10 IN-FORM DEEP WATER VENUES
BY TOMMY PICKERING The matchfishing legend has travelled all over the country in his long career. Here are his top warm weather picks...
RIVER OUSE, YORK
Excellent bream and roach sport throughout the city, which is free fishing. Further up there’s some even deeper water around Linton and Hunters Lodge, which are controlled by Leeds DASA. Contact: 01904 411210
DAMFLASK RESERVOIR, SHEFFIELD
A seemingly bottomless reservoir at the dam wall end, where it goes down to a mindboggling 88ft, although it gets shallower the farther up you go. Good skimmer sport on the feeder and pole.
Contact: 07952 485798
PEACOCK WATERS, LINCOLNSHIRE
Typical depths of this two-acre former gravel pit are 12ft-15ft, going down to 20ft in the middle. It’s a great mixed fishery with lots of chub on casters and maggots and double-figure carp. Contact: 07801 436628
PATSHULL PARK, TELFORD
The ‘Deeps’ section in the middle of this picturesque venue is around 35ft deep. Slider and feeder tactics score for the bream, or fish close in for silverfish and big perch. Contact: 01902 700774
CLAYPIT, WESTON POOLS, OSWESTRY, SHROPSHIRE
A deep gravel pit with 37 pegs which is full of carp and big F1s. Try the pellet waggler or pole shallow. Later in the day look to fish the edges with 6mm hard pellets.
Contact: 01691 671812
GLOUCESTER CANAL, PURTON
Fish opposite the entrances to the feeder ponds opposite. Some big bream catches are possible on a feeder fished across there with worms and casters. Day tickets are available on the bank, park by the bridge.
Contact: 0117 950 0201
BRISTOL DOCKS, BRISTOL
You can catch close in here by the boats with pole tackle and deep rigs with big floats. Ball in sticky groundbait for some decent bream, roach and dace. Contact: 0117 950 0201
STEWARTBY LAKE, BEDFORD
This is a watersports lake which is 20ft-30ft deep and has lots of big silverfish and predators in it. Use groundbait or blockend feeders for regular quality roach over 1lb. A season permit is £57. Contact: 07769 503194
MILL BARN FISHERY, ESSEX
The 70-peg Reservoir is the deepest lake here, going down to 20ft and with a match record of 555lb of carp. Target the margins or fish shallow on the pole or waggler further out.
Contact: 01702 216170
ALBANS LAKES, HERTFORDSHIRE
Choose between 100lb of carp or 100lb of bream on the deep Match Lake! Feeder tactics work well, including the slow sinking feeder. Watch out for gravel bars in the middle.
Contact: 07544 933149
LINDHOLME LAKES, DONCASTER, SOUTH YORKS
“I find it hard to drive past my local Lindholme to fish elsewhere else, it’s that good. You can use so many methods there.
“Willows is great if you like to pole fish shallow with casters and pellets, and pegs 2 and 4 are solid with F1 carp near the marginal bushes and reeds. Bonsai is the most popular lake and responds well to a small Method feeder cast tight to the island mud banks. And I love the big Loco Lake for pellet waggler and margin fishing in summer, as there are so many double-figure carp in there.” Postcode: DN9 1LF Contact: 01427 875555
HALLCROFT FISHERY, RETFORD, NOTTS
“This place is unique because the lakes are so big and challenging, especially Moat, and the pegs are generously spaced. There are lots of big old carp and plenty of skimmers in there as well, so you can catch a combination of the two.
“They’ve recently allowed Method feeder fishing, so if the far bank is free of anglers you can often catch by chucking across the lake. Another great area of the venue is the near ledge at about 5m-6m out where it’s a hard bottom.” Postcode: DN22 7RA Contact: 01777 719911
AIRE AND CALDER CANAL, GREAT HECK, NORTH YORKS
“I enjoy all the Yorkshire canal systems, but this part is my favourite. It’s wide, deep and largely featureless, but there are loads of bream and skimmers here.
“You can catch them all along, but in matches the fish tend to get
pushed to the middle of the length by everyone walking down. I fish a feeder 5m–10m off the far bank and a long pole line, both with worms, casters, dead maggots/pinkies and groundbait. In August and September the roach move in too.” Postcode: DN14 0BL Contact: 07946 382882
WORSBROUGH RESERVOIR, BARNSLEY, SOUTH YORKS
“This is special to me as I first fished there 50 years ago and it was the training ground of the original Barnsley Blacks squad.
“It’s always been a fantastic venue for bream and big roach, on both the pole and feeder. Now there have been plenty of carp stocked too, and the Method is a popular tactic.” Postcode: S70 5NJ
Contact: 07952 073118
RIVER TRENT, COLLINGHAM, NOTTS
“I love tidal rivers because you can be sat there not catching, but when the tide changes it’s a fish every cast! We used to fish here a lot in the past with some nice catches of roach and dace on the float. Nowadays there are a lot of bream
and barbel around too. The tide doesn’t run as fast at Collingham because of the weir pool.” Postcode: NG23 6NR Contact: 07947 770690
GOLD VALLEY LAKES, ALDERSHOT, HAMPSHIRE
“I’ve not been to Gold Valley for a long time but it was one of the first waters I fished for carp, when we’d use sticky maggot feeders and big splasher wagglers.
“Gold Lake was my favourite because there are lots of small islands to cast to and a rope in the middle. It also has a massive head of skimmers. Nowadays it has lots of facilities and having an angler like owner Will Raison on hand helps!” Postcode: GU11 2PT Contact: 07786 827333
PORTH RESERVOIR, NEWQUAY, CORNWALL
“What a stunning venue this is! Every silverfish angler who ever went to White Acres loved the festival day on Porth.
“It’s very deep at the dam end but gets shallower as you go down the reservoir. You can always catch plenty of roach and skimmer bream on the pole and short-chuck feeder, or even the waggler shallow if the wind allows.”
Postcode: TR8 4JS Contact: 01566 771930
WARWICKSHIRE AVON, EVESHAM, WORCS
“I have three favourite river venues and this is one. It’s where I had a lot of success on the waggler and stick float in the 1970s and 1980s when it was full of roach, dace and chub.
“There aren’t many dace there
now but big fish like bream and barbel feature too, so you have to make your mind up what to target.” Postcode: WR11 4SS Contact: 01386 442955
SOUTHFIELD RESERVOIR, DONCASTER, SOUTH YORKS
“The match scene at Southfield has really taken off in recent times and it taught me how to be patient when I was learning to bream fish again. It’s simple open-end feeder fishing at 30m–40m but in summer you can catch roach and hybrids on a pole. The beauty of it is that you never know where the shoals of bream will turn up, although following the wind often helps.” Postcode: DN14 9AB Contact: 07597 976143
BARSTON LAKES, SOLIHULL, WARKS
“This place offers a mix of commercial and natural-style fishing. We had to learn to fish the long-distance Method feeder here, and your next bite could be a small skimmer or a 20lb carp! The favoured carp area is usually pegs 121-124, but you can catch skimmers and big F1s from all over the lake.” Postcode: B92 0LB Contact: 01675 444890