Location in South East:
Barcombe Mill, Barcombe Cross, East Sussex, England.

Contact:
* Jim Smith [bailiff] on 01825 750366
* John Goodrick [secretary] on 01273 400380

Day Tickets:
Day tickets available for limited stretches of the River Ouse, costing £7 for adults, £3 for juniors. Available in advance from the Post Office at Barcombe, the Anchor Inn and at various tackle shops in Brighton, Percey's in Lewes and Uckfield Angling Centre. [see Tackle and Bait Shops - East Sussex]

Adult season tickets [available via the Ouse Angling Preservation Society ] cost £55 per year for adults, £33 for over 60s and £11 for juniors. Winter permits [November 1st to March 14th] cost £30 for adults and seniors.

Facilities:
Car parking and some swims suitable for disabled anglers.

Best Baits:
Cheese, luncheon meat, bread, maggots, worms, sweetcorn and sea fish deadbaits for pike.

Getting There:
Leave the M23 at junction 10 and follow the A264 to East Grinstead. Join the A22 and head south past Uckfield until the junction for the A26. Turn right and head towards Lewes and after about 4 miles, turn right onto Barcombe Mills Road. The river and car park are about a mile up thie road.

Noted for its excellent sea trout fishing, the four miles stretch of the Sussex Ouse from Barcombe Mill downstream to Lewes is also an excellent coarse fishing venue. There is also a half mile stretch upstream of the Mill.

Controlled by the Ouse Angling Preservation Society, the river holds some huge pike [up to 30lb] which fall readily to sea fish deadbaits. Chub [up to 4lb] are plentiful with favourite baits including cheese, luncheon meat and breadflake. Barbel [up to 8lb] were introduced to the Ouse in the 1960s with most fish being caught on meat fished over hemp, or on maggots using a swimfeeder. Roach [to 2lb] are also present particularly in the Lewes stretch [although not in the numbers they used to be]. Carp are also present [to 20lb] and have been caught on breadflake, sweetcorn, and luncheon meat. Bream [to 6lb] shoal up in the deep water above Barcombe Mill . Worms work well when fished over groundbait. Worms also work well for the Perch [to 2lb] which are making a comeback as are dace which are being caught on waggler-fished maggots. The river can throw up the odd surpise such as mullet and the non-indigenous pumpkinseed which escaped from from a lake upstream in the 1980s during a flood.

* no night fishing allowed
* no fishing in the weir pool until November 1st
* no dogs and no swimming.

Reader Feedback January 2007:

I live in Barcombe and (very) regularly fish the River Ouseand thought I would mention the unfeasibly large Sea Trout that migrate up the river twice a year. Also the Anchor Inn, the beautiful riverside pub at the end of my road. It offers discounted weekend fishing B&B breaks (with Ouse day ticket): http://www.anchorinnandboating.co.uk
Simon Turner