Stibbington
The Stibbington Fishery is a fairly open section of the main river and starts just below the village of Sutton slightly to the west of the A1 trunk road. The lower limit is at Castor Weir where the next P&DAA water starts. The best access point is at The Nene Valley Railway,Wansford Station on The Old Great North Road at Stibbington postcode PE8 6LR as shown on the map above. Please park on the road not in the station car park and respect the disabled spaces close to the bridge. This can be busy at times when the railway are running special events (check their website). There is a shop and café at the station as well as steam train rides which usually operate at weekends and school holidays. A 24 hour truck stop a few hundred yards up the road provides refreshments at reasonable prices.
Stibbington Fishery is a very mixed fishery and any of the river species (except barbel) may be encountered here. Pike to over 20lbs are regularly caught and perch to around the 4lb mark are also present. Around the railway bridge is the prime spot for silver fish, especially in the winter, as the water is deep around here. Towards the downstream limit where the electricity pylons cross is the long time home of a big bream shoal and once you get them feeding you could be in for a very good netfull. Chub show up anywhere along the stretch but it is always worth searching out the obvious features and keeping on the move. Five pounders are fairly common and sixes show up every season.
Please note, livestock are grazed in the meadows including long horn cattle.
Getting there
To access the fishery, which is all left bank, cross the railway bridge over the river and descend the steps down to the river bank. All of the upstream section has the benefit of a fenced barrier approx 10m from the water’s edge and anglers must use the access gates provided and not climb over the barbed wire fencing. The downstream section is fenced for approx. 250 metres and then open from there on. The lower limit of the fishery is the weir at the head of Castor Backwater. Water below here is also P&DAA controlled so if on a roving session you may continue fishing further downstream.