Venues Report
River Rother
We have at last had a good drop of rain which should wash the Rother through, however average levels still remain low. Please be careful if you go fishing after any significant rain as water levels can rise quite quickly.
Coultershaw
There are still Barbel coming from Coultershaw and it is interesting to note that the winter fish are generally significantly larger than those caught during the summer months. Martin our bailiff and his team are still taking scale samples so if you do have a Barbel and one of the team are on the water, please get them to sample your fish before it is returned. The silver fish are a bit harder to come by but you can still find a few if you fish light tactics. There is quite a bit of Pike activity at the moment and fish to around 15lb are being caught
Shopham
The EA have taken a look at the fallen tree that was reported earlier in the year and have decided that are not going to do anything with it. They feel that it does not present a flooding issue and does in fact act as a good refuge area for fish. A few Grayling have been reported from the Shopham up section and there have been some good Chub catches reported using a mashed bread and flake approach.
Coates
As with Shopham we have had reports of good Chub from the middle section of Coates and either bread or maggot approaches have worked. A couple of good Dace catches have been reported.
Fittleworth
We are currently pushing the estate and farmer hard to put a bridge over the second ditch on the north bank. It was promised to us a month or so ago but has yet to materialise. The lack of this crossing tends to restrict anglers to the top section on the north bank during the winter months however you can get further down the river easily on the south bank. The odd Barbel has come out over the last month and Pike anglers have had some success on Fittleworth. I’ve not had any silver fish reports recently but I’m sure that they are still there
River Arun
Watersfield
The Barbel anglers have found Watersfield quite quiet over the last month or so with only the odd fish putting in an appearance. The river should continue to fish well for silver fish and the odd Bream could turn up unless we get a prolonged cold period
Stopham
I have now had a chance to fish Stopham twice in the last month and on each occasion I had a good net of Roach, with a few Dace and Chublets. On my first session there were a lot of Bleak in the swim and these seemed to attract the Pike, I had at least three of them in front of me at one stage together with what looked to be a couple of sizeable Perch. I found that corn was the best hook bait to avoid the Bleak. On my second session I decided to fish either side of the top of the tide, I miscalculated the tide time and fished an hour more up than I intended. During the up I did not have a bite but once the tide turned the fish switched on and I had a lot of roach (50 – 60) in a couple of hours. There were no Bleak around so I found that either maggot or caster was best on the hook. There was a Pike angler on the water who had a couple of small ones but had seen activity from bigger fish.
Hurston Lane
We introduced a further 400+ silver fish to Hurston at the beginning of December and we hope that these will remain active during the winter months so that there is always something to catch. We have some work parties coming up in the New Year and we will be working on the island in the match pond and doing some early year weed clearing. It is hoped that with better control of water levels, our dyestuff and the early clearing will minimise weed growth next season. We would greatly appreciate your help so look out for dates on the website and the venue notice board.
Walberton – Stemps & Cart
Both ponds have been slow for two or three days after we have had cold spells, but once the fish become acclimatised to the drop in temperature or we get a temperature rise the fish switch back on. Pick your days and as long as you go when the temperatures are a bit higher then you can still have a good day. Some of the bigger Roach that we know inhabit Stemps have been putting in an appearance with several fish around the 1lb mark being reported. We have a fairly major project planned for Cart Pond next spring when we will be repairing the island. We will need some help from you so keep and eye on the website and the notice board for the work party dates.
Chichester Canal
There are regular boat runs on the canal over the weekends at the moment and this is putting a bit of colour in the water. Find a deeper section on the stretch from the bypass bridge down to Hunston and you can catch a few Roach and small skimmers. There are plenty of fish in the basin but access and the available space is limited. If you can get in you can have a good day on the waggler with pinkies and a bit of groundbait. On weekdays when the boat is not running it is worth trying punch over liquidised bread.
Petworth Park
After a fantastic season Petworth Park closes at the end of the month. The last month or so has been very quiet on the Bream front but one or two predator anglers have had some good Pike and one angler was going to have a go for the bigger Perch which show up from time to time. I have yet to hear back from him.
The Granary
Although slower than during the winter months, The Granary will still give you a reasonable days fishing whether you target the Rudd on smaller baits or set out for the Carp. As mentioned previously there is definitely a bit more perch activity
Please don’t forget to fill out the log books at our venues, it really helps us in compiling these reports. If you have any photographs of your catches that you would like to share please forward them to us HERE.