Carp on the feed at Kingsland Reservoirs

For those who fancy a spot of carp crunching this weekend, a venue which has come off the radar in recent years but one which still offers a  fantastic days sport is Kingsland Reservoir in Cambridgeshire.

There are two carp lakes on the fishery and also a silver fish pool teeming with chub, tench and of course roach. Both carp lakes have a big stock of fish and on most days a double-figure carp could quite possibly pick your bait up so leave your light gear at home if you’re fishing either of these pools.
The trick when setting up is to follow the wind on both the big and small carp lakes fishing where the wind is going or even into your face. Fish corn in the margins or a large banded pellet up in the water for carp to 15lb. The pellet waggler can also score well as at this time of year as not many fish get caught on the bottom so you may find yourself fishing high up in the water for most of the day, particularly when the sun is shining. An elastic like Preston 13 hollow or purple hydro for the margins should suffice for the size of fish in here with 0.16-0.20 diameter lines fished straight-through. Keep the feed going in little and often, giving each line a rest after catching a fish or two.

On the Silverfish Lake the top tactic is to fish pellet or maggot up in the water on either the long pole or waggler for nets to 50lb. Start at half-depth and slowly shallow up throughout the day. Feed regularly to push small fish out of your swim and attract tench and chub to 4lb. Tench do come shallow as well on here and it is worth fishing in the margins for crucians to 2lb.

Prices: £6 a day or £4 for concessions
Contact: 01733 840312
Location: Kingsland Reservoir, March Road, Coates, Whittlesey, Cambs, PE7 2DE
Facilities: Village shops nearby
Rules: Fishery Keepnets only, barbless only, no nuts or boilies, fish over 4lb returned immediately