Diversions.

I made a trip to Norfolk in mid August.  We had to drop some supplies off at Maddie’s new house in Norwich so the two of us set off north with a little space left in the car for a bit of a fishing expedition.  The house looks good, solid and spacious.  After we’d finished here we head east to Broadland.  At the staithe everything was ship shape, after draining and shifting the boat my next job was to affix my new engine.  The old Mariner had died, long live the new Mariner.  With the boat on the water and loaded, the engine started easily so Maddie and I set off out of the dyke.

Not far into the broad I realised I’d forgotten to top up the petrol so putted over to a sheltered area where I cut the engine and filled up.  Re-starting was not straight forward but after resting for a bit I got it to fire. 

We crossed the Broad and away, the engine pushes the boat nicely and increasing the revs doesn’t seem to make it much faster.  A slow meander down, checking out spots for later in the year then we settled into my favourite spot just inside a big bay.  Straight away it was obvious that there was much more weed here this year and the weed is growing in areas where it’s usually clear.  There was enough clear water to fish two swimfeeders on heli rigs with short hooklengths and maggots as bait.  Bites came from the off but they were hard to hit.  Eventually we connected with a few and brought a procession of Rudd to the boat.  An hour here was enough, it didn’t look right for Bream in this spot.  The engine restarted fine, I think I’m getting the hang of it.

The day was mostly cloudy with a moderate north westerly wind, as we motored back towards the staithe I pondered a second fishing spot and ended up in a spot I’ve rarely fished before.  Once again bites came quickly but this time we hooked Bream, not big ones but definitely the species I was after.  We packed up when we ran out of groundbait , in ideal circumstances I would have liked to have fished for longer with Bream located but all good.

I had a couple of futile trips down into the Valley, searching for the impossible Carp.  The first time I fished from the bank as the wind was howling.  For some bizarre reason I took a feeder rod and some corn, after constant bites and a couple of Rudd I became bored.  The Carp rods did nothing to brighten my day either, the cricket on the radio didn't help much.  A few days later I went back again and as I’d put a bit of bait into my swim on the previous trip I returned.  Would some Carp or Tench be mooching around?  No.

The final weekend of August, I decided to head back to Norfolk for a crack at the Bream, my nephew Ollie fancied a day out too.  We left mid morning and had the most infuriating journey.  I realised I needed petrol and my slight detour to the garage went a bit awry and I ended up driving on roads I’d never been on before.  We eventually made it back to the A road but things only got worse.  Only in Norfolk would they close one of the county’s main roads but NOT mark out a diversion route.  More miles on unridden roads.  We made it to the staithe about an hour later than planned.

We loaded and launched on a bright breezy afternoon and left the dyke with a plan.  I’d located Bream a couple of weeks previously so it was to this area I headed, this journey was hampered by blind sailors charging us.  When we emerged from the plastic armada Sod’s law intervened again.  A large holiday cruiser had dropped weights in the exact spot I wanted to fish.  No matter, I turned around and headed to another spot I usually catch Bream, this was vacant if a bit exposed.  We quickly set up a feeder rod each and began pinging them into the channel.  Bites came quickly and regularly to begin with and we caught a few Roach each but after an hour bites had slowed and no Bream had shown.  A larger cruiser came past us and it looked like the one which had been in our way so we tidied up and moved.

Half an hour later we were fishing again and I was full of confidence, there were loads of Bream here last time!  First cast my tip pulled round and I struck into what could only be a Bream, heavy and plodding as I slowly drew it towards me.  Unfortunately the fish became weeded and dropped off, no worries, there’ll be more.  We put a load of bait out and continued fishing but bites were slow and tricky, the few we connected with were Roach or Perch.  Time passed and the fishing didn’t improve but we drank cool beer and enjoyed the broad, celebrating that Town were still top of the league and England were still in the Ashes.  The afternoon turned to evening and the sky clouded over, it even spat a bit of rain at us.  With lower light levels I felt more confident and at last we started to hook Bream, at least Ollie did.  I netted three for him but my rod was still just producing the odd Roach.  Then with a series of swirls and bow waves an Otter crashed through our swim and the bites all but stopped.

We got off the water with the falling light and headed for home, better prepared for the quirks of Norfolk’s Highway department.  It had been a poor day in a fishing sense but a very enjoyable social day out.

So that has been summer.  The settings may have been secluded and beautiful but it has to be said the fishing has been rubbish.  I really should concede that I don’t have enough time to put in the required effort to properly tackle the Valley.  The way my fishing time falls I really would be better off fishing more prolific waters but I’ll almost certainly have one more go next year.