WESTWOOD LAKES FISHING HOLIDAYS ARE MEMORABLE!
This Lincolnshire gem kicks off our essential guide
HELLO and welcome to the Angling Times exclusive guide to the ‘must-visit’ fishing destinations of 2016! With spring on the not too distant horizon it’s time to start planning your 2016 angling breaks. Over the next 11 pages you’ll get to feast your eyes on some of the greatest angling retreats around the UK and the rest of the world, where specimen fish, big weights and once-in-a-lifetime catches become a reality.
Struggling to find accommodation? Don’t worry, we’ve included all types of lodgings available to hire on every single listing shown. So whether you love camping, caravanning or maybe fancy hiring a cottage, villa or apartment, this guide will help you to make the right choice.
Even if you’ve never been fishing before, or want to take your family fishing for the very first time, there is something for everyone – and with free fishing for residents at dozens of holiday hotspots, you won’t be breaking the bank on your trip away.
So whether you want to target bream and roach in Ireland, carp and tench in Sussex or catfish on Spain’s mighty River Ebro there is an angling destination right for you.
In the UK alone there are literally hundreds of different venues which offer fishing breaks. Most cater for families too, so everything will be catered to make your trip memorable.
Take Lincolnshire’s Westwood Lakes, for example. This top match and pleasure fishing venue boasts seven well-stocked lakes on its spacious site near Boston.
Here the visiting angler can also stock up on bait and top-quality tackle in the massive tackle shop, and be well served by the restaurant and bar or the Mallard Lounge (set to open this spring).
There are 26 lodges dotted around the beautifully-kept lakes and grounds so you can step out of your front door and be fishing within minutes. You can host parties of up to six people and each lodge has self-catering facilities, spacious bedrooms and bathrooms, a fully-equipped lounge and even hot tubs on the outside verandahs if you fancy a dip after a fishing session.
The complex’s seven lakes are packed with F1s, carp, bream, ide, big perch, roach and some of the biggest stillwater barbel in the UK. The biggest barbel on site are in Kestrel Lake.
This 30-peg pool, which has seen match weights top 150lb every year, has four islands to fish to and plenty of underwater features too.
As well as the barbel, which go to an arm-busting 14lb, there are F1s, crucians, carp and chub.
Ide catches alone can top 80lb, with specimens to over 4lb not uncommon. To catch them, fish the pole at the bottom of the near shelf or over to the island with maggot. For the carp, the feeder rules, casting to one of the islands with pellet or corn.
For guaranteed action, head to the Osprey and Falcon Lakes, the newest lakes on site. These snake-type waters are absolutely stuffed with small F1s averaging around 1lb, plus the odd better carp, and in summer a top kit and pellets are all that’s needed to enjoy a bite a chuck.
Jewel in the crown, however, is undoubtedly the Skylark Lake at the heart of the fishery and packed with carp and barbel. It’s just a 30-second walk to your peg from one of the lodges that flanks the lake!
Brilliant deals on holidays run throughout the year, so to secure your dream fishing break for 2016, give Westwood a call or check out the website for lodge availability. CONTACT: 01205 724162 VISIT: www.westwoodlakes.co.uk