Three dusk pike pockets on the Norfolk Broads
Hickling Broad — Heigham Sound lights the reed edges at last light
Hickling Broad, Horsey Mere and the Stalham dyke cuts hold the richest dusk pockets for jack pike and the larger Norfolk pike. At the last two hours of light predator fish move into reed margins, lily lines and dyke mouths as shoals of roach, rudd, perch and dace push shallow.
Bank stalking suits the narrow tributary cuts around Stalham: approach quietly along undercut reeds, work the corner of a broad and cast parallel to the bank rather than straight out. Quiet feet and low profile matter more than distance.
Boat stealth wins on open water at Hickling. Drift or use an electric-motor and stop short of the reed line, fanning 12–16 m casts into the shadow line. Fish the first 1–3 m off the reeds before working deeper; good reed-edge water runs 3–8 ft with shelves to 10 ft+.
Presentations that produce
Simple rigs get the takes: a deadbait float rig with a roach or mackerel section, ledgered deadbait in calm bays, 12–16 cm jerkbaits or soft shads on a slow retrieve, and 6–8 in pike flies fished along reed edges. Typical pike weigh 5–15 lb, with better fish possible in colder months from October to March.
On Horsey Mere the dyke mouths and reed hinges are prime; near Stalham the boatyards and tributary cuts hold predictable ambush points. The evening ends with a long low shadow boiling the lily line as a Norfolk pike smashes the bait.
Recommended: quiet trolling motor