This was an eye opener in itself. I’ve seen an ariel photo of the fish farm before, but it’s not until you drive through it that you appreciate the sheer scale of the operation, which would be worthy of an article of it’s own, if Simon ever finds the time to write it.
Assembled in the car park Simon gave us a brief rundown, arranged for our breakfast needs to be seen to, then left us to it giving us carte blanche to fish where we wanted. The five of us decided on a walk around the complex at first to get a feel for things.
Up to the 2 elevated Match Lakes and these are very regular looking, with platforms in every peg but with no visible features. On the same level is the Catfish Lake, which looks very natural with a profusion of features and islands.
On the other side of the car park are the 2 main pleasure fishing lakes, Puma and Bridges, both with totally natural banks and plenty of islands and features, Indeed Bridges takes its name from the bridges that allow you to reach the islands to fish from them.
Running behind these lakes and threading its way through the fishery runs the River Beult offering what promises to be some fine small river fishing, and leads past the Specimen Lake, home to some 40lb Carp.
After walking round that lot, breakfast was definitely the order of the day, so retiring to the canteen behind the lodge 5 Full English Breakfasts were disposed of, all washed down with Tea while we decided on our plan of attack.
The main worry was the weather, It’s turned pretty cold down here in the SE in the last couple of weeks and the fishery is quite exposed, but today there wasn’t a breathe of wind although it was still cold.
Jess & Szabi had their sights set on the Specimen Lake, despite Simon’s earlier warning that it hadn’t been fishing well, so off they went, hoping for a 1st ‘Twenty’. Terry, Andy(The Hat) and Myself plumped for Puma, and within 100 yds of the car park had settled on 3 swims, Terry with an island to fish to .......
while Andy and I faced out into the open water .........
A range of 10mtrs gave me a comfortable 5ft of water, and with flat calm conditions a slim Preston B series 4X12 float with just 4 strung droppers and a size 20 PR23 was the rig of choice to fish single and double red maggot over the fisheries micro pellets.
1st up came a run of Chublets that were more than welcome as they happily feed on even the coldest of days, and as far as I’m concerned are an inspired bit of stocking on Simon’s part ........
Once these have grown on a bit they are going to be well worth going for.
Next came a run of smallish Tench for me, and as I unhooked one I remarked to Andy that rather than the little red eye the are known for these has golden eyes, to which he replied that perhaps they were Golden Tench, but that he’d never seen or caught one.
Well after a statement like that, you can guess what happened next …… My float dipped, and the next fish I landed was a Golden Tench. Well it was the least I could do, though doubts were voiced by Andy that this capture was down to my sheer blinding skill and tenacity, this did inspire him to concentrate on capturing one for himself, but alas all he could manage were some examples of the wrong coloured (green) ones and a solitary Gudgeon , while I rubbed it in even further during the course of the day by catching another 7 Goldie's amongst the 30 or so Tench that I caught.
While all this was going on Vince appeared for a short visit, and in the way that is so typical, offered all his sympathy to Andy in his hour of need.
Terry meanwhile in his typical way was quietly doing his best to empty his swim of small Chub with a waggler, and by the end of the day must of had close to 100 of them.
During the course of the session a number of the smaller Carp that have been stocked also decided to put in an appearance. I don’t know what strain these fish are, but they are picture perfect deep bodied fish that already give a good account of themselves despite going no more than 1½ lbs on average.
Jess & Szabi? Well although they had been warned stubbornly sat it out, and didn’t manage to contact any monsters, though they had one screaming run at around midday, but the strike didn’t connect.
Overall I had a most enjoyable day. The stock are a testament to Simon’s skills as a fish farmer, and are of the highest quality.
Puma is one of the two pleasure lakes on the complex, and it certainly lived up to its description and it was a Pleasure for me to fish there today.
I’ll certainly be going back in the not to distant future, though next time I fancy travelling light and adopting a roving approach to see what I can tempt from the River.
In closing I would like to say a big THANK YOU to Simon Hughes for his invite, and his staff at MONK LAKES for a most enjoyable day. If you’re ever in the area give it a try, there’s something for almost everyone there.
