Glynde Beddingham & Firle Angling Club
Glynde Beddingham & Firle Angling Club
Fishing as it should be
The Fishery & What's In It
The Fishery & What's In It
Carp - There's a lot of carp throughout the Glynde Reach. They do roam at times but certainly have their preferred areas which tend to be the quiet and least fished parts. They are almost never caught in matches or as much as hooked - during the past 9 years only 2 carp have been caught in a match - one at 12lbs and one under 3lbs - both in evening matches.
It's potential that has scarcely been scratched. Every season fish are caught into the mid twenties with lots of smaller doubles. A number have been spotted that were judged in excess of thirty pounds.
Roach Abundant stock of this fish and one of the mainstays of match catches. Glynde Reach is not renowned for big roach although they have been banked to a fraction over 2 pounds. Far from the norm though and the general run is 1 ounce to 4 ounce fish with a smattering of better ones. There's plenty of them though. Catch them on maggot, pinkie, bread punch and caster in about that order of merit.
Rudd - Stacked out with these fish and during hot weather in spring and summer vast shoals can often be spotted on the surface or just below. Much like the roach they come mostly in the one ounce to two ounce bracket with a healthy sprinkling of bigger samples. Not uncommon to net rudd up to a pound but better ones few and far between. You'll be pushed to find a better bait than maggot.
Hybrids - There's some cracking hybrids in the river almost always a Roach/Bream mixture but sometimes what looks like a Rudd/Bream - glorious looking fish with gold flanks. Strange thing is when you get one of these hybrids they tend not to be small fish - most commonly from around a pound to approaching three. No particular method - they'll just turn up when you're fishing as normal
Bream - Some hefty shoals of bream patrol the Glynde Reach and they can turn up anywhere though there are the usual slightly hotter spots. Other shoals that have been identified seem to hug a particular area. General run of fish you'll catch is between three pounds to nudging five. Having said that there are some small shoals of much bigger fish a handful of which are close to double figures.. You'll catch small bream from virtually any peg but they are small - from razor blades to 4 ounce fish being the most common. Most anglers fish maggot, worm/maggot cocktail or bread for the better bream but some do sit it out on corn. If you do stumble upon a feeding shoal or one moved into the peg you're fishing don't stint on the feed - pile it in and you'll keep them - lay off and you won't. But put it in quietly or they'll spook.
Perch - Commonplace until the 2018/19 season when they vanished. Prior to that there were loads - from suicidal tiny ones to numerous pound plus fish with a smattering of better ones. In theory there's all the potential for lots of big perch given the huge food supply they have from vast shoals of fry and tiny roach and rudd. Something of an enigma though are Glynde perch - one season they'll be a feature in every swim and the next may be few and far between. No particular method again as perch usually turn up in mixed catches. Drop shotting and small lure fishing for perch is something no one is know to have tried but it could be a killer for the bigger ones. Who knows?
Pike - There's loads. Mostly smallish fish between three and five pounds that can be quite voracious as many a match angler will testify after his fish catching rhythm is shattered by a marauding pike. They're not all small though and plenty of double to twenty pounds plus have been caught. There's plenty for them to grow fat on. Roving with a spinning rod can be great fun and the alternative - a sit and wait job with a deadbait seems to be the key to bigger fish.
Tench - Tench were once a common capture on the Glynde Reach - so common that anglers used to go and fish specifically for them. Then they vanished and for the last 7 or so season there's been no tench recorded at all. That doesn't mean they haven't been caught but if they were someone is keeping very quiet. One member spotted 5 fish during the 2018 close season and claimed the biggest looked a double figure fish. Best news last season was the capture of this 7 lbs plus stunner caught during an early morning session. Here's hoping for a tench revival.
Chub - Again this is a fish present in some numbers that have vanished. Another mystery.
Gudgeon - This humble but much loved little fish pops up from time to time. Nice to see they're still around after their decline in waters all over the UK.
Eels - Loads. Some are whoppers.