It’s all change for Britain’s superwaters
Two- of Britain’s biggest and busiest fisheries have unveiled exciting plans for expansion over the next 12 months in a bid to keep up with anglers’ demands.
A mile-long snake lake is on the schedule for Doncaster’s Drennan Lindholme Lakes, and at Oxfordshire’s Linear Fisheries there are proposals to add new waters to the already massive complex.
Both fisheries are doing this to cater for the countless anglers that visit every year, and in recent weeks sport has been so busy at Linear that venue officials have taken to Facebook to warn oncoming visitors of peg shortages.
We spoke to owners Neil Grantham (Lindholme) and Chris Blunt (Linear) to find out why both fisheries are so successful.
“Anglers have invested money into Lindholme, and we’ve put everything back into the fishery,” said Neil.
“We’ve not been too greedy, and we try to look after everybody by putting the anglers first.
“We continuously go forward, and if you stop you’ll start to go backwards.”
Neil’s plans for Lindholme include investing £40,000 in fish stocking for the lakes to keep the 60,000 annual visitors happy.
“We’re also adding a new café and restaurant, alongside a large new tackle shop featuring a pole alley,” he revealed.
“In addition, we have purchased 20 acres of land, where we plan to build 40 new lodges, 50 touring caravans, and 300 new fishing pegs.”
By next year Lindholme will have a total of 1,000 pegs – 150 of which will be on the new
mile-long snake lake.
“We will also build a new specimen water to cater for anglers who like that style of fishing. It’s a really exciting time for the fishery,” he said
Linear Fisheries can be seen in a similar light to Lindholme in terms of its popularity too, as fishery manager Chris Blunt explained:
“One of our main approaches to managing this busy fishery is to just be honest with people.
“We always let people know how busy we are over social media because people travel a long way to fish at Linear and we don’t want them being disappointed.
“There certainly appears to be a lot more carp anglers these days – not necessarily with a demand for record-breaking fish, but more who want a social experience when fishing.
“This is why I think people don’t mind fishing the complex when it’s busy, as we certainly offer that social aspect.”
Like Lindholme, investing in fish stocks and lake expansion is also key to Linear’s success:
“Our stocking policy over the past thirty years has played a big part,” said Chris..
“Even though we don’t have necessarily the biggest individual fish in comparison to other waters, the numbers of 20-40lb-plus specimens on site is staggering and almost unrivalled.”
And with such a large demand for pegs, Chris is always looking for new ways to develop the fishery.
“We have another syndicate opening in the next 12 months, a new tackle shop, and without giving too much away, a new day ticket water is also being planned.”
Top 10 ‘super-waters’ to try
Drennan Lindholme Lakes, Doncaster, South Yorkshire
Contact: 01427 875555
Postcode: DN9 1LF
The Oaks Lakes, Sessay, North Yorkshire
Contact: 01845 501321
Postcode: YO7 3BG
Decoy Lakes, Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire
Contact: 01733 202230
Postcode: PE7 2AD
Makins Fishery, Nuneaton, Warwickshire
Contact: 01455 220877
Postcode: CV11 6QJ
White Acres, Newquay, Cornwall
Contact: 01726 862519
Postcode: TR8 4LW
Wyreside Lakes Fishery, Lancaster, Lancashire
Contact: 01524 792093
Postcode: LA2 9DG
Baden Hall Fishery, Stafford, Staffordshire
Contact: 01785 851495
Postcode: ST21 6LG
Bluebell Lakes, Oundle, Peterborough
Contact: 01832 226042
Postcode: PE8 5HP
Linear Fisheries, Oxford, Oxfordshire
Contact: 07885 327708
Postcode: OX29 7QF
Anglers Paradise, Beaworthy, Devon
Contact: 01409 221559
Postcode: EX21 5XT