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Fenland is a vast area of land intersected by various
rivers and drains. Although for the most part, the rivers follow
their intended course, the hand of man has dictated some deviation. The
rivers have been diverted to be encompassed into the bigger picture of draining
this vast area. The draining of the fens has left us with a huge number of
drains on or in which we can ply our skills as Pike Anglers. Nearly all drains
take us to a river, so don't be tempted to think that Pike fishing in the Fens
is only carried out on the drains.
This purpose of this network of drains and rivers is two
fold. One is the obvious drainage of the area, two, believe or not is to
retain the water for summer irrigation. So one of the problems we
encounter when Pike fishing is pumping. The other problem is weed growth,
due to the high import of fertiliser onto the land. Happily the pumping
doesn't usually go on for too long, and the weed cutters usually give everything
a trim up before winter sets in.
So in general you will encounter slow moving waters, not too
deep in the main, not over weedy, and with a good chance of encountering a few
decent fish. The
Fenland Thirties page, compiled by local Fen boy Denis
[Digger] Moules, shows the potential of Pike Fishing in the Fens.
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