featureless fens

Now i,ve had anglers come up to me and say why do you fish the fens as they are featureless this is probably cause most of the drains are mainly straight and the whole fens are flat and barren in the winter .
but if you know what to look for while fishing for your predators you will soon realise this is not true and i,ll try and explain a few for you to start with .
now there are some real obvious feature which stand out as they are above water these places like bridges and in winter hold fish .one reason if the stauntions/buttresses go into the water narrowing and deflecting the flow and fish will congregate here out of the flow another reason is that the structures hold warmth , this is a good accessible point for anglers and many fish here regularly and introduce feed on a regular basis which also keep the fish in these area,s ,but this latter also can work against you as these also become highly pressured area,s too .
now another obvious feature on the drains is where power lines cross these can be good especially if the drain is regularly dredged as these have to be bypassed by the dredgers causing the bottom to be irregular again holding pockets of fish in the troughs on the bottom.
this also applies to bank side vegetation such as tree,s and bushes and also fences even if they don,t over hang the water again bank side dredgers have to bypass these by a few metres either side cause the bottom not to be uniform in these area,s .
another great feature is the bend these are great area,s (and are probably my favourite ) cause the flow is normally slower and more gentle and again given fish some sanctuary out of the flows when the drains get pumped .
another feature to look for is where tree,s and bushes are present right on the waters edge these give shade and again fish do hold here .
another area,s that can be productive is where the bank has collasped in either by itself or where cattle or horses have caused it by going down to drink to the drain this causes a obstruction and the water to be deflected and become slacker and again small fish will hold here happily in these area,s
another obvious feature is where side drains come in and fish again will hold here at certain times of the year (note some of the side drains have pumps on them and get pumped so some times these don,t hold fish in the entrances
as you can see suddenly with out even looking below the surface of the drains there is plenty above to look for that might help you locate fish .
now drains have shelfs on both sides and the water here is about a couple foot deep and fish come up here to feed and is where most bank side vegetation grow and can be good area,s to .
from the shelfs the drains sides slope down again on either side and placing a bait on the bottom of the slope is also a good spot .
most drains are reed lined and these area,s are good for shelter for small fish and cover for the predators
now also there are a lot of lillies along the drains and again these are good area,s to try too
now another good feature is on the big drain (relief channel ) there are fish holding area,s put in by the eviroment agency these are to allow the small fish sanctuary in the very strong flows during pumping but again in turn will attract predators .
these were originally made from wood interwoven with willow i think, but the last ones to be put in on the relief channel were gages filled with stones and would claim your tackle if snagged so be warned if fishing to close to this feature.
i hope this will give any one prepared to visit the fens a starting point to where are likely spots to try

regards
kevin

Nice one Kev! But you will be able to show us these features later in the year when we organise a forum "Zed" hunt!
I know a lot of us would want to come down there and give the fens a try!

Another great read Kev, very similar to canal fishing really. I am really looking forward to coming and having a go for some more Zeds

i would be up for a social down there without a doubt it sounds like a great place to fish and now that kev has given us the secrets nothing can stop us......

awsome read kev as always

I was lucky enough to spend the weekend with Kev on the social and he really knows his stuff, a good allrounder and a smashing bloke to boot cheers Kev

Yeah, great week end, shame about the fishing but the social it's self went well! Can't wait for the next!