LEE ANGLERS' CONSORTIUM

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Hertford and the The Meads

Location

 

Hertford is about 10 miles north of the M25 and to the west of the A10. There is limited car parking around the town. For the  best access to the river try the car park at bottom of Marshgate Drive. The car park is the far side of the river but is often full. Or drive through town and over river bridge and follow sign for the swimming pool.( Hartham Lane). Park as far as you can then walk off to towing path below the town shopping centre but above the marina. This is a fee paying car park.

 

Description 

 

Folly Bridge is the upper limit of the LAC fishery and this section can be reached from the town but as parking is very restricted in the town it is best to use the parking at Hartham Lane by following the signs for swimming pool.

 

From the bridge to the spill weir at Mill Road the river has a gentle flow for most of the time and fishing with a stick float or pole is very popular. It is weedy in Summer and British Waterways has made a lot of the bankside permanent mooring for narrowboats. Main species in this section are roach and bream but there is always the possibility of a large carp, barbel or chub.                                                                                                                     

                                                                                                                 Dicker Mill with platforms hidden in reeds.

 

The next section (Dickers Mill)down to the lock is very slow moving, if not still, even when the

river is in flood and is well suited to small club outings when such conditions prevail elsewhere. This is an all year round venue but in the summer the are large numbers of good carp resident under the boats moored upstream of the lock. Best bait for these is sweet corn. This section is also good in the early part of the season for quality roach to hemp and breadpunch plus occasional tench. The tow path is narrow so if possible use one of the 12 permanent platforms situated along this 'canal' pound.

 

Downstream of the lock is the Meads section which had 120 purpose built fishing platforms. Several these are now unusable and unsafe. BW agreed to remove them but to date very few have been taken out. So please take care. This section normally has flow and is inhabited by a large shoal of good bream. Big carp can also be found in the cutting just below Hertford Lock. Roach can be found in the weed beds in the summer while in the winter it is a popular pike fishery. In addition to these there are some chub to be found in many of the swims (especially where there are trees on the far bank) while all the swims have perch that normally live in the nearside marginal weed. Some of these are in excess of 3lbs!

 

The Meads section is one of the more picturesque parts of the Lee and well worth a visit. There is a fair walk to some of the swims as access is only from either end. However there is a good tow-path that is very suitable for trolleys.

 

 

 

 

Hertford Meads with towing path on far side.

 

The New River is private fishing controlled by Palmers Green AS.

Section Tips

• The best method for the bream on the Meads stretch is to use large pieces of flake fished on a feeder rig with liquidised bread as ground-bait. Best pegs are normally at mouth of Beane (or Old Lea).
• Caster is a good summer bait on this venue, especially for roach.
• Chopped worm fished in the marginal weed is excellent all year round for the perch.
• The Dicker Mill section is a good stand-by venue in the winter when the rest of the river is in flood. Never go without breadpunch. Make use of the platforms provided to get you and your tackle off the towing path.
• Hemp is an early season bait for most parts of this venue.
• The fishing in the area of the allotments and cottages is limited and please take care not to upset the residents along this section known as the 'Folly' section. Try a lightly shotted waggler over loose-fed maggots or caster and hemp.