Coarse Fishing Hotspots on the Broads

Why the Broads Rewards the Coarse Angler

The Broads National Park is a maze of shallow, gently flowing rivers, connected broads and reed-lined dykes covering roughly 120 miles of lock-free waterway across Norfolk and Suffolk. For the coarse angler, that means variety: bream-led broads, roach-rich rivers and a genuine winter pike fishery that can produce fish over twenty pounds.

Fishing is generally from the bank or from a moored boat, and much of the water is tidal, so tides, boat traffic and summer weed all shape how you approach a session. Get those three things right and the Broads is one of the most productive mixed fisheries in the country.

Bream: The Broadland Bread and Butter

Bream are the backbone of Broads angling, and a proper shoal of bronze slabs is a real possibility on a warm morning. Hickling Broad, Barton Broad and Rockland Broad all hold good head of fish, as do the wider stretches of the River Bure below Acle Bridge and the Yare around Brundall.

On the broads themselves, a method or cage feeder packed with a sweet, dark groundbait and a few micro pellets will pull fish into the swim. On the rivers, fish the feeder hard on the crease of the tide — bream often feed best in the last two hours of the ebb and the first hour of the flood, when the flow slows and the water clears slightly.

• Rig: 8lb mainline to a 0.16mm hooklength, size 12–14 wide gape.
• Hookbaits: sweetcorn, worm, dead red maggot, or a 6mm pellet.
• Timing: dawn until mid-morning, then again into the evening.
• Tip: feed a bed of groundbait and wait — chasing bream around rarely works.

Roach: Finesse on the Rivers and Dykes

The Yare, Waveney, Thurne and Chet are the places to go for proper silver-fish sport. The Waveney around Geldeston and Beccles, and the Yare above Reedham, both offer long, steady trots along reed and mooring walls where a stick float or waggler can be fished at close range.

Summer fish respond well to hemp and tares, with caster over the top. As the water cools, switch to maggot, pinkie and caster fished on lighter tackle — 2lb to 3lb hooklengths and size 18–20 hooks are rarely out of place. Winter shoals can be hugely concentrated in the deeper, sheltered stretches and around the entrances to dykes such as Langley Dyke and the Thurne's many arms, so it pays to move if you have not had a bite within twenty minutes.

Pike: Winter Fishing on the Broads

From November through to the end of February, the Broads becomes a serious pike fishery. Wroxham Broad, Salhouse Broad, Horning, Martham and Oulton Broad all have form, and the quieter dykes off the Thurne can be excellent for fish that see very little pressure.

Deadbaits — roach, smelt, lamprey section or a mackerel tail — fished on a float or a simple running ledger over marginal weed are the classic approach. Lures come into their own when the water is coloured or when you want to cover water quickly, particularly on the broads where you can fan casts across the shallows.

• Always use a wire trace — pike will bite through anything else.
• Carry an unhooking mat, long forceps, and bolt cutters.
• Never lift a pike by the gills or lay it on gravel; support the fish and return it quickly.
• Be mobile: two or three rods on separate swims will out-fish one static rod every time.

Permits, Baits and Practical Kit

You will need a valid rod licence before you wet a line anywhere in England. Beyond that, fishing rights on the Broads are a patchwork: some stretches are controlled by local angling clubs and associations, others are day-ticket water, and a few are free. In practice, the simplest route is to buy a day ticket from a tackle shop or a permit from a waterside pub or hire yard before you fish.

If you are afloat, remember that fishing is normally only permitted from a properly moored boat, not while under way, and that you should keep clear of marked channels and moorings.

• Baits to pack: sweetcorn, luncheon meat, worm, maggot, caster, hemp, bread flake, plus deadbaits for winter.
• Accessories: landing net, unhooking mat, forceps, a decent seat and a long-handled net for high banks.
• Safety: banks are often soft and steep; wear a flotation aid if you are fishing from a boat, and never wade the broads.

Timing Your Trip Through the Year

Spring sees tench and the first bream moving onto the shallower broads, and the rivers fish well as they warm. Summer is the most productive period overall, but boat traffic builds from late morning, so dawn and evening sessions are far more rewarding than fishing through the middle of the day. Weed growth peaks in July and August, which means you will need to find clear gaps or fish over the top with a float.

Autumn is arguably the finest time of all: the boats thin out, the bream and roach shoal up tightly and the first pike start feeding hard. Winter is for the predator angler, and a still, bright, frosty morning on a quiet broad is one of the great pleasures of Broads fishing. Wherever you fish, fish early, feed sensibly, and move if the swim is quiet — the Broads rewards anglers who stay curious.