Massive match hauls
as Britain’s rivers return to stunning form
FOR most of us a 30lb bag of running-water roach would be the catch of a lifetime – but on a certain river in eastern England local anglers won’t even raise their eyebrows at a catch of this magnitude.
The River Welland running through Spalding is the venue in question, and in recent matches bags over 50lb have been required to claim the top spot, with 40lb nets coming nowhere.
Essex match ace Pemb Wrighting had the biggest weight over the last few weeks, a staggering 53lb 8oz of roach, on his first visit to the venue.
“It was an unbelievable match,” said Pemb, “one the like of which I’ve not been part of before and doubt I will again. I didn’t know much about the venue so just fished down the middle all day, catching quality roach on bread.
“You have to spare a thought for the chaps who caught 40lb and didn’t even frame!”
The following weekend, Frenzee-backed Tom Edwards also got among the fish and had ‘one of the best day’s fishing of my life’, after catching 50lb 11oz of roach plus skimmers.
“Its absolutely black with fish at the moment!” he said.
“I caught everything on bread and simply alternated between fishing at 4m to hand and at 9m to keep fish coming.”
Approximately 2,255lb of roach were caught across these two matches, and there are several reasons for this staggering form, as England legend and venue regular Joe Roberts explained.
“I’ve fished at Spalding for years and I’ve never seen it as good as it is now,” he said.
“The most obvious reason for the big catches is the amount of colour in the river following the weeks of heavy rain before Christmas. The fish at Spalding spend summer in the main River Welland that is choked with weed. I’ve been told that this makes it difficult for cormorants to hunt, so the fish are thriving.”
Joe also told us that due to the mild weather and coloured water the fish are spread all the way through the stretch, and anglers are catching 50lb from areas that are rarely fished.