If ever proof was needed that cleaner rivers make for better fishing, the Trent is surely it, for no river in the British Isles is emerging from the shadow of pollution more dramatically than this one. There is still much to be done on the upper reaches and on the Tame, the murky stream which still carries the Black Country’s pollution to the main river. Nevertheless, the current state of what is, after all, England’s biggest river system must be counted more than heartening.
Recent signs underline this mes-sage. Salmon are now being seen with some regularity in the lower reaches. Indeed, some have given competition anglers more than a shock when they have turned up on the end of a light line they have promptly smashed. These fish have been virtually unheard of in the river since before the turn of the century. The same period, the early 1900s, marked the end of the Trent as one of Britain’s most prolific barbel fisheries, with big fish and big catches being a commonplace. Then, as is the way with pollution, these fish disappeared. In the early ‘fifties, rumours of odd barbel kept persisting on the Derbyshire Der-went, one of the Trent’s major tributaries. Today it is clear barbel are coming back in real numbers for they are being regularly caught above Long Eaton and, latterly, lower down, too.
Bream were another species considered rare in the river, a mere handful being reported in any season. Now bream are being caught constantly not least in the tidal river, the latter one of the most dramatically improved sections of all. Carp, another Trent rarity, are also being reported with greater frequency and it is equally obvious they are thriving because they are getting bigger, the two biggest being over 30 lb. Its clear, too, that the river’s chub and roach population is also on the increase as news of bigger and bigger catches filters through. Underlining this latter development is the fact that all the match catch records have been smashed in the last two years!
Though it hasn’t reached that stage yet, there are some who will tell you that in the near future the Trent could become one of the most important fisheries in the country as the work of cleaning it up continues. In the face of recent developments, it would be a really pessimistic angler who would argue with such a supposition.
At the present time, the Trent’s main attraction is for the coarse fisherman though some of its tributaries, like the upper Derwent and the Dove, remain meccas for trout anglers. Ticket facilities on the Trent itself are excellent and on the tributaries, reasonable to good.
Uniquely among rivers, the Trent is not at its most exclusive in its upper reaches for, equally uniquely, that is where some of the worst pollution is to be found for the river rises near the heart of the Potteries, Stoke-on-Trent. From there it flows south-east to Rugeley where it straightens out before adopting the north-easterly direction which takes it on to Burton-on-Trent, Nottingham, Newark and, finally, the Humber. Not until the river nears Burton are fish found in it, such is the degree of pollution from the Potteries and the Tame. Reports from this area, however, suggest that coarse fish are slowly but surely moving further and further up the river. Two things play a key part in the general improvement in the Trent in this area, the influx of much cleaner water from the Dove and the Derwent, both rivers which flow from the Derbyshire Peak district. The fish population improves all the way from Burton downstream. The boundary between the tidal and non-tidal Trent is Cromwell Lock, a few miles below Newark. Though care must be taken tocheck the tide in this section of the river, it is, without any doubt, the most recently improved part of the Trent. Rod Licence: STWA (Trent River Division)
Attenborough, NottsC1 milefrom Barton Ferry to Beeston boundaryLB DT: 8g(because of match bookings)
Barton, NottsC840 yards from Barton Ferry to islandRB DT: B(because of match bookings) Besthorpe, NottsC1 milefrom gravel pits at Besthorpe down to first fence downstreamRB DT:B Bleasby, NottsC350 yards from BleasbytoHazelfordLB DT:BorAP(Starand Garter, Bleasby) Burton Joyce, NottsC]4milesfrom one field below Radcliffe Viaduct to Gunthorpe Bridge (including the famous Golden Mile of the Trent at Stoke Bardolph)LB DT:Be
Chikvell, NottsC3 mile from second clappergate above
Mitchell’s Boating Station to 6th clappergate below weirLB
DT:B
Clifton, NottsC500 yards in section behind church extending down from weirRB
DT:B
CoIHngham, Newark, NottsC 5 miles from Cromwell Weirto
Besthorpe Wharf RB
DT:(L200)B
Colwick Park, NottsC3 mile marked by STWA Boards at
Colwick plus the Trent Loop above
WeirLB
DT: ATS (E. Kirk, Carlton Road,
Nottingham; Netherfield Pets and
Gardens, Netherfield, Nottingham)
Cottam,NottsC1 mile downstream from below Torksey
BridgeLB
DT: AAA (Sheffield & District AA)
Cromwell, NottsC3 mile from
Ness Farm to Cromwell Lock LB
DT:AF (Ness Farm)
Cromwell. NottsC1 mile from one field below Cromwell Weirto wharf opposite Jolly Bargeman LB DT: AAA (Sheffield & Dist. AA)
Dunham, NottsC2 miles at
Dunham BridgeRB
DT: A TS (Rotherham)G (Bridge
Garage, Dunham Bridge) or AAA (Rotherham and Dist. UAF)
Dunham Bridge, NottsC1 mile from Dunham Bridge down to
RamptonlslandLB
DT: AG (Bridge Garage, Dunham
Bridge)
Dunham Bridge, NottsC3 mile upstream of Dunham BridgeLB DT: AK (G. Beaumont, The Green, Dunham Bridge)G (Bridge Garage, Dunham Bridge)
Farndon, NottsC3 milefrom Farndon Ferry to junction with Newark Dyke LB DT: AK(S. Clark, 11, Avebury Close, Clifton) P(Brittania Inn) Ftskerton, NottsCj mile from Hazelford Lock downstreamLB DT: AP (Bromley Arms, Fiskerton)
Redborough, NottsC3 milefrom Fledborough downstreamLB DT: AAA (Sheffield & Dist. AA) Rintham, NottsC13 miles from Nab’s Island, Hazelford, upstreamRB DT:Be
Girton, NottsC1 milefrom Girton upstreamRB
DT: A AA (Sheffield & District AA)
Gunthorpe, NottsC3 mile below
Gunthorpe LockLB
DT:Be
Hallowell, NottsC23 miles from Holme Pierrepont to Stoke WeirRB DT:Be Hazelford, NottsC300 yards from second clappergate above Star and
Garter to clappergate belowLB
DT: AP(Star and Garter,
Hazelford)
Hazelford, NottsC500 yards from
WeirupstreamLB
DT:Be
High Marnham, NottsC3 mile from Bromley Arms to firstfence downstream LB DT:B Holme, NottsC2i miles from
Winthorpe Lake down to Cromwell
LockRB
DT: B or AK (K. F. Brumpton,
Church Cottage, Holme, near
Newark)
Holme Pierrepont, NottsC1 J miles at Holme Pierrepont Country
ParkRB
DT: (L 50) AK (Ranger’s Post,
Holme Pierrepont Country Park)
Hoveringham, NottsC1 J miles from Dover Beck down to
Davidson’s Slope, the second meadow below Elm Tree lnnLB
DT:AP (Elm Tree,
Hoveringham)e
Kelham, NottsC J mile upstream from Kelham BridgeLB DT: ARO (Notts County Council, Kelham Hall, Newark) Kettlethorpe, LincsC3 mile downstream of LaughtertonRB DT: ATS (Rotherham) G (Bridge Garage, Dunham Bridge) or AAA (Rotherham UAF)
Long Eaton, DerbysC 1500 yards from Soar Mouth to Leisure Waters (known as Lockington Estate
Waters)LB
DT:AC (Trent Lock Cafe)
Long Eaton, DerbysC250yards from spinney to Sawley BridgejLB
DT: (L 25) B or AP (Harrington
Arms, Sawley, near Long Eaton)
Long Eaton, DerbysC2 miles from
Thrumpton Ferryto junction with
ErewashLB
DT: BorATS (Long Eaton)
Newton Solney, StaffsC300 yards from Trent Lane downstreamRB
Free fishing. NB: Free fishing in
Burton-on-Trent area is restricted to local ratepayers only
North Muskham, NottsC J mile at
Footit’sMarshLB
DT: AP (Crown Inn, North
Muskham)e
North Muskham, NottsC3 mile from North Muskham to Ness FarmLB DT:B
North Muskham, NottsC3 mile above Newcastle Arms at North
Muskham LB
DT: AP (Newcastle Arms, North
Muskham)
Nottingham, NottsC 1J miles from
Trent Bridge to Wilford Bridge (The
Victoria Embankment Fishery)
Free fishing
Roileston, NottsC2 miles from Fiskerton to Farndon LB DT: ATS (T. Watson, Oak Street, Nottingham or R. Dibble, 40, Belvedere Street, Mansfield) PO (Roileston village) e
Sawley, DerbysC200 yards at
Trent LockRB
DT:B
Sawley, DerbysC 1 milefrom below Leisure Sport Fishing to
SoarMouthRB
DT: ATS (Long Eaton)C (Trent
Lock)
Shardlow, DerbysC3 miles from 1 mile above junction with Derwent to upstream notice boardsBB
DT: AP (Crown Inn, Shardlow)
Shetford, NottsC21 miles from
Stoke Weirto remains of old
Gunthorpe Bridge and two small sections below buttress of old bridgeRB
DT:Be
South Clifton, NottsC6J miles South Clifton to BesthorpeRB DT: K (at North and South Clifton) or A(for Girton Section)AA (Sheffield Amalgamated AS) South Muskham, NottsCi mile from Winthorpe Bridge down to first fence LB DT:B
South Muskham, NottsCl mile at
South Muskham LB
DT:Be
Sutton on Trent, NottsC23 miles from Holes Mill to Girton StakesLB DT:AK(MrG.W. Richardson, 1, Middleholme Lane, Sutton)
Torksey, NottsCJ mile in the Trent armRB
DT: AAA (Sheffield & District AA)
WhKemore Grove, NottsC3 mile extending upstream from junction with Causeway Dyke
DT: A P (Star and Garter,
Hazelford)
Wiltington, Derby sC 10 miles from Willington to
SwarkestoneAB
DT: ATSP (Rising Sun, Willington and Crewe and Harpur,
Swarkestone)
Winthorpe, NottsCl mile at Winthorpe j RB
DT: AK (Mrs I. Potter, Winthorpe Railway Crossing)
Wlnthorpe, NottsC1 J miles from a point opposite Crankley Point down to Winthorpe railway crossingjRB DT.B
Winthorpe, NottsC3 milefrom
Winthorpe railway crossing to
Winthorpe LakeRB
DT: Bor AK(K. F. Brumpton,
Church Cottage, Holme, near
Newark)
Associations: Birmingham AA; Coventry AA; Nottingham AA; Derby AA; Doncaster AA; Lincoln AA; Swadlincote AA; Goole& District AA; Slaithwaite AA; Hull & District AA; Chesterfield AA.
