Does anyone know how Wansford is fishing at the moment ?

Buzzers under indicators are working ok for some. Try what I do, a small sedge and dabble in front of the big trout that patrol the margins.

Got my first grayling a couple of weeks ago using that method

Thanks - Wansford is probably the nearest trout water for me, yet I never fish it!

I'm hoping to get an hour or two in tomorrow so was looking for somewhere close (more fishing / less travelling)

The minimum is 5 hours fishing which is c+r and costs £6. If you go to Starr Carr in Brandesburton you can fish by the hour. Try a dry Daddy or black gnat. It's easy to raise them by the road entrance but a sod to hook them

Talking of Wansford. I went down this morning to fish the canal to see if there were still any trout in there.
The last time I fished there was back in the 70's and it was full of good sized trout and provided great sport back then - today I never saw one nor have I seen any on the several occasions I've stopped to observe the water. Very disappointing indeed and shows what happens when a water isn't managed correctly.

Tony

I’ve never fished Wansford but my old man does OK there on Diawl Bachs and Okey Dokeys!

The canal has always been a wasted opportunity to me. I last coarse fished it maybe 15 years ago and it was a fish a chuck, I walked along a stretch last time I was home and saw nothing! The whole stretch from Snakeholme lock up to Driffield would have made a great match stretch.

I assume the trout in there would be escapees from the various trout farms along the length. There are still trout in the Driffield end (and some pretty big ones at that) they always show up when we take the little ‘un to feed the ducks.

I'd ask Dave Southall about the canal. He wrote about a trout he's caught a few times in FF&FT. I fished it a couple of times a while back and hooked a 2lb+ brownie at the head where the first lock is. Haven't tried further down.

Like you, I found it excellent many years ago and I can't believe what's happened to it!
Back in June, I stood for fully an hour on two occasions in the evening near the Trout pub and never saw one rise so yesterday I took a trip down and fished it with perch float and a brandling just to see if I could get any takes - not one bite!
I saw a couple of very small shoals of very tiny coarse fish fry and possibly a 6" tench down from the gates above the bridge, but that was it...absolutely nothing. I didn't even see any of the large shoals of coarse fish that used to reside just down from the gates at Wansford - everything seems to have gone.

It could be to do with perhaps maybe too many pike ( not that I saw any but that is not say there isn't any) but even back when I fished there, there used to plenty of pike and no problems with fish numbers, so I don't really understand why it's gone down so rapidly.

It seems that since Driffield Navigation Society took over the running of the water, it's gone to rack and ruin.
The stretch from Wansford down to what is now Wansford fisheries was a superb stretch for trout when I last fished it but now it's weeded up/silted, very shallow by comparison to it's former days and the water pace has increased which presumably is something to do with the trout farm abstraction.

At Whinhill upward, it's just a sorry state - shallow through silting and weed and covered in duck weed.

If my memory serves me right, the stretch from Whinhill up to Riverhead was fly fishing only back in the 70's and fished regularly by fly fishing enthusiasts.

What a shame to see good fishing waters like that neglected - very sad indeed!

Tony

Fished Star Carr alot last year, had alot of success on Dawsons Nomad early season and Buzzers/PTN's through summer. I agree that its a bit hit and miss, some days you can't seem to fail, others you get alot of "taps" or rises but can't get the hook to stick.

Only fished it once this year with my nephew (who isn't a fisherman) for about an hour, he hooked one but lost it then got bored (he is a "teenager").

I'm trying to fish some different venues this year and thought Wansford would be worth a try.

Dave,

speak with forum member casts_by_fly (Rick) who fishes it regularly and lives nearby.

Check their website out and send them an email to get the very latest;

Home

Best,

D.