Fishery of the Week Ringstead Island
Fish Ringstead Island for £40 a year!
PLENTY of outstanding angling clubs out there today offer members fantastic sport at reasonable prices – but few own a particular water or complex that can cater for several different styles.
A notable exception is Wellingborough and District Nene Angling Club, whose ownership of the Ringstead Island in Northamptonshire has been providing members with multiple fishing options – and all in a safe, gated, exclusive environment.
The island itself is a haven for the all-rounder with two large specimen lakes, a stretch of the main River Nene and a backwater, and a two-lake commercial-style fishery.
All are available to fish when you buy a gate key and become a member.
It’s clear when you arrive at the fishery that the WDNAC has fish welfare to the fore, as otter fences have been built around all lakes apart from Brightwells. All have access gates for cars, so you can park behind your peg.
If the access and club work hasn’t impressed you yet, then the fishing certainly will. If you fancy sitting in one spot all day sacking up with bream and perch on the feeder, then the main river section is perfect for you.
Alternatively, you can adopt a roving approach and catch bleak, rudd, roach and chublets every chuck on light waggler gear, spraying maggots shallow.
The backwater and surrounding pools provide great lure sport with big perch and pike, or quivertipping action for chub to 6lb in the winter.
Match and coarse anglers will enjoy the two-lake Mill Cotton Fishery, especially if big bags of silver fish and carp are in demand – see the ‘While You’re There’ panel for details.
Arguably the jewels in the crown at Ringstead Island are the two specimen waters known as Barkers and Brightwells.
Both are around 15 acres and primarily stocked with lots of specimen carp, tench, bream and silver fish.
Brightwells is a wide water with some shallow areas and weed patches. Those adopting a feeder approach at distance with scaled-down carp tackle will find plenty of bream, whereas a margin attack up at the narrow end of the lake will bring its share of tench.
Barkers Lake is long and narrow, with lots of reedbeds and trees to target in the margins.
Improve Your Coarse Fishing’s Tom Scarr has recently been having success on the carp front by fishing boilies in conjunction with PVA bags in these areas.
So why not grab yourself a book and come down to give the island a try?
You’ll be delighted with the fishery, no matter what style of angling you follow.
PRICES: £40 a year adults, £10 a year juniors, £25 a year concessions, night tickets are available through the website after purchasing your membership to Wellingborough and District Nene Angling Club. A gate key for access to parts of the complex can be bought from Ringstead Country Store for £2
CONTACT: Membership secretary David Heed, www.wdnac.org.uk or call him on 01933 674263. Ringstead Country Store: 1-2 Spencer Street, Ringstead, NN14 4BX or call 01933 461539
LOCATION: Ringstead Island, near Blackthorn Lake Marina, Station Road, Ringstead, Northamptonshire, NN14 4DT
RULES: No littering, no bait or Method bans on Barkers, Brightwells and river sections. All gates to be locked at all times. Rules for Mill Cotton Fishery can be found on the website
FACILITIES: Gated access, otter fencing, parking behind peg, toilets