Relief for channel anglers after survey

Once the stamping ground of the 70s A-list, the Great Ouse Relief Channel has fallen from favour with today's generation.

Siltation of sluices and the tidal ouse have meant water from the river has been released via the Channel, causing many fish to be washed through the tail sluice into The Wash.

But Denver's sluices have now been re-opened, reducing the need for run-offs via the Channel.

And now controlling club King's Lynn AA has revealed a recent EA survey found large numbers of fry, along with predators taking advantage of the food source.

Check out the perch - not to mention trout - in these slideshow pictures.

Click here to see them.

EXCLUSIVE: New life for 70s hotspot

Thirty or more years ago, it was one of the country's top pike waters, delivering large numbers of fish to over 20lbs.

Once frequented by the likes of Neville Fickling, Barrie Rickards and Bill Chillingworth, pike packed on weight as coarse fish populations colonised the Great Ouse Relief Channel and predator anglers flocked to fish it.

In more recent years, the 'channel - which runs from Denver Sluice to King's Lynn - has fallen from favour with pikers, while scientists believe harsh winter run-offs and fluctuating water levels around spawning time haven't done predators or their prey fish any favours.

For nearly a decade, water from the Ouse system has been run off through the Relief Channel because the sluices at Denver, from where the river once flowed into the tidal Ouse, have been silted up.

Now officials are set to reveal that work is going ahead to restore the sluices. The EA's plans for the Relief Channel are set to be revaled to anglers at a workshop at Denver later this week.

Is the Relief Channel set for rebirth..?

Could a £19m package of flood defence works restore the Great Ouse Relief Channel to its former glories..?

That's the question predator anglers are asking tonight with the news Denver Sluice, on the Great Ouse near Downham Market, is set to be refurbished.

For many years, water from the Ouse has been run off via the Relief Channel and many fear harsh flows through the almost ruler-straight 11 mile channel have swept whole year classes of fish out to sea.

EA surveys have shown dwindling populations of pike and zander in the channel, which was a mecca for both species in the 1970s.

Repairing the sluice would mean water could be allowed down the tidal river again, leaving the Relief Channel to recover and only be run off in extreme conditions to alleviate flooding.

Officials plan to dam off the sluice gates so they can check whether they need replacing and whether modifications can be carried out to scour silt around the doors when they are open.

pike fishing