With no knowledge of this lake and no friends who have previously fished here. For the first time in a very long time, I was starting blind on a water (by myself), this was quite refreshing.  The lake open up on the 1st February until the 15th March as the estate still follow the close season.

I started on opening day and did as many nights as possible to gain some knowledge and talked to the other Syndicate members, who are mostly all in the same boat, they are also a friendly lot, which is a nice change.

Within this time I gleaned a fair bit of information and managed to bank a nice Common.

26lb Common

On my return in the Summer – which was more like Autumn as I had been concentrating on the Airfield lake and I had also joined the River for the Barbel,  which is another story.

I had done the odd session over the Summer which had produced a few nice fish.  This gave me a lot of confidence to come back in September and concentrate all my efforts here until I felt it was time to go Pike fishing.

By the end of September, I was getting a feel for the lake.  This resulted in an amazing October with 4 x 30lbers and a good load of 20lbers, which was not bad going for my first year and as I had not really spent my entire time fully on here.  This was due to me being pulled in different directions.  I had spent quite a bit of time on the river walking around looking for Barbel and only found Carp!  Mind you, this information has been stored until next year as I now do not need to spread myself too thin, but needs must and I have learned a lot regarding the lakes and rivers.

November and December where a bit of a struggle and only resulted in smaller fish and I dedicated my time to Pike fishing in January & February.

All in all, I had a pretty fantastic year on this lake and we will have to see what next year brings.

Richard