidal waterway it becomes relatively easy to fish.
From my early match fishing days I’ve loved tidal rivers, beginning with the Kentish Stour at Plucks Gutter back in the 1970s and 1980s through to Norfolk’s Broadland rivers today. I now fish all my matches here through the summer months on the Rivers Yare, Bure and Thurne.
The beauty of tidal waters is that the strong flow means that the fish have to feed, always on the move and looking for a meal.
As an angler, I know this means bites. Rarely will you experience slow spells when the fish shut up shop, so much so that in summer I’d fully expect to catch upwards of 200 roach in a single sitting!
Coupled with this flow is colour in the water, another feature of tidals. Silt and sediment are washed about and pushed into the river by the tide, a perfect storm of colour and flow. That, plus warm summer temperatures, all makes the tidal river a real paradise – and not only for roach.
There are lots of bream, skimmers and hybrids to catch too, with big perch, eels, pike and even a few surprises like carp, smelt and flatfish!
You can choose the tactic you want to fish as they all work – everything from the feeder, to the stick float, to the whip. I can’t think of anywhere else I’d want to be in the summer.
However, it’s important not to imagine that tidal rivers are all like the Yare, which is a wide, deep and powerful waterway. Just up the road is the River Thurne, a totally different
prospect with slower flows, shallower water and not as much impact from the changing tides. This venue is more like a classic river, but because of those tides it always flows – never can you moan about the Broads rivers being low, slow and clear!
However, you can’t just find the depth, throw in some groundbait and catch well. Things are always changing, governed by that tide. The river level can rise or fall, the pace can pick up, slacken or even stop, and more or less colour can enter or leave the swim.
This means a couple of things – never stop feeding and changing your depth regularly. Adding a few inches to the rig every half-hour will ensure your hookbait is acting naturally, while feeding every cast keeps the fish in the peg. Stop feeding and they’ll drift off. Those roach and bream are always swimming about battling the strong flow and looking for food.
Bream win most matches on the Broads rivers, but I love roach and if the bigger fish don’t show, I’m well happy! Last summer was a memorable one for me as I had the best roach match weights on the Bure and Yare and second-best on the Thurne, each time with over 30lb of fish. It’s rare to catch under 10lb, even on a bad day.
You’ll find the size of fish on the tidals is bigger than average. I’ve seen plenty of 2lb roach caught on the Yare and had loads well over the 1lb mark, and they don’t half fight in that flow!
If I could pick one of Norfolk’s rivers to fish, it’d have to be the St Benet’s Abbey section of the Bure. This is relatively shallow, with a flat, comfortable bank and a good flow.
There are thousands of roach to go at, some massive perch and shoals of bream and skimmers. More than that, it’s simply a beautiful place to fish – remote, wild and a million miles away from the rush and noise of modern life!