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Pleasure Catches from the River Derwent & Wyver Lane Pond – 2021

Philip Shaw with a 17lb Belper common carp

Anglers have sent us their catch pictures via our catch report page and through Facebook. Here are some of the best we were sent during 2021.

Back in January, Adam Ingram braved the cold on Wyver Lane Pond and had this lovely carp. Caught on single red maggot, size 20 hook, 1lb 8oz hooklength, 3lb mainline, quarter ounce tip, on his 10ft light bomb rod. It went 10lb 10oz:

Adam Ingram with a 10lb January carp from Belper
Adam Ingram with a 10lb+ January carp from Belper

In February, new Committee member Elliott Boam fished the Derwent and landed 4 chub on a mixture of waggler and stick float tactics, with bronze maggots doing the business:

Elliott Boam with 4 nice chub caught trotting on the River Derwent at Belper
Elliott Boam trotting on the River Derwent at Belper

Also in February on the Derwent, Adam Ingram shared a nice bream he caught, as the river looked in great shape for the final weeks of the season:

Adam Ingram with a bream from the Derwent at Belper
Adam with his Derwent bream

In May, Tom Dukes fished Wyver Lane Pond and landed this beautiful 17lb 6oz common carp:

Tom Dukes with a 17lb common carp from Wyver Lane Pond in Belper
Tom Dukes with a 17lb common carp from Wyver Lane Pond in Belper

In June, Philip Shaw also caught a 17lb common from Wyver Lane Pond. It was his first visit to the pond after an absence of 25 years. Not bad for his first btime back! He submitted this photo using the catch report page on the website.

Philip Shaw with a 17lb Belper common carp

On the first day of the river season, Adam Ingram was back into the bream on the sewerage works section. This cracking fish tipped the scales to 6lb 4oz. Great start to the new season!

Adam with a beautiful 6lb+ Derwent bream

Also in June, venue regular Jonah Cooper found this 6lb+ pike willing to take his sprat, which he’d rigged on a circle hook to ensure the fish could be quickly and safely released. He said of the capture:

“The fish gave me a decent fight and another Pike even followed it in whilst reeling in the hooked fish so that was cool to see.”

Jonah Cooper with a River Derwent pike

The bream continued to show on the Derwent throughout June. Elliott was rewarded with this fine bag of six fish, which included a few lumps:

Elliott Boam with a bag of six bream from the River Derwent

Thomas Webster had a nice afternoon session on the pond with a nice mixed bag, which included large perch, numerous silver fish, a carp and a barbel. Great fishing!

Perch from Wyver Lane Pond, Belper
Mixed bag of perch and silver fish from Belper Pond
Belper carp fishing
Wyver Lane Pond barbel, Belper

Jonah returned to the Derwent chasing pike and was rewarded for his nocturnal efforts with this fish. Jonah caught the pike after midnight, having only been fishing for an hour. Lure tactics proved successful this time, with Jonah putting an Abu Garcia 10cm Soft Plastic Trout to good use. As always, Jonah submitted details and photos of his capture using the catch report form.

Jonah Cooper with a Derbyshire Derwent pike caught lure fishing in the dark!
Jonah Cooper with a Derbyshire Derwent pike caught lure fishing in the dark!

In July, roach were showing well on the sewerage works section of the River Derwent at Belper. This bag of around 150 fish were caught on stick float, with single maggot hookbait over loose-fed hemp and maggots.

A huge bag of prime River Derwent roach caught on trotting tactics
A huge bag of prime River Derwent roach caught on trotting tactics

It wasn’t just on the sewerage works stretch producing roach, as John Hargreaves showed with this nice bag of roach and dace caught from the members-only top stretch alongside Wyver Lane pond. All were caught on maggot and waggler tactics.

A mixed bag or roach and dace from the River Derwent at Belper
A mixed bag or roach and dace from the River Derwent at Belper

In August, John was back to bother the silver fish on the top stretch. He put together this nice net of mainly roach and dace from alongside the pond, adding a lovely golden rudd.

John Hargreaves' mixed net of roach, dace and rudd from the Derbyshire Derwent
John Hargreaves’ mixed net of roach, dace and rudd from the Derbyshire Derwent

Soon after John’s catch, Elliott Boam proved that if silver fish are your quarry, the Derwent was the place to head. It fished superbly throughout August and roach to 1lb+ were caught both pleasure fishing and in matches. Waggler and maggot was the favoured method.

These bags of roach, dace, gudgeon and grayling were caught by Elliott Boam, a regular on club matches and also a member who contributed many hours on work parties last year, improving the pegs on the river.

Elliott Boam's bag of roach, dace, grayling and gudgeon caught from the River Derwent at Belper in Derbyshire
A bag of roach, dace, grayling and gudgeon caught from the River Derwent at Belper by Elliott Boam

Bailiff, Andrew Kennedy, wanted in on some action after being unable to fish much during the season. He visited the river at dawn for a three-hour session and had this to say about his experience:

“Trotting mainly caster, shallow under a stick float, I had over 20 lovely dace, a wild brownie and a chublet. In the last hour I was mobbed out by minnows until a shoal of good chub moved in, just as it was time to pack up! I could see them picking off free offerings in the shallow water but I think the alloy stick float stem kept spooking them. If I’d had time to refine my approach they were there for the taking, but I had to get home. It goes to show that if you keep the feed going in regularly, the big fish can turn up. Exciting fishing and just what I needed for my first trip to Belper this season.”

In October, Dale Lander emailed us details of a 19lb mirror carp which had picked up his 2 x 12mm boilie offering at Wyver Lane Pond. Dale noted how recognisable this fish is, missing the lower half of its tail. Have you caught this fish before?

19lb mirror carp from Wyver Lane Pond at Belper
Dale’s 19lb mirror carp

If you have any captures you’d like to share with us, please either head to our catch report page or the Club’s Facebook page and include as many details as possible, including whether or not you’re happy for us to share the photos and details.

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Update to Match calendar for 2020.

All match dates in the membership book remain the same (subject to COVID-19 lockdowns, etc.), although now there will be 2 matches on Wyver Lane Pond, 2 on the River Derwent – Top stretch alongside the pond, and 2 on the River Derwent – Goods Road, sewerage works section.

The last match of the year will be the Phil Smith memorial on the river on top stretch.

Dates and venues below:
September 13th – John Mason Memorial Match – River Derwent – Goods Road, sewerage works section.
September 27th – Wyver Lane Pond
October 11th – River Derwent – Top stretch alongside the pond
October 25th – River Derwent – Goods Road, sewerage works section
November 8th – CANCELLED Wyver Lane Pond (subject to COVID-19 restrictions)
November 22nd – CANCELLED River Derwent – Top stretch alongside the pond (subject to COVID-19 restrictions)
December 20th – Phil Smith Memorial Match, River Derwent -Top stretch alongside the pond (subject to COVID-19 restrictions)

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River Derwent fishing peg improvements – new platforms installed on Sewerage Works section at Belper

Stepped fishing pegs created at Belper on the River Derwent

This year, and particularly over the river close season, a small group of committee and club members have been extremely busy on our stretch of the Derbyshire Derwent; particularly the area known as the “Sewerage Works” section – downstream of Morrisons & the rubgy club in Belper. View a slideshow carousel of photos of the work.

Thanks to the hard work of these volunteers, new fishing pegs have been created and several existing pegs have been vastly improved – both upstream & downstream of the famous pipe bridge/foot bridge which crosses out stretch here. These fishing pegs will benefit match anglers, pleasure anglers and specialists alike – making it more comfortable to fish some of our most popular and productive swims; noted for chub, bream, perch and barbel.

Please visit these pegs, fish from them and let us know what you catch using our online catch report form.

Particular thanks must be given to Adi, Martin and Peter, who attended all or most of the work parties. This work would not have happened without them and the club is extremely grateful for their efforts. Other special mentions must go to Phil, Phil’s wife, Robert , Martin and Wayne; who each helped out at one or more of the peg improvement working parties.

This is a continuation of work undertaken in 2018 to replace and improve the fishing platforms on our members-only stretch of the Derwent beside Wyver Lane Pond.

If you would like to help with future working parties, please get in touch via our Facebook page or our contact form. We are always in need of extra pairs of hands and we encourage all members who have the time and are physically able, to help at as many work parties as possible. Great work, which benefits all members, is done during these days and we are always grateful for any help we receive.

The club plans to continue this work to increase and improve the pegs on our stretch of the Derwent. Much of which is under-fished, partly due to its “wild” nature. We’re hopeful that this programme of peg creation will increase the number of anglers wanting to fish the stretch and improve match turnout for any future events held on the river.

With the 2019/20 river season about to start, why not get down to fish the Derwent and try out our improved pegs, which can be fished on day ticket or season permit (all tickets must be purchased in advance – no tickets are sold on the bank).