February 2010 to end of season

Summer has long gone and it would seem that autumn and winter blurred into one, heavy rain fall scoured the river bed and moved a lot of the sunken branches and bits of tree to new locations it also carried more rubbish down from upstream, lots of the overhanging Willow and Alder have also been swept back creating a varied fishing landscape.

The start of December saw a serious amount of snow for everyone, this not only made access to the river almost impossible but with the resulting thaw put even more water into the river, this coupled with the previous rain and salt from the road run off has made winter a trying time for all the anglers visiting the section.

Catch rates this autumn haven’t been fantastic although in the early part a brace of 5lb plus Chub came out of the top section, other notable catches have included  Pike to 8lb caught spinning, Perch making more of a show and just as the serious cold weather was starting a very nice 2lb plus Chub caught long trotting maggot in the second field, two smallish Carp have also shown again this season a Mirror and Common to around 5lb and seem to have made the top section home and come out now and again, putting up a good scrap.

This year has unfortunately seen the Surrey Wildlife Trust build an Otter holt on the lower section of the beat, opposite the start of the Woodside Farm section, senior club officials are aware of this and the matter is in hand, this coupled with the ever present cormorant problem puts a further strain on our fisheries. The building of the holt is in line with an EU directive stating that Otters should be reintroduced to most if not all rivers in the UK, it’s a shame that the people making these decisions don’t take the time to fully evaluate the impact of a top predator on an already fragile fish population. This is a personal view and not an official one made by the club, however I know from speaking to anglers on the bank this is a serious one.

Mink are still present on the section but seem to be in decline as the coot, moorhen and dabchick populations seem to be on the up, local residents with a small amount of chickens and ducks on their land have had them trapped and dispatched which in turn helps us. Kingfisher numbers are low in relation to previous years but a few can still be seen from time to time. A small number of Buzzards are still making a living in the surrounding fields and signs of Badgers grubbing around and marking their territory can bee seen along the fence line.

Once again id like to say a ‘thank you’ to the anglers that do fish the section for not leaving rubbish on the banks and just as a reminder, no anglers arriving with wet nets or fish handling equipment will be allowed to fish.

June 2009 to January 2010:

Access to this section is across a stile and over a barbed wire fence, whilst offering very interesting swims; extreme care should be taken on this stretch. (TJ)

Fishing this summer, as with most summers on the River Wey, has been quite challenging as the ever-changing fish population feed more on natural foods. Location is also a problem due to the weed growth, though this need not be a bad thing as the thick streamer weed offers the various year groups of fish sanctuary from predation.

Good sport can still be had in the various pools and clear areas along the beat, but this does require a bit of effort. Once the weed beds have died back and the trees have shed the last of their leaves the seemingly ever increasing rainfall will for want of a better word give the riverbed a bit of a spruce up, although after really heavy rain access can be a bit tricky and members should go carefully.

During the winter months, Grayling can be taken on the faster stretches of the river to long trotting with maggot, caster or bread as can Dace and Roach.  Some nice Perch have been taken during the early part of the season on lobs and red maggot. Chub still seem to be the dominant species on the section and can be caught by all of the popular methods and in most of the obvious Chubby places, although none of the above is written in tablets of stone of course !

The Broomfield Cottage beat is owned by the Hampton Estate, the bailiffs and the Society enjoy a good relationship with the landowner, who has a small prize beef herd on the beat: grazing being rotated between the three fields which make up the beat. The landowner has this year replaced a lot of the barbwire fencing which runs the entire length of the beat, this replacement has benefited our access to the bank, although not perfect for us by any means, the fencing is there only to stop any cattle getting to the waters edge.

Fishermen cutting the wire have been reported. Please note that under no circumstance is any member of the club permitted to do this as such action would risk the Society and therefore its members loosing this stretch of the River Wey. Rubbish is virtually nil, so thank you to the fishermen that do fish the beat.