Cheshunt Old Boy

[Zebedee]

Hello everyone. Like many here, I imagine, it's been a slow return to course fishing after many years away from the scene, so to speak. My formative, indeed only, years fishing were spent on the River Lea in Cheshunt, where I grew up, catching perch and gudgeon or watching the bailiff at Cheshunt Lock having fun with barbel. There was of course the occasional foray into a day ticket pit or, worse, sneaking in to the very Private! Keep Out! Lower Reservoir off Brookfield Lane. Funnily enough, I only ever remember catching crucians there. That would have been around 1960 or so. More generally, I was only vaguely aware of carp fishing then. I knew of some big specimens in one of the smaller pits after you crossed the railway line at Cadmore Lane and I was also aware of Richard Walker visiting occasionally. Further afield, the New River stretch from Cheshunt to Broxbourne was a really beautiful place: no urbanisation; grassy banks and tranquil to the point of spooky, maintained as it was then by the Metropolitan Water people; none of that arguably intended degradation, steel piling and so on, brought about since the transfer of authority to that foreign-owned enterprise which calls itself Thames Water. Incidentally, the recent shutting of that reservoir was a disgraceful act, a fair reflection of the historic inadequacy of the local council which also oversaw the destruction of the historic high street during the 1960s, against which my mother battled in vain for many years.

Fast forward so many years and I'm now in the south west of England hoping to learn more about tench fishing with a float and how to stop small but tiresome perch and roach, from always getting to the bait first.

[Olly]

I assume you mean the old Red Spinner water? The freeze in 62 or 63 killed most of it's inhabitants, it was restocked and most if not all of the fish were removed to pastures new, although I think only one or 2 may now survive, before the new housing estate was built.

I fished it in the 80's a few times.

[Aitch]

Welcome sir.... Sadly you wouldn't recognise Cheshunt now... it's a shadow of it's former self, a lot of waters were filled in and housing estates built upon them. The River is a beautiful place, although the Barbel are less prolific than they used to be and the Chub...? well the Chub are knocking on the record, but there's precious little else, there are some nice Dace in the old River though

[Oswy]

Welcome from another new member.

[Shed_Monkey]

Welcome from a fellow newbie

I spent many happy hours as a youngster fishing for Perch and Gudgeon on the Lea around Waltham Abbey in the early 80's and caught my first ever Pike next to the Lock just before the M25 flyover.

Good luck with the Tench fishing.

[Das-Bolt]

Welcome fellow Stickleback!
You've brought back some memories there. I used to fish The Lea in the 60's at Cheshunt, Broxbourne, and St Margaret's. I lived in Islington then and would get an early bus to Liverpool St. for the train. Happy days!
Bernie (Das-Bolt).

[Mark]

Welcome to the forum Zebedee.

[SkimmingTheCream]

Welcome to the TFF Zebedee

[Richard O]

[Zebedee]

I assume you mean the old Red Spinner water? The freeze in 62 or 63 killed most of it's inhabitants, it was restocked and most if not all of the fish were removed to pastures new, although I think only one or 2 may now survive, before the new housing estate was built.

I fished it in the 80's a few times.

Yes, the reservoir that was filled in, sadly. It was easy to catch crucian carp there but they weren't of any size, the water perhaps being undermanaged and holding a stunted population. I don't remember anything now as to who leased the fishing. We used to sneak in.

It's true, Bluelabel, I can barely recognise the place today. We lived in High Street, Cheshunt. Immediately bordering the end of our garden were Rochford's nurseries and beyond that were the water and the wilds. If you knew your way across the water, you could wander across to the Essex hills on the other side of the valley. How sad I was to see all that slowly and inexorably disappearing. I rode under the cattle creep at Cheshunt Station once on my bike coming back from fishing and caught my head badly as I entered. Blood everywhere. Probably accounts for the serendipitous nature of my life since.