Fishery of the Week Buttonhole Lake
Big carp, barbel, tench and perch provide great sport
IF YOU’RE looking to fish a venue where everything grows big then Angling Times has the perfect water for you.
Nestled in a small corner of the Cambridgeshire countryside is Buttonhole Lake, and it simply has it all. Carp to over 20lb make up the bulk of the stock, but barbel to 10lb, tench to 9lb, perch to 5lb and big bags of bream, roach and rudd are a possibility.
In September 2017 the fishery received a huge boost when it was purchased by Chris and Bev Smith, who have already begun transforming it into a fantastic, modern fishery with landscaped features, reinforced pegs and new stocks of fish.
Improve Your Coarse Fishing features editor, Tony Grigorjevs, hadn’t fished Buttonhole for years, and he couldn’t wait to get back down there to sample the sport once again.
FRIENDLY WELCOME
After a quick chat with owners Chris and Bev, who kindly provided warming cups of tea, it was time for Tony to start fishing, and peg 23 was his pick for the day.
Buttonhole is one-and-a half acres, with a long island down its centre and a bowl at the top end, and it was in this bowl that Tony felt he could find a few fish.
He said: “I know there’s a depth of six feet off peg 23, which is where the majority of the carp, bream and barbel will sit at this time of year.
“An aerator is roughly 16m from the bank and I could always get a few bites from this feature back in the day.”
ON THE BUTTON
To start the session Tony shipped out his pole to a foot from the aerator with a double corn hookbait.
Clipped to his pole was a Cad pot, and this was filled with micro pellets to ensure accurate feeding.
Ten minutes later the float buried and a pristine 6lb carp was soon in the net, followed by two more in the next two put-ins – result!
Next, Tony tried the bomb with pellet and began casting every 10 minutes around his peg. It wasn’t long before four more carp were hooked and netted – including a plump double-figure specimen.
A match was also taking place across the fishery at this time and a number of anglers were catching well on the feeder and bomb, with one man even taking a 16lb carp and a 5lb bream.
Fishery owner Chris managed to have a few casts for a perch and unfortunately lost a near-3lb stripey at the net – no wonder he was gutted!
By 4pm it was time to pack up. But with nearly 40lb of carp in the net Tony had enjoyed a great afternoons’ sport. He had caught exclusively
carp, but the match lads and lasses proved the potential of Buttonhole with mixed bags of roach carp, bream, and perch.
This is a truly superb fishery, and with spring just around the corner it’s definitely a venue to mark down for a visit in the very near future. PRICES: Adults £7 for one rod, £12 for two, juniors £5 for one rod, £7 for two (adults are classed as anglers 16 years and over)
CONTACT: Chris and Bev on 01945 430597, 07928 222462 or 07926 509416
LOCATION: Buttonhole Lake, Rands Drove, Marshand St James, Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, PE14 8HA
RULES: All anglers to have a valid EA rod licence, no boilies or floating baits, all nets to be dipped on arrival, only one line in the water at any time, anglers 15 years and younger must be accompanied by an adult
FACILITIES: Parking, toilets, all anglers receive complimentary tea or coffee