The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

me and a pal have decided to have a week on the thames in july, as london anglers association members we have only fished britford up to now as its near home,so a week of fishing and the odd beer in a nice pub sounds appealing,has anyone any information on laa waters on the thames, it appears we have 4 places to try,the upper thames at appleford,gatehampton farm at goring,south stoke and cholsey moulsford and bourne end at marlow,can any one shed any light on these bits of the thames ? as its our first time on this river

I've fished Appleford, lovely bit of water. Walk down river to where the river splits from the main navigation there's a huge weir pool and the river is non navigable along this stretch....big chub, perch and barbel along the length. Be aware it's a long walk from the farm where you park the car and the banks can be a bit overgrown so travel light and take a bagging hook.

Not much help I'm afraid but my Dad used to bike to Marlow from High wycombe to fish it.

I have a book called "Fishing LAA Waters" by K E Whitehead in 1971. So here goes! Views from 45 years ago!

Appleford:- The perfect fishery. High & low banks, tree lined or open, the angler can suit himself; with a weir which adds a little extra flow. Some boats but some corners to avoid them. Depths from 2 - 20ft allowing float or ledger fishing. Best bream and roach (??) swims are either 15ft out from the boathouse cutting or above and below the railway bridge. ( Nice to hear if the old data still works! )

I fished up that way quite awhile ago when the BBC were filming Three Men in a Boat. I think I must have been having an afternoon nap when they passed me. Anyways, I mainly caught roach and small bream. The best stretch that way is by the Alpaca farm near Whitchurch, or it use to be; when I fished it was was full of double figure pike but I only managed to catch five of them during a memorable early November weekend.

Not familiar with LAA waters, but had some nice chub and barbel at Bablock Hythe and Clifton Hamden
and also Pangbourne and Wallingford, Wallingford where I lost a huge barbel,well, large at the time, mid 80's

ATB Macko