Carp thrill to the Krill

Linch Hill Fishery’s decision to open its Christchurch water on a day ticket has made some of the country’s finest carp accessible to all. One person to take full advantage is Baz Lloyd, who has had great success on recent visits…

After fishing up the road at Linear in previous years, I jumped at the opportunity to fish for these highly prized carp on a day ticket.

Having seen what damage the Krill boilies were doing on the Christchurch I decided to start using them for myself. On first inspection, I noticed just how much goodness there is inside them. They smelled and looked superb and I could not wait to give it a go for myself.

I barrowed up to the lake and decided to go for a quick walk around. I found a few good fish sitting under a snag in peg seven. I quickly rushed back and grabbed my barrow, shifting quickly to the swim.

I made up a solid bag consisting of Krill powder and a few Krill pellets, and dropped the rig in to position. As I sat there, watching a couple of huge fish milling about the spot, a fish known as the Perch Common bulldozed its way in and made a beeline towards my hook bait.

In one suck, the rig flew in to its mouth; it shook its head and bolted off in a flash. I held the rod as the fish made its way out in to the main body of the lake when the hook pulled.
I was gutted – my favourite fish from the lake and it was lost.

Still, I knew that they liked the bait. I moved swims and set up in the end trees. I spombed out a kilo of chopped and whole Krill boilies, a few handfuls of bloodworm pellets and some hemp.

That morning there were fish showing all over the spot when the right-hand rod melted off. That resulted in a stunning 29lb 4oz common. I got the rod back out and it was away again soon after. Once again it was a good common, this time going 28lb 8oz. They really are lovely fish in there and that is why I keep going back.

I ended up catching another one the following morning too, this time a cracking little 18lb mirror. All of the fish were falling to snowman rigs, featuring a 16mm Krill bottom bait and a 12mm White Chocolate pop-up.

I was delighted how well the bait was working for me, so I planned another trip the following week.

I fished the swim that I had lost the Perch from and decided to drop the rigs in short for the night. I put a couple of Spomb fulls of my winning mix over the top and sat back as optimistic as ever.

At 5am the following morning the middle rod was away. The fish was immensely powerful and I thought it was one of the lake’s real biggies. When it popped up to the surface I didn’t change my mind. When I managed to net it I could see it wasn’t one of the real bigguns but a big fish all the same. It was a common of 34lb 14oz and what a fish it was too.

Shortly after getting the rod back out the left-hand rod was away. After another epic battle a lovely dark mirror lay in the net. It was a cracking mirror of 29lb 8oz and a great way to end my session.

If you are travelling down to these fantastic waters, be sure to take the Krill because they’re absolutely loving it.

Roach personal best broken four times in a session

Patrick Kyte became the envy of hundreds of specimen hunters when he broke his roach personal best four times in one incredible night that was topped by a brace of fish weighing 3lb 2oz and 3lb 1oz 8 drams.

Not only did the first session on the incredible Lochnaw in Scotland produce these pristine fish, but the specialist from Northampton backed them up with no less than six roach all over 2lb 6oz when he fished straight lead just 20 yards from his own bank.

He kept the fish honing in on his 13mm pineapple boilies that were mounted on size 10 hooks, with the regular introduction of marble-sized balls of groundbait.

“This was a holiday that I will never forget as I caught the first couple of fish and then they just kept coming and it was almost like I was dreaming,” said Patrick.

“In the time I was there I had the two big ones and 19 roach all over 2lb 5oz. It was incredible.”

Big bream on the Ouse

A huge catch of bream from the Great Ouse was capped off in style for Alan Lawrence when he banked this 10lb 3oz fish.

The Bedfordshire-based rod had spent the majority of the season targeting big carp on a local stretch of the waterway, but having suffered numerous blanks he switched his attentions to the resident shoals of slabs.

A suitable swim was baited with a large bed of CC Moore Hemp-n-Halibut groundbait laced with particles before a helicopter feeder rig made up of 6lb mainline, a 5lb fluorocarbon hooklink and a size 12 hook was placed over the top.

His tactical ploy soon paid dividends and by the end of the session he had taken 11 fish on fake corn hookbaits for almost 90lb.

Nine double figure barbel in one trip

A carefully planned pre-baiting campaign has helped top specimen angler Lee Burden take one of the greatest ever catches of barbel from the River Trent.

The CC Moore and Ace Tackle angler put hours of homework in shortly before the overnight session and reaped the rewards as he banked nine double figure specimens to 13lb along with a huge 7lb 2oz chub.

Having spent several years getting to grips with the iconic waterway, he was convinced that priming a hotspot on the upper reaches the evening before with a series of freebies would help increase his chances of putting together a memorable catch.

Rather than pile the bait in randomly, he selected an area of the chosen swim that he was confident the fish would inhabit and he told Angling Times: “I baited an area of around 40 yards long in a straight line in the crease between the slow and fast water. I've found these spots to be a very productive as the biggest barbel use these for resting up in.”
“I introduced a couple of bags of Odessey XXX boilies, a blend of halibut and Ultramix pellets and a few tigernuts in case there was a bonus carp in the zone,” he added.

The swim was left to settle before he returned a day later, walking almost two miles with a barrow-load of equipment to get to his chosen hotspot.

Low pressure and reasonably high temperatures left Lee in a confident mood and he kick-started the outing by topping up the area with a bed of pellets that had been soaked in CC Moore Minamino before being dusted with rock salt.

“I have found that this combination works wonders as the fish can smell the scent from a long way off and will work hard to try and find the food source. The pre-baiting had already brought the fish into the area but I wanted to concentrate them even more,” explained Lee.
“My boilie hookbait was saturated in the same concoction and also had the hard outer skin removed so that it soaked the flavour up and stood out instantly to the barbel.”

It was a tactical ploy that proved its worth almost instantly, with a 10lb 4oz specimen coming to the net within 10-minutes of first wetting a line.

From then on the action never stalled, with the alarms being called into action at regular intervals throughout the night.

“At one point I just couldn't keep my rods in the water without bending into a double figure barbel. My arms, back and tackle were put through how I can only describe as serious punishment!”

His successful rig was made up of a short leadcore leader and a 25lb Ace Camocore Silt hooklink to a size 8 hook.

“Pre-baiting for barbel has had a big impact on my results and it’s something that when done properly will boost your results on any river,” concluded Lee.

Lee’s top five pre-baiting tips

1. Look to pre-bait in an area where the feed will hold up and not get washed away. Creases where there is a steady flow will be well oxygenated and will attract barbel.

2. Be selective with what you feed when pre-baiting. Small items such as hemp and micro pellets will soon be pushed out of the area and heavier offerings such as halibut pellets and boilies are much better.

3. Try spreading the bait around the swim a little to keep the fish moving in between each mouthful. This will not only preoccupy them but also see them drop their guard which will make them easier to catch.

4. Have a little plumb around in the swim before you start to pre-bait a new area. I use a 5oz lead and 25lb braid on a light marker rod and look for smooth areas of gravel.

5. Once it comes to the fishing, make sure you beef up your gear. I usually go with 12lb mainline but I have gone up to 18lb in the past – there is no point hooking them if you can’t land them!

38lb 8oz mirror at long range

In-form James Hawtin bagged this 38lb 8oz mirror as his run of fine captures shows no sign of slowing down.

The Derbyshire rod has now banked two 40s and 11 30s this year and took his latest specimen from a North-West stillwater.

The 31-year-old head chef also managed a 24lb 1oz carp during a 24-hour session in which he fished a large spread of bait at 125 yards’ range.

James said: “I turned up at the lake and saw fish at range, so I banged out a rig at that distance and put a large spread of bait around it.

“I continued to see fish over the spot and it didn’t take too long for the middle rod to melt off – it was a 20 so I was happy with that. Then the following morning the left-hand rod took off with a slow take and I lifted into what felt like a good fish.

“She was plodding around and 15 minutes went by before the fish finally rolled over the net. I was really made up with this one!”

James used Sticky’s Krill boilies and fished with a stiff rig incorporating a Nash Fang Twister hook, a 5oz zip lead and a Korda IQ hooklink.

In-form Josh bags big thirty

Josh Hammersley’s run of form on a ‘secret lake’ has continued with the capture of this 39lb 10oz mirror.

A last-second hookpull nearly robbed the Bedfordshire rod of the capture, but the scaly specimen had rolled into the net just in time.

Josh has been targeting the previously unpressured venue with friend Ashley Irvine since the start of the summer and both have already banked 40s.

Josh told Angling Times: “Ashley and I were sitting there cooking breakfast when suddenly I got a couple of beeps on one of my alarms, and as I got up to investigate it started to roar off.

“I picked up into the fish then suddenly it went slack I started to reel in thinking it was off, before it went solid in a weed bed. 

“Still not knowing if I had the fish on, I kept a slight pressure on for a few minutes until we saw a tail appear, so I kept pressure until she broke free.  By this time, Ash was out in the lake with the net.

“As I teased her back to the net the hook suddenly pulled out and my heart sank. I looked at Ash to ask if he got it and he looked at me and said ‘I got it, mate’.
“She went 39lb 10oz and I was made up with that one. Many thanks to Ashley Irvine and Premier Baits!”

Head To The Aire For A Bag Of Roach

Anglers in Yorkshire are spoilt for choice when it comes to river fishing with a number of venues in excellent summer form this year.
The River Aire is one of them. Local expert Martyn Highe believes fishing on this river is as good as it has ever been with the roach fishing in particular being excellent: “The number of roach in our rivers in the north of England especially on the Aire is amazing, there are absolutely tonnes of fish in the 2-4oz bracket and they are easy to catch” he said.

One stretch which is well worth a visit is the Leeds and District Amalgamated Society of Anglers controlled water at Chapel Haddlesey near Selby. The fishing here has just started to switch on with anglers recording nets of roach, perch and bream to over 20lb.The pegs on the left bank from Selby Lock in the high numbers are the best for roach. The river here is quite deep (around 12ft), wide and slow moving and is best targeted by balling in with groundbait and fishing the pole over the top. Start with three big balls laced with caster and top up with a ball every half hour, thereafter. Fish a fairly static rig of say 2-gram with a size 18 hook and fish over the top of the feed with maggot on the hook for fish averaging 3oz. Using this tactic you can easily build up a weight catching a fish a chuck. There are also perch in here and these can be caught on maggot or worm.

The earlier pegs in the 20’s upstream, opposite West Haddlesey are the best for bream. These are much deeper (around 20ft) and are best targeted using the groundbait feeder with worm on the hook. The bream in here are not small with the majority of fish in the 4-7lb bracket so don’t fish too light.
Although the stretch is not available for day-ticket anglers, a Leeds DASA membership gives you access to dozens of other river stretches, including the stretch of the Aire at Beale. Weights here have been similar to those at Chapel recently with roach catches to over 15lb being taken on waggler and maggot tactics.

TIP: Red maggot is a hot bait on this river especially for roach. Try a double on the hook for a bonus redfin or big perch.

Prices: £50 a year, Leeds DASA
Contact: 01132 253366, www.leedsdasa.co.uk
Location: River Aire, off the A19, Chapel Haddlesey, Selby, N Yorks
Rules: No Litter, all fish must be returned

Tackle firms flock to Northern Angling Show

The 2013 Northern Angling Show is set to become one of the biggest events on the fishing calendar after it was announced that more of the sport's leading tackle firms have signed up following bumper early ticket sales.

Following the news that Angling Times is giving its full backing to the show, tackle firms and exhibitors from all over Europe have been in talks to take part in the event which is being held on the weekend of December 7/8 at EventCity in Manchester.

The show will feature more than 50 exhibitors including a number of big names which did not festure last year, such as Garbolino, Delkim, Matrix, Fox, CC Moore, Century and Angling Intelligence.

In a further boost, more than 40% of earlybird tickets have already been snapped up in just the first two days of going on sale as participation is set to reach new heights.

Updates on the event are available on the show's Facebook page www.facebook.com/NorthernAnglingShow

To buy a ticket for the show visit their website at www.northernanglingshow.co.uk

Match ace scoops £50,000 victory

Zac Brown is the 2013 Maver Mega Match This champion after a nail-biting day of action at Maver Larford Lakes, which saw the Preston Innovation Delcac man crowned the winner by a little over a kilo to pick up the massive £50,000 winner’s cheque.

Weighing in 52-460 from end peg 12 on the Match Lake of the Stourport fishery, Caterham, surrey-based Zac just got in front of 2011 winner Andy Power who was denied a memorable double after he scooped the UK Championships title just a few days earlier, one decent Larford fish dividing the two in a nervy weigh in that went right down to the wire, Andy eventually finishing with 51-520.

Fancied to do well off his draw on the island of the lake, Zac left it very late with a good run of margin fish from his right hand edge, using meat over groundbait to net carp to 9lb despite suffering lots of foul hooked fish and missed bites while Andy was left rueing a switch to the margins that gave him little to show for his efforts after catching so well shallow on the long pole line.

“I have to admit I had a bit of trouble sleeping the night before after I’d drawn the peg at the gala dinner,” Zac said. “So many people fancied it and obviously it was a great draw but brilliant pegs don’t fish themselves and there was always the chance that it wasn’t going to happen for me. With a few hours to go that was how it was looking but I guess I just about did enough in the end. I still can’t believe how close it was and that I’m actually the winner!”

New Angling Times Issue 3124 out now!

This week’s Angling Times comes free with a brilliant guide to pole fishing produced by the UK’s top commercial match angler Steve Ringer. There’s also news of a massive roach haul, a big pike shock from a trout lake, and we interview the man who caught a 500lb thresher shark last week. Along with expert advice from regular star columnists Steve Ringer, Martin Bowler, Dave Harrell and Paul Garner, we’ve also got all the weekend’s match results, a huge Carp News section and brilliant tackle reviews. Angling Times is Britain’s No.1 fishing weekly – out on the iPad every Monday.

Swordfish in the Tyne

Further evidence that a huge range of exotic species are circling UK shores surfaced this week after a swordfish was caught from the River Tyne.

The huge specimen, which measured four foot long and weighed in at almost 50lb, was accidentally captured in salmon nets that had been set in the North East waterway.
It is believed the swordfish – which is normally found  in the warm waters of the Mediterranean – was hunting down salmon in the venue when the specimen became trapped in the mesh netting.

It comes just one week after an oceanic white tip shark was spotted by anglers off the coast of Cornwall, fuelling suggestions that our seas could be home to more unusual species than ever before.

Leading fisheries expert Bruno Broughton believes that such occurrences could be set to become more common in the coming years and he told Angling Times: “On its own, this capture does not really add to evidence of climate change, but if the seas really do become somewhat warmer in future, other novel species may well turn up much more frequently in commercial or anglers' catches".

“Very few swordfish are currently found to the north of the Bay of Biscay, albeit that - historically - occasional specimens have been recorded around the western coastline of the British Isles,” he added.

The fish has now been filleted at Sunderland’s Latimer’s Seafood Deli and shop team member Kieran Smith said: “This is extremely rare and it is only the second one we have ever seen. We have also had some huge tuna come into the shop in recent years which shows that species associated with warmer climes are starting to congregate off the UK.”

Monster 20lb bream taken

Two grains of sweetcorn fished at 300yards has accounted for the capture of one of the biggest bream of all time weighing in at a colossal 20lb 12oz.

After 25 blank nights in pursuit of carp at an ultra-tough Cambridgeshire gravel pit experienced specimen angler Michael Kennedy decided to target the venues bream after seeing a group of fish ‘rolling’ at distances far beyond casting distance.

He used a rowing boat to introduce over 10 kilos of mixed particles, broken boilies and sweetcorn over the top of his chosen area and then used scaled-down carp rigs in order to target the bream.

The 27-year-old’s first session produced a superb 15lb 8oz specimen and after topping up his baited area he returned a week later in the hope that an even bigger bream would graze over his bed of feed.

It proved to be the perfect trap as the new personal best, that falls 1lb 15 oz short of the current British best, took two grains of corn that were fished on a long hair rig and tied to a size 10 Gardner ‘Mugga’ hook.

“I’m still in shock as I thought I’d be in with a chance of catching after seeing so many fish at range, but I didn’t expect to catch a 20 ‘pounder’. “I weighed it three times as I just couldn’t believe how big it was. ” Michael told Angling Times.

“Some carp anglers probably put this fish back without even as much as second glance, but to say that I’m over the moon is an understatement as it’s so rewarding to know that all of the hard work and observation has paid off.

“To me this fish means as much to me as banking an English carp over 40lb and I know that there aren’t many carpers out there that would row their baits out 300 yards to catch a bream, but I’m so glad that I did.”

Weeks of prebaiting pay off with 38lb 4oz common

Weeks of pre-baiting and a heavy lead helped trip up this stunning 38lb 4oz common just 10 yards from the bank at a Bedfordshire estate lake.

The spotless specimen arrived at dawn and was Alex Bransby’s reward for trickling boilies into the swim for a long period of time.

The Fox-backed angler, who has recently started producing his own Raw Baits range, said: “It was caught just 10 yards out from a silt gully I'd been pre-baiting for a number of weeks.
“It was a 36-hour session and I caught it at first light after a number of shows over the area throughout the night.”

Alex’s rig featured six inches of Fox Camotex, a size six FOX SSBP hook and a 6oz inline grippa lead. He used one of his own 16mm Raw Baits’ Nutex boilie over 2kg of free offerings.

4x4 falls at a huge 51lb 4oz

Chloe Houghton was left “shaking from head to toe” after banking one of the finest carp in the country.

The 26-year-old banked the mirror known as 4x4 at 51lb 4oz as well as two 20s in an unforgettable overnight session with Alan Blair at Kevin Nash’s Church Lake.

Chloe, who works in sales at Nash Tackle, had a 22lb mirror and a 26lb common ahead of the huge mirror’s arrival just after dawn only three hours before she was due to leave.
She said: “It ripped off and I automatically rolled out of my sleeping bag and hit it, all blurry eyed, and battle commenced.

“Alan said ‘you are playing it so gracefully I don’t think the fish wants to fight back’. After a long initial run and a steady battle back towards the bank, the fish was almost mine when it began to wallow from left to right. Coaxing the carp’s head the opposite way to its wallow I soon had it nearing the net and just simply couldn’t believe how big it was!
“It was in the net within five minutes but it’s all still a bit of a blur – it was so exciting – I was literally shaking from head to toe.

“My initial thought when it was in the net was ‘how am I going to hold it?’. I felt so lucky to be fishing such an awesome place and to catch such a special fish.”

Chloe targeted a clear spot 15 yards out on the edge of a weedbed and fished solid PVA bags. Her rigs featured a size 8 Nash Fang X hook and a maggot clip critically balanced with foam and two maggots. She baited with half a kilo of crumbed Amber Strawberry boilies, maggots, 3mm halibut pellets and a milky maize and barley mix flavoured with Strawberry Oil Palatant.

30lb Carp Among Big Rewards At Sumners Ponds

With match weights nearing 400lb, Sumners has always been popular, however, these days it’s not just bags of carp and barbel on the Match Lake that make this venue so attractive as specimen carp anglers have found out.

The venue’s Sumners Pond is full of specimen fish and carp anglers have been catching them in excess of 30lb this year. This is the largest of the lakes on the complex and so swim selection is easy with fish showing from all over the lake and a good head of twenties. Popular baits this summer have been cell boilies or anything with coconut in them but there have also been big fish caught on meat. Anglers have been finding success by targeting these at around 10m in around 3-4ft of water. This lake also contains a great head of bream and these have been caught this year in nets in excess of 50lb. For these fish, a small feeder with corn on the hook is the standard approach but if bites are not forthcoming try an 8mm meat cube. Fishing tight to the island may also pay off here. Perch to 3.5lb also reside in here and can be targeted fishing prawn or worm in the margins.

For match anglers there is the prolific Match Lake which has seen weights to 400lb in recent years. Predominantly a carp water with fish averaging 8-12lb there are also some huge barbel to 10lb 2oz, tench and crucians to 1.5lb. Typical commercial naits like pellet, meat, paste and corn all work on here on the pole, pellet waggler or even Method feeder. The hot pegs are those from the sunken island to the second island tip.

TIP: Fishing on Sumners Pond requires patience. For more bites try different areas of your swim and don’t ignore the margins.

Prices: £8 one rod, £12 for two, concessions are £7 one rod £10 for two, Juniors are £6 for one rod £7 for two.
Contact: 01403 732539 www.sumnersponds.co.uk
Location: Sumners Ponds, Chapel Road, Barns Green, Horsham, W Sussex, RH13 0PR
Rules: Barbless only, no fixed rigs, no floating crust, no keepnets, un-hooking mat and large landing net required for specimen carp, no live baits
Facilities: Toilets, café, restaurant/bar, tackle shop

First-night success as 'The Brute' is tempted

Louis Slade couldn’t have dreamt of a better start to his campaign on Reading DAA’s Pingewood Lagoon, landing his target fish on his first night at a huge weight of 48lb 12oz.
With the temperatures soaring during the day, the Reading-based rod decided to fish zigs during the day and then switch to bottom baits during the night.

After doing several laps of the water he eventually set up in a small bay which the wind was gently pushing in to, and every couple of hours put out a handful of CC Moore Odyssey XXX and Equinox boilies.

“As the sun started to set I wound in the zigs and cast out a couple of boilie hookbaits. One was tipped with a piece of artificial corn and the other with a bright 10mm pop-up,” said Louis. “One of the rods was cast to a small gap in the tree line and I had to be ultra-accurate to get the rig exactly where I wanted it.

“At 2.30am the bobbin on this rod pulled up tight and I leapt out of my bed to begin battle with my first Pingewood Lagoon carp. It was a very dogged battle which resulted in a new pb common of 30lb. I was elated and got the rod back out as quickly as possible.
“Half an hour later I received another take on the same rod and straight away it was apparent that whatever was on the other was a lump – it felt like I was playing a bag of sand. The fish wallowed about for a good five minutes and as I got it closer, my mate Sam Lambourne who was waiting with the net, recognised the fish’s leathery complex  and shouted it’s ‘the Brute’. Thankfully it went in the net on the first attempt and I breathed a huge sigh of relief.

“As I lifted the fish up for the cameras I paused for a second to think about the famous anglers who had caught this fish before me and it was a true privilege to share the same experience,” he added.

Louis beat the sought after specimen with a size 8 ACE Razor Point Long Shank hook and an 8ins Korda Supernatural hooklink.

Zig rigs take fine pair at Linear Fisheries

David Parsons, the son of Linear Fisheries’ popular head bailiff Roy, got in on the action at the complex’s Oxlease Lake last week.

Joined by his own son Drew, David found the fishing tough but managed to snare two mirrors to high 20s.

Having tried zig rigs set at various depths, David was handed a PVA bag rig by Avid consultant Chris Lowe and was rewarded with mirrors of 15lb 8oz and 28lb 12oz.
The bags were packed with Sonubaits pellets and a Sonubaits Krill pop-up boilie.

13lb barbel on hemp from River Derwent

River angling fanatic Colin Young celebrated joining a new club by banking this 13lb 9oz barbel from the Derbyshire Derwent.

The Nuneaton-based rod has spent several seasons targeting venues such as the Trent but made the decision to start a new campaign on an Earl of Harrington’s AC stretch.

Rather than using a more common pellet attack, he put his faith in hemp – for both his hookbait and loosefeed - and hooked into the fish while targeting a snaggy swim.

“I am convinced the barbel see too many halibuts and I’ve lost count of the amount of fish that I’ve caught on small baits. I superglue six grains of hemp to the hair and fish it over a small bed of feed - and it rarely fails,” said Colin, who used 10lb mainline and a 4ft hooklink of the same strength to a size 14 hook.

170-year-old angling book set to raise thousands

A Victorian fishing book is expected to sell for tens of thousands of pounds when it goes under the hammer.

William Blacker’s ‘Art of Angling, and Complete System of Fly Making, and Dying of Colours’ will be displayed for inspection in Cirencester this Friday and has already attracted the interest of collectors.

The author was a Soho tackle dealer known for his revolutionary approach to fly fishing. Early copies of his 48-page book are unique, containing actual flies and fly-tying specimens attached to the pages with silk thread and silver seals. This example was published by Howlett & Son in Soho, around the corner from Blacker’s shop.
Auctioneer Philip Allwood said: “First editions of Blacker's Art of Angling were printed in London and Edinburgh, but we can find reference to no other example of this work being printed by Howlett & Son.

“Add to this the fact that this volume has been self-published, and what we could have on our hands is a first impression of the first edition of this definitive guide to angling and fly making, a book so invaluable to anglers that it is still in print 171 years after it was first published.”

The auction will take place in October. For more information visit www.mooreallen.co.uk or call 01285 646050.

A Choice Of Seven Terrific Lakes At Llyn Y Gors

One of the most picturesque but underrated fisheries in the North, Llyn Y Gors offers something for everyone whether it be specimen carp or match angling.
This summer catches have been excellent on the venue’s seven lakes, including pleasure nets on the coarse lakes to 150lb along with dozens of specimen carp to 30lb from the carp ponds.

Karpium Lake is the venues 1-acre runs water. It has seven swims containing around 400 fish to 30lb, including a good head of mid doubles. The lake is spring fed, has gravel patches but is weedy in summer so strong gear is required. Particles and boilies work well as feed here by laying down a good bed of feed and fishing a bright pop-up over the top on a chod. You can also catch on the Method on here but the fish are likely to be smaller.

The other notable carp water is Thompsons. This very intimate and enticing looking 8 swim venue is a good campaign water in that the stocking density is far lower but contains some monster fish including carp to over 30lb as well as catfish to 28lb. Small beds of boilies work on here, with washed out pop-ups fished over the top on chods.

For pleasure anglers and match fishermen there is the Pleasure Lake (30 pegs) and Match Lake (30 pegs) both are similarly stocked with carp, roach, bream, barbel, tench and rudd and are an excellent choice for a productive days fishing. They are bagging waters but that doesn’t mean you don’t have to work for the fish. That said, typical commercial tactics work on these lakes including Method feeder or pole and pellet work on here, fishing both on the deck and shallow.

Prices: £8 a day or £5 concessions, Karpium £10 a day or £15 24 hours, Thompsons £20 24 hours, longer sessions available
Contact: 01248 713410, www.llynygors.co.uk
Location: Llyn Y Gors, Llandegfan, Menai Bridge, Anglesey, N Wales, LL59 5PN
Rules: Barbless only on coarse lakes, keepnets to be emptied every two hours, no hemp, tiger nuts or catfood, no particles on Thompsons, 42 inch landing nets required on specimen lakes as well as unhooking mats
Facilities: Toilets, tackle shop, hot food and drinks, accommodation