Venue Guide: Sutton on Trent

The Barbel society fishery at Sutton on Trent has to be one of my favourite places to fish, my first impressions like many others I expect were mixed. Part of me looked at it as bleak and featureless place, but in its own unique way it has beauty of it is own. With over a mile and half of bank to choose from you could fish a different peg every week for the next three years and never fish the same peg twice.

The river at Sutton is part of the upper tidal area of the Trent and only a few miles downstream of the infamous Collingham weir stretch. The tidal effect on the river level is somewhere between one and around 4 feet depending on what part of the monthly tide cycle you are in. For anybody fishing Sutton a tide table is a must, in my experience the tide has a significant effect on the fishing and it is therefore important to know at which point of the tide you are.


The tidal chart above shows a predicted high tide of around 01.00 and 13.00, I have found the best times to catch fish are the first two hours after high water and then the last hour before the river reaches its lowest point, (somewhere around 1 to 2 hours before high water) Once the river has reached its lowest point it will start to fill up, the current at this point could continue to flow out, standstill or in some cases even flow inwards for a short time. The period when the river is backing up can be the least productive, but is a good time to bait up if using a spod.

Tackle for Sutton

Because of the need to use leads from 3 to 8 ounce and the requirement in places to cast 50 metres or more, Sutton is not the place for soft action rods and small reels. I use a pair of Harrison 11ft 6in snag and flood specials these rods have a lovely action and are a pleasure to fish with, but they are also capable of casting a fully loaded 6oz feeder to the far side of any area at Sutton.

My chosen reels are shimano 10000 bait runners loaded with 12lb Angling Direct Perception Platinum clear mono. I use an adapted carp pod, with extra long front legs, with this set up I can adjust the height of my rod tips to suit conditions. I prefer to use alarms and without doubt Delkims are the best by far, to avoid upsetting other anglers I use a remote sounder box which allows me to keep the volume low but still hear every bleep I need to.

After a fair bit of experimenting my preferred rig for Sutton is an adapted Helicopter rig which I have renamed the Pelicopter. I am ready for the flack so here goes yes it involves using leadcore, which in my opinion is perfectly safe as long as it is fished as part of a safety rig (see diagram). Fishing the Trent is very damaging to line and Sutton is no exception, by using a lead core leader of around 3ft I can avoid the worst of the damage, the lead core also acts as a shock leader when casting.

Whenever possible I use open ended feeders, with leads to suit the swim and river conditions I carry various size feeders with leads from 2 up to 8oz. Sometimes when river conditions dictate I switch to straight lead and use PVA funnel web, I usually carry leads up to 12oz just in case. For groundbait I tend to use readily available and cheap ingredients, Vitalin, crushed hemp, fish meal and plain breadcrumb.

As a way of topping a swim or getting a big bed of bait down I like to spod a few particles into the swim. I use a mixture of hemp and mixed corn, to this you can add whatever you chose but go easy on the pellets. When spodding don’t forget to allow for the effect of the current or you will end up baiting the next 2 or 3 swims down and not you own. To be sure where you bait is landing take advantage of the slack water as the tide is backing up.

The most successful hook bait at Sutton is pellet in any size from 8 to 25mm, boilies like anywhere on the Trent seem to work in one session and not the next. I have had success on The Source and Active 8 as well as other flavours but have yet to find a flavour that works consistently. Meat works well with some colour in the river and Dynamite meaty fish chunks have taken a few good fish. All the old favourites will catch a few, don’t ignore a maggot or a castor and hemp approach.

Another useful item I carry for the Trent are clip on back leads, leads from half an ounce up to 2oz can be very useful. These back leads perform 2 functions for me, firstly they pin down the line and give a better presentation. Another useful advantage of using the back lead means you don’t have to reel in so often when flotillas of pleasure boats come past in the summer. In most cases when using back leads I only pull in if the big gravel barges come past. If using a back leads make sure it has a clip that can break free if it gets snagged, also try to avoid using them too close in or they will snag in the rocks along the edge.

The river bed along the entire stretch is mostly gravel other than the odd parts where the current has a lesser effect and in these places it is sandier. The banks are grass meadow land and in many parts they are edged with rocks which were part of a major flood defence programme that was carried out 50 or so years ago. In many areas these rocks have tumbled into the river and can create snags that can easily mean lost fish on the other hand they can also become fish holding areas.

To be able to better describe to you the fishery in detail I have broken it down into 7 different areas as follows.

Upstream Limit to Cattle Drink Near 1st Bend

The southern limit of the fishery is about 150 metres past the locked gate which blocks the path at the upstream end of the fishery. Vehicle access ends at the gate but by parking carefully and not blocking the gateway a further half a dozen pegs are available. The first few pegs through the gate are slightly deeper than the rest of the pegs along this area which the locals call Chub straight.

A few large carp have been caught in and around those first few pegs, the biggest a few ounces short of 30lb. As the locals name suggests it is a good area for chub and in my opinion if the chub are there the Barbel aren’t far behind. The main depth of the river along this straight is mid river, although the depth varies very little across the river. At times the area around the fence has produced large bags of smaller Barbel the best I have heard of is 25 in an afternoon up to about 5lb.


Cattle Drink to Hawthorn Bush at End of Forties

At the point where the access track to the fishery reaches the river there is a cattle drink, this marks the end of chub straight and the beginning of the long meandering bend incorporating around 30 pegs. The cattle drink peg can be very snaggy but by sitting facing downstream looking toward the distant power station cooling towers and casting around a third of the way across the river but in the direction of the towers it is possible to avoid the worst of the snags. This peg and the next 2 or 3 downstream have produced plenty of Barbel over the years.

With the deep water fairly close in for the next 20 or so pegs there is no need to cast much beyond half way with the favoured area around or about the crease between the faster deeper water and the slower area as the river shallows up. There are a few snags where the flood defence rocks have tumbled and been washed into the river, but in general it is not too snaggy as long as you don’t attempt to fish too close in. The favoured pegs are the low forties, but the low to mid thirties have produced and odd big Barbel with the forties more known for bags of smaller fish. If you fancy a good chance of a float caught Barbel your best chance is in the forties, a favourable wind and a well presented top and bottom float will often bring results.

The only downside of this area is it can be fished from the other bank by anglers holding a Scunthorpe ticket, the swims opposite the forties are some of the best on their stretch so can be popular.

Hawthorn Bush to Beach

Starting just downstream of the Hawthorn bush the deep water switches from near to far bank as it rounds the bend. The peg just below the hawthorn bush and the next one can be good pegs and are also well fished from the Scunthorpe bank. The pegs around the bend are not fished very often, I have witnessed several carp caught from the opposite bank where a beach has formed over the years.

The Beach to the Fence

The beach area is the most popular area of the fishery and also produces the most fish during a season, I think this is more to do with the fact that it is fished more often than any other area of the fishery than being the most prolific area to fish. With the banks here more resembling a sandy beach it is an easy area to fish hence its popularity with anglers.

Last Bend to Bottom Beach

Going on looks alone to my mind this looks one of the most promising bits of the entire fishery, the steady flow on the bend and the rapid increase in pace as the river narrows after the bend looks very tempting.

This last section is known for the huge shoals of bream that live and feed in the area, they seem to like the more sedate flow as the water rounds the bend. A drainage dyke enters the river on the far bank the area in front of the sluice gates is also known for its huge Carp. But don’t be put of as if you can put up with the bream and rogue carp a big Barbel could be on the cards. The fence which extends out into the river marks the downstream end of the fishery.

Safety at Sutton

Sutton is a great place to fish but these few safety hints will might make it even better and avoid potential problems.

1: Beware of the cows, they love cars and can soon lick paint down to bare metal, they are also trained in wing mirror removal and panel beating. A simple fence made of some metal spikes and rope will solve the problem.

2: The gravel barges can travel the river at any time night and day, they use the incoming tide to travel upstream and if this happens to be at 3 am in the morning then you can expect a barge to come upstream. These barges can produce a wash of 3 feet or higher, I have witnessed an angler his rods and gear get washed in at 1am in the morning a frightening and potentially lethal experience.

3: The skippers of many of the smaller pleasure craft that navigate the river have no respect what so ever for anglers, so either reel in or back lead.

4: After rain and during the winter period the meadows can become very slippery, avoid taking your vehicle into any position that you are not positive you can get out of.

5: There are lots of locals who use Sutton for exercise or to walk their dogs, just remember effectively you are fishing in their back garden.

6: The rocks that line the fishery along most of its length can be very dangerous, wear a good pair of boots and take care when fishing to avoid injury.

7: Look out for UFOs because I reckon this is one of the most likely places on earth a UFO could land and abduct an unsuspecting angler.

As well as a superb Barbel fishery don’t miss out on the chance of other species at Sutton, Chub up to 7lb have been caught as well as Bream approaching double figures and Carp to 30lb. My best pike so far is 15lb 7oz but bigger specimens have been landed, large Perch and specimen Roach are there to be caught. I would also think it possible to catch a Barbel from every single peg at Sutton (now there’s a challenge)