Shotford, Shotford Bridge.

Location-Situated just outside Harleston town Shotford covers 24 pegs split by the road. For the top section turn left at Harleston Market place and then left again at the Cherry Tree pub, travel down the hill and over the bridge, then take the right-hand fork and turn immediately right into the No1 pit car park. Club control runs upstream from the bridge to the end of the No1 pit. For the bridge swim park on the left beside the road approximately 100m before the road forks, walk back down the road and over the stile next to the bridge. for pegs 18 to 20 again park next to the road but enter the marsh through the gate and walk down the marsh to the river, the club controls the fishing downstream to the forst fence where the river is closest to the Ocean pit. For access to the downstream section turn left just before the bridge then park at the first iron gate on the right.

Description- Probably the best stretch of club controled water on the river with plenty of fish to be caught throughout the year with the autumn and winter months being the hot time to fish. The pegs vary with plenty of shallows speeding the flow onto the deeper runs. the river is 12m wide on average and 6ft deep at the maximum.

Tactics and pegs- During the summer any peg with a clear run and a bit of flow should see you get plenty of bites from roach and dace with five or six pounds a good catch when the waters clear. Short evening sessions or a roving approach taking a few fish from each peg before moving on will produce the best results. Most of the pegs hold a few resident chub and floating crust or freelined worm is probably the best way to catch them. All the pegs can produce good bags of fish in the late autumn and winter, once the weather cools and the river gets it's first flush through this stretch really comes alive, the dace move off the shallows into the deeper water and roach move into the section from further down river. With good weather conditions and a bit of colour 20lb+ of quality roach and dace is possible more if you can snare a couple of bonus chub. The bridge peg 17 is the favorite peg on the section with a short walk and plenty of fish shoaled up here all winter. Peg 14 just before a row of trees on the near bank is another hot peg. If the river is high and coloured head for peg 12 on the upstream stretch which is just off a bend and offers some slack water or peg 19 below the bridge again on a corner with a small island opposite providing the slack water.