We have replaced the single glazing for double glazing in the Lounge and main bedroom and installing an Air to Air heat pump, both installations will make the inside of Moonriver more comfortable during the winter and reduce electricity consumption.
We would like to register our thanks to our new and regular guests for being so flexible and supportive during the previous Covid years.
The above drone image was taken from above Moonriver looking North at the Potter Wetland nature reserve, Candle Dyke is to the right of the wetland.
Our riverside self catering holiday home, sleeps 4/6 is situated on the banks of the River Thurne, Norfolk Broads. A superb Norfolk Broads waterside break. We are surrounded by open countryside with the front directly overlooking the river with uninterrupted views, both back and front, across open farmland. You can`t see any buildings, except old windmills, from the self catering holiday cottage.
We are in The Broads which is part of the family of National Parks of Britain / Nature Reserve where the owners have logged seeing over 40 species of birds in the immediate vicinity. We have heard a Bitten but not seen one yet.
The Potter Wetland Reserve is directly opposite Moonriver holiday cottage.
The self catering holiday cottage is situated over a mile upstream of the notoriously small and ancient bridge at Potter Heigham. Fortunately the bridge prevents the larger hire craft from coming to Martham so the river is much quieter and less commercialised here.
From our self catering holiday cottage the river leads up to Martham and Somerton Broad, besides Candle Dyke to Heigham Sound and the finest sailing and fishing in Hickling Broad and Horsey Broad, Norfolk Broads. Most of the surrounding fields are Norfold Broads Nature Reserves.
Peace and quiet – no road noise what so ever!
Holiday Home Exchange
If you have a holiday home and you would like to complete a weeks holiday home exchange then please contact me.
Fishing from Moonriver holiday cottage, Martham, R. Thurne, Norfolk Broads
The following freshwater fish can be caught from the garden of the Moonriver self catering holiday cottage – Bream, Roach, Rudd, Pike, Perch, Ruff, Eels, Tench and the very occasional Trout. Pike of 42 & 36 lbs have been caught locally. The best fish from the garden have been, Bream 9+lbs, Pike 26+ lbs, Roach 2.3 lbs, Rudd 2lbs, Perch 1.5 lbs, Carp 10 lbs, etc. This year fishermen have caught 100 lbs bags of Bream every evening from our garden. Peace and quiet – no road noise what so ever! Some of the best fishing is during “slack water”, during the hour that the river stops moving when the High or Low tide is at its peak. The sea / salt water does not reach our section of the River Thurne, Norfolk Broads as we are at its head water, but the river rises / falls up to 18″ as you will see on the river bank piles. Slack water occurs four times per day. We have a large lockable tackle store in the garden with its own light and bait fridge, plus a floodlight that illuminates the River Thurne. Most of our river bank has decking. The closest fishing tackle shop is `Lathams` of Potter Heigham, Norfolk Broads, this can definitely be classified as a `Fishing Tackle Paradise` as it stocks everything from fresh and frozen baits to rods, reels and accessories – the prices are very good. They will take orders for bait, etc before you arrive. Great baits are lob worm, canned sweet corn, pinkies, casters and bread flake, please do not keep you baits inside our holiday home. Candle Dyke, White Lees, Martham Floating Bridge Pool, Martham Broad, Hickling Broad, Horsey Broad and other excellent fishing marks are within a few minutes of the Moonriver self catering holiday home, all of which regularly feature in the angling press. If you want to apply for a fishing permit for either Horsey Mere or Martham Broad the visit River Thurne Fisheries website which will tell you how to as well as everything from the weather, places to visit and some great links – http://thurnefisheries.co.uk/martham-broads/
BOAT DYKE FISHING
Now for something unique to the Norfolk Broads. A regular visitor to Moonriver holiday cottage developed this trick so that he could catch lots of Bream all day but not waste any ground bait. He places the ground bait at the mouth of our boat dyke so the river flow moves very little of it down / up stream. He then sits well back from the boat dyke so as not to disturb any Bream, etc – all the time he keeps lightly feeding the ground bait without making any disturbance. Just place your float or swim feeder at the mouth of the boat dyke and sit well back near Moonriver. This simple eddie trick works wonders with Bream to 10lbs each and large bags. They say the simplest fishing tricks are the best and this angler certainly wears his fishing hat with pride. PS – All of these Bream and Rudd are great food for the local Pike which grow to 45+lbs as shown last year!
LEDGERING FLOAT
Best bait – lob worm, casters, sweet corn, maggots, trout pellet paste The bream and tench on the river Thurne outside our self catering holiday accommodation usually feed on the bottom. So you want to be sure that your bait is kept on the bottom as the river flow will otherwise bring it off the bottom as it streams past. Fishing weight choice essentials Weight / size – depending on the water flow speed you will need to have a variety of bombs in your fishing tackle box. Locking shot – to be avoided as they pinch the fishing line and create a weakness, this is what causes the majority of line breakages and lost fish! Drennan ring – the recommended method to attach weight.
RIVER WAGGLER FLOAT
Best bait – sweet corn, casters, maggots, stewed hemp/wheat The Roach and Rudd found in the River Thurne, Norfolk Broads outside our self catering holiday accommodation can be caught using this method. The straight large bodied waggler float can be set up with the line floating on the surface when there is little or no wind and the rig below the float being over depth.
NIGHT FISHING
Best baits – lob worm, maggots, trout pellet paste We recommend night fishing on the river Thurne and the Norfolk Broads, particularly during slack water as was mentioned earlier. We have installed an external power point outside our self catering holiday cottage on the River Thurne on the Norfolk Broads, however please remember that water and electricity make for dangerous situations and we dont want anyone electrocuted! Luminous / chemical tip fishing float – great for night fishing, a must have in your tackle box, ensure that you set your fishing float so that all of the tip can be seen or your eyes will become very tired and you will miss bites. If you use lob worms at night you will catch eels! So ensure that your fishing rig incorporates a swivel buckle as that will stop your fishing line being twisted and make it easier for you to take one rig off quickly and replace it with another.
LIFT METHOD FLOAT
Best bait – sweet corn, bread, paste, casters, maggots As I said earlier the Bream and Tench on the River Thurne and the Norfolk Broads can be caught using the lift method during the slack water period which creates still water conditions for an hour twice a day outside our self catering holiday home. Set your fishing rig up applying all of your weight near the fishing hook and use a small peacock Waggler float. What you must imagine when fishing is how the fish feeds in the conditions that are occurring at the time. When a fish feeds on the bottom it will be feeding nose down unless it is a barbell or similar fish which has it mouth opening parallel to the bottom. So when a Bream or Tench are bottom fishing its nose and mouth will be pointed downwards. Then when it takes the bait the fishing weights that are all near the hook will be lifted upwards and the float will also lift as it is not being held down by any weight. It is essential that you strike immediately when using this method. As we all know Bream and Tench do not read fishing manuals so the float can react in other ways as well. Fishing Catch Book In order to help visiting anglers we ask guests to complete an entry in the Fishing Catch Book, this will enable you to have a head start when you visit because you will see what techniques have been suitable for a variety of fish species.
Fishing from Moonriver holiday cottage, Martham, R. Thurne, Norfolk Broads
Coarse Fishing 16 June to 14 March inclusive on all flowing waters / rivers is the National Open Season. This is the National fishing season restriction on all flowing rivers, however you can fish all year round on still waters / lakes, subject to owners rules. All year round / No Closed Season But if you want to fish all year round you can stay at Moonriver holiday cottage and fish in Martham Pits at the end of the footpath, or drive there, it has a great range of fish including good sized Carp. Day Tickets are available from the local Co-Op. There are lots of other lakes in the area which do not have a Closed Season. Trout Fishing 1 April – 29 October FLOAT FISHING A simple but very effective method of fishing from our holiday cottage on the River Thurne, Norfolk Broads. Lift method It is well worth while to perfect the lift method as this can be very accurate and achieve large bags of tench and bream. Trotting The flowing water of the River Thurne and other rivers in the Norfolk Broads system will help you catch rudd, roach and chub. Float choice essentials Waggler make sure that it is straight, anything bent, or that will bend with use is not good. Alloy stem stick a must for trotting as it helps stability. Paint / varnish Too much of either might make for a great display in the fishing tackle shop but will reduce its performance. Colour very important but remember that bright colours will not contrast well on certain water reflection. Think about different varieties of sunshine reflection and water colour and what colours will stand out. Body thickness when using a large bait you will need a larger float body. But when using a light bait you will want a thin tipped float. Adaptor Well worth buying and using. It make changing floats so much quicker, creates less frustration and less damage during the day to your fishing line. Silicone sleeve they are cheap, dont damage the fishing line and make fishing float change easy and accurate. Wind conditions use a full bodied Waggler rather than a thin tipped one when it gets windy. Luminous / chemical tip great for night fishing. Size does matter when its windy use a long one as this will help to ensure that you can sink the fishing line. Common sense its not rocket science but you need to look at your tackle box before you go fishing, then consider the likely conditions and write a list of what you want. Don’t buy floats that look great in a fishing tackle display case, we all have those in our tackle boxes and they don’t catch fish!
Best bait - Casters, sweet corn, maggots
Best bait – Casters, sweet corn, maggots You might think that our self catering holiday cottage on the River Thurne at Martham, Norfolk Broads, one mile upstream from Potter Heigham would never have still water fishing conditions. Well we do twice a day for approximately an hour each time. During “slack water” at high and low tide we enjoy not only still water fishing conditions but also some of the best fishing of the day! If you can only fish for one hour during the day fish during slack water at night. Our self catering holiday cottage is on the headwaters of the River Thurne and therefore does not get effected by salt water coming up river, but the movement of the tide does effect it and depending on rainfall the river can change from a steady flow to still water for an hour. When fishing for rudd and roach you can use a fine tipped antenna float. Its body form will let you use shot to lower the tip in the water to just the smallest dot which will then have the great benefit of detecting the smallest bite known to man. When setting up your fishing rig you must plumb the bottom. This will let you ensure that you present the bait just on the bottom after the rig and shot have settled in the still water. Be ready to adjust the float depth because in certain conditions the rudd and bream will take the bait on the drop rather than when it gets to the bottom. As with all fishing you must remain flexible because the rudd and roach may change their feeding depth at any time. So when the fishing bites get slower think about what the fish might be doing and change you depth. It costs just a small amount of effort to make these changes but it will be well worth while. Don`t disturb the rudd and roach shoal, always cast beyond where you think they are and sink the line with your rod tip. When using a new line drip some washing up soap on the drum of line as this will also help remove the chemicals that have been used when making the line. Floating line will be moved by wind, wavelets, floating debris, etc this will cause phantom bites and move your bait away from the shoal.
TROTTING FLOAT
Best baits – maggots, castors, sweet corn, bread Our self catering holiday cottage on the banks of the river Thurne is a great location for trotting as the water flow speed is just right except during slack water. Alloy stem stick – a must for trotting as it helps stability. The super buoyant float is being dragged along by the water flow of the River Thurne with the shot and hook bait behind it, however when you create some drag on the fishing line the set up will change. This will result in the reverse taking place, ie the hook bait will be moving downstream first with the alloy stem stick behind it. The hook bait will therefore present in a far better way as it will wiggle in the current. Another benefit of this method is that you will make a more effective strike. Due to the nature of the river Thurne, its bottom, depth, water flow speed and width this is a very effective method. Place your shot at even intervals between the alloy steam stick and the hook presenting your bait.
Heigham Holmes
A remote island in the Norfolk Broads You may not have heard of Heigham Holmes, but this 500 acre nature reserve is an oasis of calm and a haven for wildlife – and heaven for wildlife lovers. It’s a unique and internationally important site, with reed-fringed flood banks, open water, grazing marsh, scrub and wet woodland. They`re linked by a maze of dykes and pools characteristic of the Norfolk broadland landscape. Look out for marsh harriers, barn owls, bittern and crane, which all call the reserve home, along with wading birds such as lapwing and redshank. We’re working with our tenant farmer to manage the site, restoring intensively managed farmland back to grassland, as well as re-instating water levels to create an internationally important wetland habitat. Open for just one day a year, it truly is Norfolk’s hidden gem. Opening times, etc for this unique location can be found on the following link – http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/heigham-holmes/opening-times/