The Tide flows and ebbs in the Bure one hour later than at Yarmouth Bridge.
| Springs. | Neap. | |
| The rise at Yarmouth is | 6 feet | 4½ feet |
| ,, ,, ,, Lowestoft ,, | 6½ ,, | 5¼ ,, |
| ,, ,, ,, Cantley ,, | 2½ ,, | 1½ ,, |
| ,, ,, ,, Oulton ,, | 2 ,, | 1¼ ,, |
The Tides, however, vary according to the strength and direction of the wind and the quantity of flood water in the river.
FISHING GENERALLY.
In the rivers it is customary to fish in 10 to 14 feet of water, and the shortness of the swims necessitates the line being heavily weighted, in order that it may sink rapidly. The floats are necessarily large, particularly when used for the lower reaches, where there is a considerable tidal current. The boats are moored in a line with the stream, not across it, as on the Thames, and the swims are thus very short. For the upper and clearer waters, the Nottingham system of angling might be advisable, but in the more turbid lower reaches the Norfolk style is practically the best. Worms are used for bream, and paste for roach. Worms are procurable at some of the tackle shops, but anglers will do well to provide them for themselves if possible.
Boats are charged for at the rate of from 1s. to 2s. a-day, but are rather rough concerns, except at Oulton.
Ground-bait, consisting chiefly of meal and clay, is largely used, but a place is rarely baited beforehand. As there is ample choice of stations, always moor so that the wind is at your back, and you will thus have smooth water in front of you.
Small roach as bait for pike, are procurable at most of the waterside inns, at 1s. to 1s. 6d. a score, but to get the best sport obtain fish from other waters, particularly dace and gudgeon.
Pike are, of course, the chief fish in Norfolk, and are plentiful everywhere. In the rivers they do not run very large, a ten-pound fish being considered a good one, but in a few years’ time, with the freedom from netting the rivers now enjoy, we may expect some very large ones to be caught in the rivers. In private waters there are veritable monsters, but the stranger is not likely to make acquaintance with them.
Live-baiting and spinning with a spoon, or artificial bait trailed behind a boat, are the usual modes of fishing for pike in Norfolk. Trolling with a dead gorge, and spinning with a dead bait by casting, as in the Thames, are comparatively rarely practised, although I believe that in some portions of the rivers these methods would “pay.” I have seen fly-fishing for pike practised with success here, and I firmly believe that on some of the shallower Broads it would be very deadly.