Despite the adversities that the River Wandle has faced in previous years, most notably the massive diesel spill earlier in the year, there are still some incredible fish to be caught from one of London's few chalk streams.
One angler who has been having some fantastic success over the last few seasons is Luke Stoneman, banking no less than 80 different carp from its reaches, proving that there are some great fish to be caught, even with many anglers fearing the river is dead.
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"Only living five minutes from the Wandle, I have the advantage of being able to visit the river regularly. This meant that once I found some fish, I was able to keep an eye on the ones I wanted to catch while introducing bait," Luke told us.
"Once I found a few areas the carp were frequently visiting, I began applying a few kilos of bait every three or four days to keep them grubbing around. It was then just a case of dropping into those areas when the fish I wanted to catch were feeding," he explained.
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"I was fishing mainly in the edge to avoid any issues with the flow and to prevent the carp from bumping into my line. They can be very spooky, and the last thing I wanted was to ruin my chances after putting in so much effort because of poor line lay."
"On the hair, I used some of my homemade bottom baits, fished over Royal Marine boilies. Fishing so close in the edge made for some of the most exciting fishing I have had, watching them approach, take the rig, and then bolt off into the flow."
"After fishing the Wandle hard for three seasons, I’ve landed over 80 different carp, includinga few better fish over 20lb. It has been hard work and a lot of effort, but it has been more than worth it," he said.
