Details of your catches:

We had 40 fish between 2 anglers.
3x 10 pound grass carp
4x 15 to 20 pound carp
8x 20 to 30 pound carp
15x 30 to 40 pound carp
8x40 to 44 pound carp
1x 52.12 common
1 x 71. Grass carp

Your best tactics/bait/rigs:

We was fishing with all tactics boilies pellet tiger nuts particles

Were the facilities what you expected?

Yes been before

Were you happy with them?

Yes

Would you recommend the venue to a friend?

Yes will be back in the future

Would you recommend the services to a friend?

Very good service

General Comments:

The only thing we would say if fishing the dam wall and if the water is not filled back up they benefit of some sort of platform to land the fish better as it was very tricky lifting fish up the dam wall for photos and weighing fish

Details of your catches:

2 x 26lb mirrors and 2 x 35lb mirrors.

Your best tactics/bait/rigs:

The fish were spawning most of our trip and we tried to fish the deeper areas away from them but were struggling for a bite. After about four days they'd stopped and we found boating across from the wood bank to the opposite bank we could see the fish holed up and thankfully managed a couple of bites each. All bites came to hard hooker boilies, 4ft to 6ft depth and our tiger nut hook baits were ignored. From the boat we could also see they were quickly clearing a lot of pre-bait. No issue with crays (small amount near dam wall) and no issue with pike so the netting looks to have been a success.

Were the facilities what you expected?

The facilities were exactly as advertised and clean, tidy and fully functioning. Tiles right next to shower were slippery as ice so tread carefully there but overall the farm building was great to have use of and made the trip better.

*Angling Lines note* Thank you for making us aware - owner Chris has now added a further mat to the bathroom floor.

Were you happy with them?

Yes.

Would you recommend the venue to a friend?

Absolutely. Great lake, great fish and Pierre was laid back, friendly and helpful. On hand if needed but otherwise left us to enjoy the peace and tranquillity.

Would you recommend the services to a friend?

Yes. This was our first time using Angling Lines and they were really helpful ahead of our trip. If you need any extra/up to date venue info definitely contact them. We'll be using them again.

General Comments:

One minor point we'd recommend: if possible add a combination lock to the lake's gate. The area is very quiet so I doubt this happens often but we had a couple wander on to the lake intending to camp there for the night. Once we explained it was private they wished us luck and left but a locked gate would give some extra peace of mind.

The lake is down in depth due to the recent netting but there was still plenty of fishable water. Along the centre of the lake and at the dam it's not hard to find between 6 and 11ft. The cow field margins go to 4ft plus about four rod lengths out. The wooded bank is shallow and requires wading out to net fish. You can use it to your advantage because it shortens the casting distance across the lake. Two anglers was fine for us. Four or five may require some compromise on number of rods used/spacing between them. There is dry lakebed around the entire lake and the shallow end is most effected at not much more than a foot deep. We were aware of this beforehand so no problems but if you're concerned definitely contact Angling Lines for up to date info.

Details of your catches:

Leo had 3 fish up to 40lb Common
Mark had 4 or 5 fish up to about 44lb
I had 43lb Common, 41.12 Common, 39 Mirror, 43.08 Mirror

Your best tactics/bait/rigs:

Anything worked if you were on fish and they wanted to feed. The changeable weather didn't help, very sunny one minute (and the fish grouping up in the shallows) and then hail the next minute.

Were the facilities what you expected?

Yes, been here 16 years ago so knew what to expect. The addition of the 'composting' toilet near the lake/car park was good though.

Were you happy with them?

Yes

Would you recommend the venue to a friend?

Only once it's full of water again

Would you recommend the services to a friend?

Yes

General Comments:

I was told the lake level was down 3ft. It was more than 3ft, 5 or 6ft would be nearer the truth. Fishing from the forest bank there was a big muddy expanse to get to the rods and when you hooked a fish you needed to get in waders to wade out far enough to land it or it beached in 6" water where you couldn't reach it with landing net.
If all 3 of us fished from the dam wall the water wouldn't have been shared very well, the person on the car park end getting the raw deal due to the (lack of) depth of water.

Details of your catches:

A total of 17 carp topped off with a 58lb Common and a Mirror of 60.6 lb. 2 anglers

Your best tactics/bait/rigs:

Fishing wafters, tigers over particle, feature finding of the lake bed

Were the facilities what you expected?

Yes - been numerous times before

Were you happy with them?

Yes

Would you recommend the venue to a friend?

Yes but this year the pike are a real problem, having been bitten off at least a dozen times throughout the week, and when fishing at distance, this is leaving rigs and a lot of line for fish to pick up. We were lucky to land a couple of fish that had picked up our bitten off lines and we recovered all our lines, but this could cause damage, even fatality to these outstanding fish. The pike need to be removed!

Would you recommend the services to a friend?

Yes, Angling Lines are an excellent company and always there to ensure you have a great holiday

General Comments:

Sort the Pike out. Returning in 2023 but would like to see results of reduction in Pike within the lake. Personally I used over 2000 yards of line during the week.

*Angling Lines note* Thank you for your feedback. The lake has now been netted (last week of Oct 2022) to remove much of the pike and resolve the issue.