Fishery of the Week

Star Carr Lake

THE saying ‘if you put the work in you will reap the rewards’ certainly rings true in many aspects of angling.

Take Star Carr Lakes Fishery, for example. The East Yorkshire venue has recently spent a lot of time and money improving its three lakes, and visitors to the fishery are reaping the benefits.

Multiple fish stockings, habitat improvements and bankside work have seen the fishery, in Brandesburton, transformed from a run-down, barely used water into a stunning complex in beautiful surroundings where anglers can catch in comfort.

After hearing some great things about the rejuvenated Star Carr, Angling Times decided to send Browning-backed matchman James Hall along to see what all the fuss was about.

James opted to fish the Gravel Pit, which has a massive head of bream as well as carp, tench and loads of silvers – more than enough fish to keep his pole float going under all day.

James’ first impressions of the venue were positive: “It’s really mature, with a nice atmosphere,” he said. “The pegs are great, not slippery deathtraps but timberframed clay platforms which jut out into the lake, making it easy to position your seatbox.

“There’s loads of space between swims too, which gives the lake a really natural feel.”

Fishing peg 16 on the 17-swim pool, James kept things simple by fishing the pole just 8m out with dampened micro pellets as feed. He started catching fish right from the off: “The lake is fairly deep – even just 8m out, I had 12ft of water and it’s 23ft in the middle, so I knew I didn’t need to fish at distance. The fish would readily come into water that deep,” he said.

“I caught more than 40 skimmers and bream and had a couple of bigger carp around 8lb for good measure, totalling 120lb – a great day’s fishing.

“Sport has been helped by the restocking of around 350 carp into the lake last spring to supplement the existing fish, along with some more tench, which go to 9lb in here. In summer you can catch 100lb of bream or just go for the carp and tench using bigger baits” he said.

The fishery runs another