29th December 2009
We hope you had a good Christmas and we wish a Happy New Year to all our customers.
I have finally managed to update our Customer Gallery with the pictures sent in through the second half of the year. I'm sorry for the delay to all of you who provided pictures. The reason it took so long starts with my office PC breaking beyond repair in September, I bought a new PC but it came supplied with Vista which wouldn't run my old web editing software. I've purchased new software now and am up and running again. I think this years fishing was the best we have seen with so many people catching well and so few slow periods. There's no recent news on fishing however because the lake froze up with the cold spell and snow that came before Christmas and it is still frozen. Recently the air temperature has been above freezing during the day, and the snow has almost gone, but we have been getting frosts at night and that has kept the lake frozen.



We always undertake to make some improvements during the winter and this year is no exception. We have already upgraded the shower in No 7 Chestnut to a power shower. We are about to start on the refurbishment of No10 Oak cottage which will have a new bathroom with power shower and a new kitchen. The bedroom will have a double and single bed to cater for couples or friends sharing. We will also be refurbishing the bathroom in No 8 Larkspur to provide a power shower and installing a shower over the bath in No 2 Fern. When completed all of our bathrooms will have a shower.
I have not ordered any new fish yet but do plan to stock some tench in February. I think we have enough carp and silvers stocked already and these just need time to grow before maybe removing some of the smaller fish if necessary. Improvements to the lake will include adding hand rails to and repairing the original steps down to the car park bay. I will also be building a new platform with disabled access by the inlet pipe on the far side of the car park bay. The plan is to allow a vehicle to access this peg so that a disabled guest can easily transport all their tackle however this may not be possible straight away. So we have plenty to be getting on with...........
 
11th September 2009
I cant believe my last update was back in June and I don't know where all the weeks have gone. We have been having a very bust summer and still are thanks to the good weather we've been having recently. The fishing has been consistently good and most customers have caught well and enjoyed their holidays. Some great fish have been caught this week including 19lb and 14lb common carp, both caught by lady anglers to the frustration of their partners!
I am down to one aerator after the other packed in and I'm still waiting for it to be repaired, it doesn't seem to have affected the fish and there have been no signs of stress or any other ill effects that might be caused by low oxygen levels. Our water levels have been fine and are about 6 to 8 inches down from full at the moment. I have made some improvements to provide easier access down the steep banks by installing some new steps down into Car Park Bay and to Cottage Bank by the Tearoom Patio. These steps have hand rails and I've added hand rails to the existing steps as well. I have also built two new platforms in Car Park Bay one to replace the paving slabs that were awkward to fish plus one to overcome the problem of a sloping bank side. There will me more trees to prune this Autumn but I will leave this work until we have quietened down and there are less people fishing. Our pigs have all gone now and are filling bellies and freezers of friends and family. We will get some more pigs in the spring next year. Thanks to all who have sent or provided fish photos. I will be adding these to the customer gallery as soon as I get a chance.

new platforms in car park bay (click to enlarge)

14th June 2009
Some really nice fish have been caught over recent weeks and I have added some new photos to our Customer Gallery. Our carp are starting to show again after spawning which I think is nearly over; That said they are still hugging the margins under overhanging branches and were not cruising about much today despite the warm sunshine. Customers are catching well on soft pellets, meat and sweet corn. Bream seem to be feeding very strongly at the moment. Right now maggots are best used only to feed your swim. Meat has been successfully used to catch tench and we saw a 4lb example this morning.

18th May 2009
Still plenty of fish being caught, the most common to be caught right now are the bream, customers using pellets have been getting bigger fish up to 4lb. I have added some new fish photos to the customer gallery and they came with the following details: 7th to 10th May "Most of the carp were caught on floating crust but we had a couple on corn & pellet on the bottom. Bream seemed to ready to eat anything and we were catching at mixed sizes throughout the day, along with lots of roach & the odd tench."

9th May 2009
The lake has been fishing well on the lead up to and during the May bank holiday week end and we have been receiving good customer feedback. Of course some people have done better than others with some struggling to get amongst the bigger fish through the small bream and roach. Small tackle and maggot will nearly always catch, but some people have been sticking to sweet corn or pellets to get bigger fish. The two biggest carp caught were 12lb, one caught on floating bread but I didn't get on what bait for the other, sorry! We have been seeing a good deal of the sun, if a little too much wind, and the water is warming up so I expect spawning will start at any time now. If you are reading this after a recent visit and have any photos of the fish you caught or would like me to pass on any tips then please fell free to email me at
We collected our 4 new British Lop weaner piglets a week and a half ago and they have settled in well into the field behind our camping field. They are lovely creatures and a joy to watch when free range and able to forage for themselves and wallow in the mud.



28th March 2009
I took delivery today of 120lb of lovely carp. In the end I was unable to get the quantity and sizes I originally wanted, however I was offered bigger fish at the same per pound price. So I have just stocked 16 new carp from 6 to 9lb

8th March 2009
It's been a long cold winter and we saw a good deal of snow and ice with the lake being frozen for weeks at a time. We know some fish have emerged hungry and ready to feed because there have been some good days fishing this week with a mix of decent roach, bream and carp. I've been given photos and have added these to our Customer Gallery. Spring is almost here now, buds are appearing on some hedges and trees, there are daffodil leaves emerging and snowdrops have been in full bloom. I have placed an order for some more fish to add to our head of carp. I have elected for 200lb of fish at 3 to 5lb, so not too big as to need heavy tackle and hopefully they will be good sport for all. They are due for delivery before the end of March, which is a little later than I originally planed and so no new silver fish this year. We saw some great nets of silver fish last year and so I am confident we have sufficient stocks to provide good fishing again this season
Our cottages improvements include new bathrooms with showers in No 3 Willow, No 4 Marwood and No 5 Barley; we are working on these right now and they will all be complete by 13th April. We now have wireless internet available for customers to use, subject to agreement of our terms of use and requiring a WEP key for security. The Tearoom will be open from Wednesday 25th March and so all guests can look forward to our Full English Breakfast to start their day. I've added some recent photos below so you can see how things are looking for yourselves.