LEE ANGLERS' CONSORTIUM
LEE ANGLERS' CONSORTIUM
19th November 2009
Last week the EA introduced 500 roach and 500 chub at Enfield (Island Bridge) they were part of their annual restocking programme and the fish were about 4/5 inches long.
I have had several reports of big perch coming from Stanstead Abbotts and Rye House. These fish are usually caught on lobworms. Martin, our north beat bailiff, has verified fish up to 4lbs and together with chub up to 5lbs caught at Ware earlier in the year it proves that there some decent fish in the Navigation. I have also been sent photographs of carp between 12 lbs and 20 lbs coming from Enfield and Ponders End. In addition a bag of 6 bream weighing 35 lbs. We have also seen roach up to a pound in various stretches throughout the autumn. However, these fish are not widespread and you will need to spend some time locating.
The EA have recently carried out their annual surveys and I have yet to learn the results. They have sent some pictures in of bream, pike, carp and and a eel caught in the surveys. The EA also reported seeing shoals of good size roach between Ponders End and Stonebrige. Let us hope they can survive the winter and the attention of cormorants and poachers.
Hopefully, I will include some of these pictures on this site when I find time and after I have updating my web designing software.
9th October 2009
Feides Weir Access
Please note that access to Feildes Weir from Ratty’s Lane has been lost. The owner
of the land at the bottom of the lane i.e the car park area, states that he cannot
continue to pay for clearing the rubbish left at the bottom of the lane. This is
not thought to be angler’s litter but nevertheless the access to the towing path
and weir pool has been fenced off and padlocked. The nearest access points are Rye
House and Dobbs Weir. Please keep an eye on this site for any further information.
Dredging Tottenham to Old Ford
British Waterways, in partnership with the EA is currently managing a £2 million dredging programme to improve the Navigation, tackling the problem of poor waste water quality. Historically the river has suffered from years of abuse. Riverside industries discharge unwanted waste into the waterway. Sewage treatment works use the river to dispose of effluent. Homes were built in the area with mis-connected pipes, and fly tipping and general littering has been common place. These combined actions have resulted in a build up of silt and obstructions in the river which must be cleared as part of a wider programme of improvements to the waterway. Further work will be required and BW are already working with local authorities to reduce and rectify the number of sewage mis-connections; liaising with water quality management board to develop education and awareness initiatives to prevent fly tipping and littering; and promote the importance of the long term improvements to Deepham sewage treatment Works to reduce sewage and silt discharges and odours. (Web editors comment- I have looked back in my diary to note that I was still catching 10 lbs of mainly dace and roach, just below the ice rink up to 1990 and then by 1993 catches declined and finally the cormorants arrived in 1995. There were even chub down at Springfield. Was the water quality better in 1990 than in 2009?)
Two Tings Cycling Campaign
The 2009 campaign, which BW will be manage in house, is expected to be expanded by adding events outside central London, such as the R.Lee. In April BW announced that as a result of the success of the nation’s first tow path ranger that it, in partnership with Transport for London, has employed a deputy to help the many visitors to capital’s canals to enjoy them safely. The press release mentioned cyclists mentions cyclists and pedestrians but nothing about anglers!
20th March 2009
British Waterways creates new homes for water voles.
British Waterways is recycling the sludge and silt it removes from the River Lee
Navigation into new riverside residences for water voles. Throughout February and
March 2009 British Waterways is undertaking a programme to clear silted areas of
the Navigation. This programme will ensure a clear navigation channel for boaters
this Summer as well as having a unique benefit for waterway wildlife. Rather than
dump the sludge-like silt brought out of the river, it will be recycled into a series
of new water vole habitats. The new residences will be installed along the far banks
between Cheshunt and Waltham Town.
British Waterways’ ecologist, Leela O’Dea explains:
"The dredged silt from the Lee Navigation is just the right sort of material that’s
needed to create a soft bank, which is the best environment for burrowing animals
like the water vole to make a nest in. These new habitats will help support the local
vole population and encourage more of these shy little creatures to make the river
their home."
Just over a year ago, in February 2008, Government announced full legal protection for water voles, better known as 'Ratty' from Wind in the Willows. The water vole is the UK's fastest declining mammal, with habitat destruction and predators, notably mink (an invasive species), decimating the population over the past thirty years. By creating new soft banked areas along the riverside, British Waterways is reclaiming land for the voles and returning it to a more natural state for them to thrive in.
The Navigation will be spot dredged from Waltham Town Lock to Aqueduct Lock removing
any shallows and these materials will be deposited behind the newly installed bank
protection, silt analysis has shown that none of the deposits are contaminated. The
work has been programmed outside the fish spawning season. 
All the work is being
carried out from the water to reduce the environmental impact of dragging silt across
the channel disrupting the aquatic habitats and daily testing of dissolved oxygen
takes place to ensure that the work is not having an impact on water quality. The
turbidity created is limited to the immediate vicinity of the dredging machine and
does not cause plumes down the navigation, after work we are finding that this effect
is limited to a few hours. In addition the hazel being used will act as a medium
for fish spawning, unfortunately we were not able to angle to it improve this function
as this would impact on the width of navigation. Eventually a reed fringe will establish
on what are currently barren banks. Although some trees have been cut back to install
this there are still long stretches which remain overhanging. The majority of the
work has focussed on the section between Waltham Common Lock and Aqueduct Lock.
Land drainage consent was sought from the Environment Agency which ensured the different regulatory functions including fisheries and biodiversity had the opportunity to comment on the scheme,
11th March 2009
WARE ANGLING CLUB 
Ware Angling Club control the fishing on the bank opposite the tow path at Amwell which is alongside the Herts and West Essex bird reserve.
On Friday 6th March 2009 there was a fish stocking of 250lb of roach and skimmer
bream up to one and a half pound in weight introduced into the River Lee Navigation below
Hardmead Lock. This was a joint enterprise by Ware Angling Club and British Waterways
to revive the fish stocks on this stretch of the river. 
The fish had previously been
resident in side ponds at the Caen Hill Lock flight on the Kennet and Avon Canal
near Devizes in Wiltshire. They have been removed from that location as part of a
project to restore the ecological balance of the ponds and are being re-homed across
the waterways in locations where fish stocks have been depleted. This restocking
will obviously be of benefit to the LAC stretch at Amwell and the LAC would like
to support the efforts of Ware AC to preserve Lee Navigation angling.
21 June 2008
New Season Fish
Steven Young took this fine tench 4.08.00 from Stanstead Abbotts on tuti fruity boilee
15 March 2008
End of season carp 
Steven Young finished the season on a high at Stanstead Abbotts. Fishing tuti fruity boillie he had three carp weighing 10, 13 and the best a 23 lb mirror carp.
11 March 2008
Images
Today I received the following photographs from a member. I am not sure they
are all taken from the Lee Navigation but you will all probably recognise the Zander
and Enfield Lock area.
Zander 6lbs
Pike 14 .08.00
Perch 3.10.00 
Carp 20.08.00
25th February 2008
Lee Trout
You may have heard of several trout being caught on dead baits from the Feildes Weir to Rye House Bridge stretch. They are in the region of two lbs and are confusing everyone as to exactly what species they are. I have received phone e mail images and discussed these pictures with the Environment Agency. No definitive decisions were made so last week the EA electro fished the weir. They turned over a shoal of quality bream and one pike in excess of 20 lbs.
The electro could not work at the deep parts of the weir. However, eventually they caught two trout and two scales were removed from the fish before they were returned.
The EA have informed us that the scales came from brown trout of four and five years old. They were probably washed down from Amwell Trout Fishery during the heavy December rains.
Please let us know if you have caught one of these fish anywhere on the Navigation.
Perch
Throughout the autumn and winter there have been several big perch caught from the Navigation. In the last few weeks news came though of two anglers catching 13 perch in a morning on legered lobworm in the Stanstead Abbotts area. The fish ranged from 1 lbs up to a best 4 lbs. Update big perch are still being caught in early March.
Pollution
The local TV news covered the first incident where diesel spillage injured up to 30 swans. The EA attended this incident and tracked back the pollution to the Salmon's Brook near Edmonton. They could not find the source. Then in the evening of Sunday 24th more diesel was seen covering almost the whole width of the river below Stonebridge Lock. I am awaiting the EA's report on this incident. It looks as though the diesel floated on the river's surface and there was no fish kill. I would be pleased if you could keep your eye on this section and notify me or Tom, the bailiff of any further pollution, dead birds or fish and even any reports of fish being caught in this once very popular stretch.
Springfield Marina
Local TV news also carried the story of sewage floating on the Lee in this area and making life unpleasant for the rowers and the future Olympic visitors. It is funny that we have been complaining about the mis-connected drains relating to new buildings and unmapped very old sewage pipes for years but nothing gets done. The affect it has had on the once big fish populations from Springfield to Lea Bridge has been ignored for years. Such a clean up will be a massive cost to the authorities and perhaps their embarrassment for 2012 will be our best hope for some action. What have you seen in this area and has any fish been seen or caught in this area over the past couple of years.
NEWS Prior 2009 & 2008