LEE ANGLERS' CONSORTIUM
LEE ANGLERS' CONSORTIUM
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.
12th September 2007
Big Lee Navigation Tench
Reported in this week's Angling Times with picture showed John Harrris of London with a tench weighing 8.04.00 caught on breadflake form Enfield Lock. That is the biggest Lee tench I have ever had reported.
17th April 2007
BW News
Bow Back Rivers and the 2012 Olympics
British Waterways secured agreement and final funding for the Prescott Lock and Water Control Structures in February. The £18.9m project is funded by the Olympic Delivery Authority, London Thames Gateway Development Corporation, Transport for London, the Department for Transport and British Waterways and is a major step towards the restoration of the rivers in the Lower Lea Valley. The structure will serve a range of functions including: controlling the upstream rivers at a navigable depth (3m headroom and 2.4-2.1m draft) for commercial and leisure traffic; enabling extensive works to be carried out to the existing channels within the Olympic Park; preventing the influx of the tide, and tidally-borne detritus; and increasing fluvial flood storage capacity of the Lower Lea Valley. British Waterways’ principal contractor set up its works compound on Three Mills Island and began preparing the site last month. The first piles will be driven toward the end of April, and ‘tidal lock-out’ is planned for December. The new lock is programmed to be operational in August 2008, in time to service the main Olympic construction phase.
One of the major functions of the structure will be to create a freight path between the Olympic Park/Stratford City and the Thames and it is estimated that at the peak of construction the structure will help to take 1,200 lorry journeys off local roads each week. The lock has been designed to the maximum navigable dimensions of the waterways which will enable it to take two, 350-tonne barges at a time. There will be a four- to six- hour tidal window for navigating up Bow Creek and British Waterways is working with a range of commercial operators on the precise method of operation. The lock will be able to service both the Olympic Park and future developments planned in the area, such as Stratford City. Although the initial cargoes are likely to be construction materials, in the longer term it is anticipated that this will be replaced by waste and recyclates. British Waterways is also discussing with the Olympic planners and other partners opportunities for leisure and tourism boating facilities in the area.
This project has been made possible by the considerable support and advice of a wide range of groups and organisations, including: the IWA, NABO, AWCC, IWAAC, Environment Agency, Natural England, Port of London Authority, Sea & Water, Lea Valley Park Regional Authority, LB Newham, River Lea Tidal Mill Trust, representatives of all the main political parties and many more.
16th April 2007
A brace of carp from Picketts Lock
I have just received these photographs of a 24-12-00 common and a 13-12.00 mirror caught above Picketts Lock. Thank you Ryan for the feed back and well done.
29th March 2007
EA Rod licences
I did not know until I tried this week that you cannot obtain an online licence for concessionary OAP's and people with disabilities. The EA state that there is no way of verification of proof that I am over 65. Yet you have to give your date of birth. Also when I went to the Post Office all they needed was a sight of my current licence. So surely there should not be a problem with renewals on line because you could enter your current licence number so that it could be verified on their data base. Thus leaving just the first time applications as the problem year. Have you had similar problems?
30th September 2006
The picture shows a typical carp caught this season from the Lee Navigation. Taken
from near the Chalk Bridge, Edmonton on floating bread it weighed almost 30 lbs.
3rd May 2006
The late Terry Mansbridge
It is with great regret that I have to report that our Vice President, Terry Mansbridge died in hospital on Thursday 20th April 2006. Terry was a personal friend of mine but for those who had just met him briefly you will have realised how easy he was to get on with particularly with his knack of being able to communicate just as easily with either anglers on the bank or with government officials at high powered meetings. I do not intend to list everything his was doing for you as anglers but it was Terry who revived the Consultative set up in the Lee Valley. More importantly in 1992 he was the leading figure with his management team that set up the the LAC. It thrived very successfully until the cormorants arrived in 1996. When, in 1999, he moved on to live in Norfolk he told me that you may win a few battles but never the war. How right he was. Since his move he has worked behind the scenes to assist the LAC in its working relationships with British Waterways and the Environment Agency and, indeed, he was instrumental in getting the Lee Valley its Fisheries Action Plan.
Terry will be greatly missed and our condolences have been sent to this widow, Christine and family.
5th August 2005
Saturday August 6th
Lee FAP Launch
The Environment Agency officially launch its FAP programme at Hayes Hill Barn, Stubbins Hall Lane, off Old Nazeing Road, Waltham Abbey. The event will commence at 11 am and finish at 3 pm. A buffet lunch will be served and all anglers are welcome. Representation will be from EA, BW, VRPA, RMC Angling, LAC and the LVACA.
14th June 2005
Feildes Weir
I am pleased to be able to report that the new platforms at Feildes Weir will be open on Thursday for the start of the new season. Each platform has been designed for use by disabled anglers and there is a hardstanding on the other side of the lock bridge for 2 disabled anglers' cars. Day tickets available on the bank at £3 and £1.50 for concessions. Please report your catches at this new facility and help us to look after it.
24th
May 2005
Fish Refuges installed upstream of Tottenham
The Environment Agency and British Waterways have combined resources under the umbrella of the Lee Fishery Action Plan programme to provide 32 fish refuges tethered to the far bank upstream of Tottenham Locks. Each refuge has wire mesh beneath the water to allow fish to swim to safety but obstruct predating cormorants. They also have surface weed growth including water buttercups.
9th January 2005
Feildes Weir Refurbishment
The work entailed making the fishery accessible to disabled anglers. There are 8 new platforms with good paths to each peg. There are also be 2 car hardstandings for disabled anglers on the fishery. In addition when totally completed the Feildes Charity Trust will have toilet and refreshment facilities in a building adjacent to the lock house. This work is being funded by the Lee Anglers Consortium, British Waterways, Environment Agency and Waterways Trust. The project has been in the pipeline for 3 years now and the required funding only came together with the advent of the Lee Fishery Action Plan. Groundworks (Herts) are project managing the site.
12th September 2004
Towpath dog pollution
In March 2004 I received a British Waterways press release stating it was to install 1,000 new dog waste bins at popular towpath access points. It is know understood that the Lee Navigation will have 20 and the first have appeared at Enfield and Ponders End. Let us hope they are used and regularly emptied so that it might be easier to put your tackle down at your favourite peg.
91st September 2004
Web site
From the 1st September 2004 the LAC Web site will gradually go live and be updated regularly. I trust you will find some of the site interesting and hopefully some of your experiences on the bank can be conveyed back to the office for inclusion in the site.
Lee Navigation Carp
Many of you may have read Gary Newman's 'Carp News and Views' article in the Angler's Mail this week. It reported that Mike Faulkner had caught a stunning 40 lb 1 oz mirror carp from the Lee Navigation. Apparently Mike has had numerous carp, many over 30 lbs, from the Lee over the past 7 years but he does not know where the carp have come from and why some have tags. Well over the past 10 ten years the LAC and British Waterways have stocked carp in the 1 lb to 2 lb range. Unfortunately they never stay where they are introduced and many have not survived the attention of cormorants and those undesirable people who fish the the Lee for food. However, those remaining have put on weight and can be found in nearly every stretch of the Navigation. The tagged fish about 1.5 lbs each were introduced at Enfield and Homerton Road in February and April 1997.The tags were coloured blue or yellow with either 'Environment Agency' or 'Lee Anglers' Consortium. The 1997 LAC journal provided more details and requested all anglers to report any tagged fish they had caught.
15th August 2004
Dicker Mill, Hertford Platforms
Through the good offices of Louise Fishleigh, British Waterways Recreation Officer we have been provided with 14 fishing platforms along the stretch where the tow path is narrow and the river looks more like the Grand Union Canal. This will enable anglers to sit comfortably off the towing path away from other users and at water level. This is a popular stretch in the winter when bread punch offered finely on pole tactics will produce roach albeit of not great size. Below are a couple of photographs of these platforms.(not yet available). It took two years to negotiate for them to be installed and it was not without the National Association of Boat Owners lobbying for the scheme to be dropped but thankfully BW stuck to their promise.
4th May 2004 and ongoing
Lee Fishery Action Plan
To be able to achieve even the smallest improvement to protect our fishing one needs connections at the highest level and for the LAC they do not come much better that our President, Fred French and our Vice President, Terry Mansbridge. In particular we are indebted to Terry for his work as Executive Chairman of NAFAC. For those of you who have been fishing the Lee will remember that he was the Lee Administrator from its inception in 1992. In those days there were plenty of fish and anglers to make the LAC a thriving and financially viable Consortium. However, since 1996 which coincides with the cormorant invasion in the Lee Valley, the LAC has struggled to provide good fishing and the necessary finance for new projects. When I took over from Peter Green it was almost too late to save the whole of the Navigation. So it became our intention to concentrate on those stretches where fish populations have been held at reasonable levels.
When in 2001 I was asked whether I had the time to get involved with a new Government (DEFRA) scheme I was naturally sceptical. Everybody said that we have been down that road many times before but what had the LAC to lose. As a river for fishing it has nearly every problem conceivable.
So in 2002 the Lee FAP was formed with local stakeholders forming the committee with Environment Agency (EA) officers advising and carrying out most of the work. Being realistic and a retired accountant I was fully aware that there was no way the Government could or would provide the necessary funds to cure all of our problems. Nevertheless it gave us a platform to air our concerns and perhaps receive a little help. The EA officers are headed by Matt Carter and his assistant Richard Tyner and now Karen Austin. They are truly enthusiastic officers and without the constraints of their other duties and lack of resources I am sure they would wish to do a lot more.
Very shortly the Lee FAP report will be published highlighting the many problems in the Lee Valley. These relate not just to angling but others users but I have to say that despite invitations to provide input to the stakeholders meetings the main commitment has come from angling and much of the work has been concentrated on the Navigation.
The document which will provide a long 'wish list' of issues requiring attention. Each issue has been categorised into topics and levels of priority. Most require a lot more work before being considered and sadly some are well beyond the finances available to the FAP initiative. For example such issues as mis connected sewers etc require Government funding much like the recent problems of the tidal Thames and the tragic pollution.
Certain small pockets of money have become available.To the LAC even these modest sums, when considered on a national basis, are completely beyond our diminishing resources.
For example, The EA has provided fish refuges from Enfield Lock to the moored boats below Rammey Marsh Lock at a cost of £60/70,000. This is a long term project to provide fish habitat and refuges from cormorant predation.
Refuges installed by the EA in 2003 at Enfield Lock
Photograph by courtesy of Angling Times
Ongoing fish surveys are being carried out by the EA at exactly the same places each time and with the electronic probes set at the same depth. This is to achieve a fair a comparison as possible and it was interesting to learn that the last survey of two weeks ago found a considerable increased number of fish around these refuges than previous surveys.
The EA through the offices of the Lee Valley Angling Consultative Association (LVACA) of which I am Treasurer, has provided the necessary finance to set up a trial crayfish culling operation. To be able to sustain this work it is necessary for the project to be self financing. Unfortunately this is proving very difficult to achieve and may mean the project has to be dropped because of the financial implications.
In addition in the winter of 2003 the EA carried out a limited restocking programmer of immature silver fish. Not all of these fish have been taken by cormorants and those along Enfield has shown in recent surveys.
A large project hopefully nearing its planning stage, is the rehabilitation of Feildes Weir. This is a partnership scheme and has proved most difficult to get off the ground. If it does go ahead it must start by the beginning of 2005 otherwise vital finances will be lost.This website will keep you up to date with any progress.
The LAC no longer has the finances to carry out restocking so last winter as part of a long standing promise to the LAC and a contribution to the FAP British Waterways,(through the offices of Fisheries & Environment Manager, John Ellis) restocked the Enfield Lock area with thousands of carp between 8 ounces and pound and a half. Initially they showed very well and prompted Angling Times to carry a centre page feature on fishing adjacent the new refuges. However the exact location of these carp are now not known. Many may have been lost to cormorant predation and others to those people who break the law and fish for the table. Others probably have succumb to the diseases of the Lee. Many slipped through the lock gates to the lower Lee. Every so often one or two are caught and it should be remembered that those carp introduced in the Lee in the mid 1990's are now being caught with many in excess of 20 lbs. The above paragraphs gives readers an insight to the work behind the scenes of the LAC and in particular projects created by the mere existence of the Lee FAP and I trust you have found it a useful summary.
Photograph shown by courtesy of Angling Times.