February 17th - 18th

We should – weather permitting – be nearing the peak of the 2012 pike season. Almost certainly, providing our stillwaters are ice free, pike will be out target on a selection of the waters at our disposal. Considering we have NEVER had a Fisherman’s Valley event without at least one twenty pounder being caught, we have a lot to live up to. And how about jinxing every trip in the future in a single sentence!

March 9th - 10th

Can there be a more important date in the entire fishing calendar I’m wondering. The pike are really on the boil by now so we almost definitely will have one day at, hopefully, our favourite venue. However, we are just days away from the end of the river season and, given the fantastic revival of the River Wensum, it would seem criminal not to make the best use of the last few days. But, as ever, we’ll be keeping a close eye on weather conditions.

April 20th - 21st

May 18th - 19th

If this spring follows previous ones, these two dates will see us deep in the tenching maelstrom we’ve become used to! Really, over the past three years, we’ve enjoyed tench fishing, at times, that has been second to none. There have been days when it’s almost been impossible to fish with two rods. There’ve been long periods when we don’t even think of weighing any tench that looks less than eight or even nine pounds. JB alone, in these mad few years, has recorded eighteen tench over nine pounds. Considering six of these have been over nine pounds twelve, he thinks he’s due his double!
A lot of the fishing is at range with feeders but close range stuff with a float is still quite possible for those who want to fish more traditional ways.

June 22nd - 23rd

July 20th - 21st

August 17th - 18th

These dates are all about Norfolk in the summertime and they brim with possibilities. Very probably, again dependent on the conditions, we will be looking at our list of estate lakes. We have one water that probably has the best stock of English wildies that we know of anywhere in the country. This is particularly weather-dependent and we will make a decision on this particular water literally twenty-four hours before the event. Other waters are more predictable. We will be looking to catch carp off the top, big perch, big bream (sorry Ping Pong), big stillwater roach and, possibly, some crucians on a new water still to be investigated.
The river, too, cannot be ruled out during this exciting period. There are far more barbel coming through in the Wensum than many realize. The chub fishing is really becoming spectacular with fewer but much, much bigger fish. And the roach fishing can be fantastic in low, clear water conditions.
It’s fair to say that Fisherman’s Valley has never quite got to grips with the sea bass fishing! One day, however, we know we will. We’ll be doing more research into this in the very late spring and early summer and, as soon as we have it cracked, we really will have something to shout about.
One of the great things about these summer dates is that we nearly always catch a variety of super fish.