Fishing Breaks - Norfolk

The Norfolk coastline is one of the great wildernesses of East Anglia. Standing to watch the North Sea meet the vast expanse of sand dunes from the scrubby headlands even the occasional visitor can sense this is a landscape that has barely changed since the Norse invaders made landfall two millenniums ago.

For all the apparent dominance of the Broads, some Norfolk rivers are very much chalkstreams in the true sense of the word, part of the chalk seam that runs from Hampshire, though Norfolk and on into Yorkshire. They flow west into The Wash (the Wissey and Nar); north (Burn, Stiffkey and Glaven) and east into the North Sea (the Bure and Wensum).

These are genuine chalkstreams and they do produce some unexpected fish. They're nearly always browns and Norfolk has a surprisingly long history of reasonably consistent runs of sea trout.

Our rivers

BLAKENEY POINT

The shingle spit of Blakeney Point has been steadily growing westwards for the past thousand years as the offshore currents dump millions of tonnes of pebbles to create this long, windswept finger of shingle.

As you scrunch along the pebble bar, the scenery becomes wilder and more remote for this is nature’s territory, a favourite hauling out place for seals and a breeding home for terns & ringed plovers.

Coastal fishing for bass and mullet in the most glorious surroundings and sea trout provide an interesting mix for the angler who enjoys saltwater fly fishing. Charles Rangeley-Wilson got an eight and a half pounder from one of John Bailey’s favourite spots a couple of years back and that's not exceptional.

RIVER BURE

Deep in the heart of Norfolk's most unspoilt countryside, winds three miles of virtually un-fished wild brown trout river. It's a little paradise. Stocks of wild, sustaining fish are high and if you want a trout fishing experience where you will be stalking fish, watching for them to rise and sight fishing in the shallower runs and pools this is the place for you.

Terry Lawton is your guide and he's a master at this type of work. It could be you'll spend ten minutes wriggling into position for an especially desirable fish. One false move and your dreams vanish in a puff of silt. The river sees good hatches of mayfly, sedge and olives and if you're not on the top, you'll be drifting a nymph, watching for a lightning fast take.

This is intimate, challenging fly fishing. In places, the river is no more than two or three yards wide. You're eyeball to eyeball with your quarry. This is the place for that two or three weight, seven-foot wand that you've always wanted to use. Light tippets. Small reels. It's as though everything is merely an extension of your arm.

Your fishing guides

Terry Lawton

Terry Lawton fly fishes primarily for trout but also for pike and grayling when the opportunities arise. His home rivers are the Wensum, and Glaven. Although he is a committed nymph fisherman and will give plenty of advice to would-be nymph fishermen, he catches his fair share of rising fish on dry flies. He ties all his own flies and builds the occasional fly rod.

Terry is the secretary of The Bintry Mill Trout Fishery on the River Wensum where, in 1999, he is proud to boast that he caught his biggest UK trout, a wild brown that weighed 4lb 2oz, on a home-tied, copper-head Sawyer Pheasant Tail nymph.

He is the author of Nymph Fishing: A History of the Art and Practice, and Fly Fishing on Rivers and Streams. He has had articles published in leading UK magazines including Fly Fishing & Fly Tying and Trout and Salmon; in Flyfishing & Tying Journal in the USA and FlyLife in Australia. He is a contributor to the on-line fly fishing magazine Fish & Fly writing articles, reviewing tackle and books.

Dan Goff

There is nobody who knows the coastal hot spots better than Dan Goff who has lived on the north Norfolk coast pretty well all his life.

Dan has an encyclopaedic knowledge of the tides & winds & can follow the incoming tide across the marshes with unerring accuracy to track down the bass, mullet & sea trout

Places to stay and visit

Fishing advice & flies

Recommended outfit: rod of between 7ft and 9f – 8.5ft is a good compromise – for #2 to #4 floating lines, 9ft leaders and tippets of between 3lbs and 5lbs. Casting distances are rarely challenging but trees and bankside vegetation can be. Breathable chest waders highly recommended, preferably with wading boots with soles suitable for walking on grass and wading sandy or silty river beds. While some of the rivers are surprisingly deep, there are no slippery rocks to worry about!

Must-have flies include Gold-Ribbed Hare’s Ear and Pheasant Tail Nymphs (14 –20), with and without copper bead-heads; “F” Flies (14 –20), Gray Wulffs (10-14), CDC and Elk (12-16), Elk Hair Sedge (12-16), Parachute Adams (12-20), & Emergers (14-18).

Map

Fishing Breaks Ltd, The Mill, Heathman Street, Nether Wallop
Stockbridge, Hampshire SO20 8EW
Tel: 01264 781988. Fax: 01264 782590. E-mail: info@fishingbreaks.com

Trout & saltwater flats fishing in Norfolk

Fishing Breaks have a great team of Guides for wading the saltwater coastal flats of the north Norfolk coast for bass & mullet, whilst the Fenland chalkstreams are wild, very unknown and very off the beaten track.