220 WATERS ON THE CARDS
Prince Albert caters for every taste with its huge variety
WHEN a club has more than 220 waters in its portfolio you know it’s got to be pretty special – and that’s the case with Prince Albert AS.
The Cheshire society offers a staggering range of waters right through the season at a bargain price. Every member of the club has access to secluded meres, big stillwaters and rivers that offer everything from trout and salmon to specimen carp and bream.
The club is active in tuition, with free coaching days for juniors and an extensive match calendar to get youngsters into fishing.
The waters controlled by Prince Albert are as far apart as the Scottish Borders down to South West Wales. Night fishing is available on many of these, too, and because the club does not operate a day-ticket system you’ll often have a venue all to yourself.
Famous rivers including the Severn, Trent, Wye, Eden, Ribble, Mersey and Dee are on offer with fine barbel, chub and roach sport, plus many smaller, intimate wild waters in Wales. Fly anglers have the chance to catch trout, fresh-run sea trout and salmon when the time is right.
For stillwater anglers, Redesmere, part of the Capesthorne Estate in Cheshire, is a famed carp water and home to fish well over 30lb.
There are over 50 stillwaters on the club card, ranging from 100-acre lakes to small ponds. Anglers can target carp to over 40lb, specimen tench and bream as well as monster perch and pike. The club also runs two long canal stretches as well as some syndicate waters, including trout venue Blithfield.
THE three on-site pools and four luxury lodges have been drawing in anglers and holidaymakers from all over the country since their introduction a few year ago.
Set at the entrance to the glorious North Yorkshire Moors National Park, just being at Blackthorn Gate, Eastfields Farm, is breathtaking – but it’s when you book a holiday here that the fun really starts.
Each lodge – Curlew, Skylark, Lapwing and Chaffinch – is tailor made with relaxation in mind. All have a living room/dining room, a kitchen and two bedrooms. The master bedroom has an en-suite shower room.
There is a drying room in each lodge as well as a veranda, where you can sit and soak up the sun. You’ll also find a private hot tub (extra charge applies) and a sauna so you can relax and unwind after a hard day’s fishing.
And there’s plenty of fun to be head on each lake, with carp to over 10lb, bream, tench, roach, crucians and chub available to ensure the float keeps going under all day long.
SET within a beautiful wooded valley covering 72 acres, Woodland Waters has everything specialist, experienced or aspiring anglers can dream of.
There are nine Lakeview Lodges to hire that put you right next to some of the most prolific swims on the complex. As an alternative to the large three-bed lodges there are six smaller two-bed lodges nestled in a wooded area. On top of this, there are touring hook up pitches.
There’s a diverse range of fishing to enjoy spread over five different lakes. Anglers have easy access around the park area and there are ample caravan facilities next to the large Specimen Lake. This is where you will find Woody’s Bar and Lakeview Restaurant, offering a great range of ales and wines, a fine selection of home-cooked, locally sourced food and a relaxing atmosphere.
The 14-acre Specimen Lake is predominately a big carp water with lots of doubles and larger specimens into the high twenties. Don’t ignore the bream fishing, which has seen many ton-up catches, including lots of ‘proper slabs’ to 7lb. During the quieter winter months this deep lake offers some of the best big roach fishing in the country, pristine onepounders are common and quite a few fish over the magical 2lb barrier have been taken. Other species include pike to nearly 30lb, rudd, perch, eels and hybrids.
The seven-acre Match Lake is a prolific bagging water, boasting some mega hauls over the years, with 100lb mixed catches of carp, bream and quality roach being taken regularly. The bream fishing keeps on improving, while there are also very big tench, perch to over 2lb, rudd, hybrids and a few pike. This water produces lots of bites, even in the depths of winter, responding to a wide variety of methods, including pole, whip, waggler, slider and various types of feeder tackle.
The Carp Lake, Birch Lake and Roach Pool are popular and prolific pleasure fishing waters, ideal for beginners and juniors to get a good taste of what coarse fishing is all about. All of these smaller lakes are well-stocked with a good mix of species.