Stock Pond and Small Lake
Luke has had me working down south this week and had planned to get at least one day on the bankside but the only fisheries I could find around Dorking, where I was staying, were really pricey compared to what I am used to paying. One wanted £15 for a day ticket but I suppose the prices reflect the area and Dorking is right at the heart of the stockbroker belt, so I shouldn't have been too surprised. My last job of the week was in Farnborough, an area I know quite well after working for a company based down there, and I knew that there were a few coarse fisheries in the area. A quick search online and I had a few to choose from and quickly decided on trying Willow Park Fisheries after having had a look at their website.
I decided that I would check out of the hotel early(ish) on Thursday morning and head over there and spend the day fishing before heading off to Farnborough for my last job of the week and then home, back to Birmingham afterwards.
The weather didn't seem to want to play along with my plan and looking out of the hotel room window it was misty, grey and damp. I checked the fishery website again and had a look at the weather link they have on there which was predicting cloud with a little sunshine breaking through and a temperature of around 9 or 10c. Hopefully this grey miserable weather was confined to the Surrey Hills and things were brighter elsewhere, so I got my stuff together and set off, but after negotiating the delights of Guildford my hopes were dashed as I made my way along the top of the Hogs Back, a well known part of the North Downs, in fairly heavy mist. The realisation that the weather wasn't going to improve didn't deter me, I was going to have a good day however drab the conditions were because as Billy Connolly said once, "There is no such thing as the wrong weather, just the wrong choice of clothes".
I arrived at Willow Park around 10.00am, and parked up on the large car park adjacent to the Small Lake and made my way into the site Bait & Tackle shop. Now this is where I got my first surprise, how they manage to get so much tackle and bait into such a small space is beyond my reasoning and I was faced with floor to ceiling shelving containing just about anything that an angler, especially a carp angler, would need. There were pellets, boillies, groundbaits, additives of various types and flavours, colourful displays of floats for both rod and poles, wagglers, stick floats, artificial baits, rigs, hairlines, hooks and main line, in fact it may be easier to list what they didn't have. The shop can't be any bigger than 25 foot square and just how they have managed to get so much kit in there and keep it looking as ordered and tidy is, like I said, beyond me. All I could think as I looked around was that Damian and Richard would run the risk of coming away from there completely broke if they were to visit.
The owner came from the cafe and after explaining that I was still a novice angler he suggested that I should start off on the small stock pond where he could guarantee I would be busy if I fed little and often. I bought a pint of mixed maggots, paid my £10.50 for one rod and set off for the little pond next to the cafe and bait shop which the website described as being ideal for children and beginners and which held carp, roach, bream, crucians, perch & the odd chub. Now as many of you will be aware from previous posts, I try to learn something new every session I have on the bankside and today was no exception. In my eagerness to get set up and start fishing I failed to notice the rope strung out across the lake which the aerator was attached to and now I had limited myself to fishing in just one small area of the pond. I really should have looked around and noticed the obstacles in front of me, so a valuable lesson learned. I could have moved but I just wanted to start fishing so stayed where I was and I set up the float rod with a loaded waggler float and three No 9 Stotz on the line with a Size 20 hook.
After my last two sessions I wasn't expecting much to happen but the owner had said that if I feed little and often then he could guarantee I would be busy and he wasn't wrong. In two and a half hours I had bagged up 15 skimmers, 11 roach, 1 small crucian carp and 1 bream. Not huge fish and the majority were less than 1 ounce, but the sight of the float tip dipping below the surface was fantastic, especially after my previous outings. I had missed that rush of adrenaline you get when you know you have a fish on and it felt brilliant. I had planned on having the morning on the Stock Pond and then moving over to the Small Lake and getting the feeder rod out, so I decided to move over and try my luck on there.
The weather hadn't improved at all and the temperature was around 8 C, but it felt colder and I was in need of a cup of tea and sandwich. I moved my gear over and found myself a nice corner peg which gave me a nice area to fish into, avoiding the two carpers who were fishing two pegs away on my left and right. I hadn't heard their alarms going off through the morning and had wondered if the carp here were going to be as hard to tempt as they were at Makins or Friezeland. Before setting my feeder rod up I had to get something warm in my belly and so I went into the cafe and had a lovely bacon and sausage cob made by Mrs. Orford and a very welcome cuppa.
After warming myself up I set up the feeder and made my first cast into the lake which the website said held carp, tench, crucians, bream, perch, roach & the odd chub. I had 6lb main line with a free running swim feeder and a Size 16 hook on a 4lb lead. I had put a float stop on the line to prevent the feeder from catching on the snap swivel and I was ready. I packed the feeder with maggots and made my first cast. There was no wind and the water was very calm so hopefully I wouldn't keep thinking there was some movement on the tip and keep striking for no reason. I settled down in my chair and waited....and waited....and waited. The bloke to my right had packed up so this opened up more of the lake for me, but there didn't seem to be much action anywhere. Two blokes across from my seemed to be busy but the were fishing on the float and I started to question whether I had made a mistake and should change back to the float rod.
Just as I was about to make the swap the tip of the rod started bouncing around, maybe I was being a bit premature on making the change. I waited to see if there was any more movement but it had stopped for now, though I was sure it would not be long before I was going to catch. I am a bit of a nightmare for not sticking to one area if I don't catch and will cast into different areas looking for that first bite and this really isn't the best way to fish and I really should have more patience and stick with an area. With this in mind I thought I would clip my line this time so as long as I got within a certain area, I would be in roughly the right place for the bait I had already put out on the bottom. I clipped up at about 30 to 40 metres out and looked to the far bank for something to aim for on my next cast so I had both the length and direction to cast to every time.
I had been fishing this peg since 1pm and I had to leave for my job in the town by at least 4.15pm so I didn't have too long left to get a bite but I continued to keep casting out to my chosen area and build up the base of bait that would be crawling around on the lake bed and hopefully attracting some carp or ideally a nice tench. I've only ever caught one tench before and I have heard that they are feisty little things that fight as hard as a carp. There was more movement on the tip of the rod so I knew something was out there and must be knocking the line as it scoffed all of the freebies.
I looked at my phone to check the time and it was 3.30pm, I had 45 minutes before I had to start packing up and then leave when suddenly the tip of the rod bent round and started bouncing. I was in !!!!!....I picked up the rod and struck the line and knew straight away I had something decent on. The fish started heading towards the bank to my left and I had to get it back in front of me because there was a small bank on the left with a few bushes on it. If I let the fish get there I would struggle to land it and so I had tighten the clutch up a little to put a bit of resistance on the line and try to drag the fish to where I wanted it and not where it wanted to go. I could hear Damian, Luke and Richard in my head telling me to do this, that or the other as I fought the fish and tried to remain calm and not rush things and have the fish snap me off. After about two or three minutes I could see the fish on the surface and got my landing net ready to scoop it up in. It was a wonderful golden colour and the scales really stood out as I finally got it into the safety of the net. When I got it onto my unhooking mat it put up a bit of a struggle as I got the hook out of it's mouth and you could feel the power of the fish, it was just a lump of solid muscle.
The picture doesn't do this fish justice, it was thick around the body and the colours really popped a rich golden bronze kind of colour and weighed in at 5lb on my scales. However because you have to dip your landing mat (and net) before starting to fish my mat was waterlogged so I took off half of a pound and settled on 4.5lbs. I was really pleased with the catch and it had made my day.
Time came for me to leave and as I was making my way back to the van Mr. Orford, the owner, came out of the bait shop and asked how it had gone. I got talking to him about the fishery and he told me that the Big Lake has been producing some big carp which are averaging between 15 and 23lb regularly and that they had recently had a 30lb carp out of there. I told him that Richard and Damian like to fish either 24 or 48 hour sessions and he said that there was a £5 deposit for night fishing on the Big Lake but as long as people call up and pre-book a night session with 7 days notice this is refundable, so a 24 hour session would cost just £20 for two rods and a 48 hour session would cost £37. The website has a list of other longer sessions that people can fish if they wish.
What struck me was that this is a fishery owned and run by anglers for anglers and that the fish are well cared for which is reflected in the condition of them. The silvers I caught were very bright with good scale patterns and no damage to them and the carp was in brilliant condition. It makes a change for a fishery to be just a fishery, lots are located on farms and make up just part of the day to day business so the facilities are nowhere near as good as they are at Willow Park. Proper toilets, an exceptionally well stocked bait and tackle shop and a great cafe with the usual favourites on the menu all contribute to making any anglers day out more pleasurable and Willow Park does just that.....I had a great time. From now on I am going to be rating my experiences at fisheries with carp like the star system they use on fancy restaurants so today Willow Park becomes the first to be rated and I will award them top marks and they are the first 5-Carp fishery.
A fantastic fishery, friendly staff and brilliant fish.....I did tell Mr. Orford that my only criticism is that they are not closer to Birmingham and I will definitely be returning.....
See you on the bankside.....
I arrived at Willow Park around 10.00am, and parked up on the large car park adjacent to the Small Lake and made my way into the site Bait & Tackle shop. Now this is where I got my first surprise, how they manage to get so much tackle and bait into such a small space is beyond my reasoning and I was faced with floor to ceiling shelving containing just about anything that an angler, especially a carp angler, would need. There were pellets, boillies, groundbaits, additives of various types and flavours, colourful displays of floats for both rod and poles, wagglers, stick floats, artificial baits, rigs, hairlines, hooks and main line, in fact it may be easier to list what they didn't have. The shop can't be any bigger than 25 foot square and just how they have managed to get so much kit in there and keep it looking as ordered and tidy is, like I said, beyond me. All I could think as I looked around was that Damian and Richard would run the risk of coming away from there completely broke if they were to visit.
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| I nicked this from the fishery website but there is more tackle in the shop now |
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| Bream |
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| The best of the roach |
The weather hadn't improved at all and the temperature was around 8 C, but it felt colder and I was in need of a cup of tea and sandwich. I moved my gear over and found myself a nice corner peg which gave me a nice area to fish into, avoiding the two carpers who were fishing two pegs away on my left and right. I hadn't heard their alarms going off through the morning and had wondered if the carp here were going to be as hard to tempt as they were at Makins or Friezeland. Before setting my feeder rod up I had to get something warm in my belly and so I went into the cafe and had a lovely bacon and sausage cob made by Mrs. Orford and a very welcome cuppa.
After warming myself up I set up the feeder and made my first cast into the lake which the website said held carp, tench, crucians, bream, perch, roach & the odd chub. I had 6lb main line with a free running swim feeder and a Size 16 hook on a 4lb lead. I had put a float stop on the line to prevent the feeder from catching on the snap swivel and I was ready. I packed the feeder with maggots and made my first cast. There was no wind and the water was very calm so hopefully I wouldn't keep thinking there was some movement on the tip and keep striking for no reason. I settled down in my chair and waited....and waited....and waited. The bloke to my right had packed up so this opened up more of the lake for me, but there didn't seem to be much action anywhere. Two blokes across from my seemed to be busy but the were fishing on the float and I started to question whether I had made a mistake and should change back to the float rod.
Just as I was about to make the swap the tip of the rod started bouncing around, maybe I was being a bit premature on making the change. I waited to see if there was any more movement but it had stopped for now, though I was sure it would not be long before I was going to catch. I am a bit of a nightmare for not sticking to one area if I don't catch and will cast into different areas looking for that first bite and this really isn't the best way to fish and I really should have more patience and stick with an area. With this in mind I thought I would clip my line this time so as long as I got within a certain area, I would be in roughly the right place for the bait I had already put out on the bottom. I clipped up at about 30 to 40 metres out and looked to the far bank for something to aim for on my next cast so I had both the length and direction to cast to every time.
I had been fishing this peg since 1pm and I had to leave for my job in the town by at least 4.15pm so I didn't have too long left to get a bite but I continued to keep casting out to my chosen area and build up the base of bait that would be crawling around on the lake bed and hopefully attracting some carp or ideally a nice tench. I've only ever caught one tench before and I have heard that they are feisty little things that fight as hard as a carp. There was more movement on the tip of the rod so I knew something was out there and must be knocking the line as it scoffed all of the freebies.
I looked at my phone to check the time and it was 3.30pm, I had 45 minutes before I had to start packing up and then leave when suddenly the tip of the rod bent round and started bouncing. I was in !!!!!....I picked up the rod and struck the line and knew straight away I had something decent on. The fish started heading towards the bank to my left and I had to get it back in front of me because there was a small bank on the left with a few bushes on it. If I let the fish get there I would struggle to land it and so I had tighten the clutch up a little to put a bit of resistance on the line and try to drag the fish to where I wanted it and not where it wanted to go. I could hear Damian, Luke and Richard in my head telling me to do this, that or the other as I fought the fish and tried to remain calm and not rush things and have the fish snap me off. After about two or three minutes I could see the fish on the surface and got my landing net ready to scoop it up in. It was a wonderful golden colour and the scales really stood out as I finally got it into the safety of the net. When I got it onto my unhooking mat it put up a bit of a struggle as I got the hook out of it's mouth and you could feel the power of the fish, it was just a lump of solid muscle.
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| Carp from the Small Lake |
The picture doesn't do this fish justice, it was thick around the body and the colours really popped a rich golden bronze kind of colour and weighed in at 5lb on my scales. However because you have to dip your landing mat (and net) before starting to fish my mat was waterlogged so I took off half of a pound and settled on 4.5lbs. I was really pleased with the catch and it had made my day.
Time came for me to leave and as I was making my way back to the van Mr. Orford, the owner, came out of the bait shop and asked how it had gone. I got talking to him about the fishery and he told me that the Big Lake has been producing some big carp which are averaging between 15 and 23lb regularly and that they had recently had a 30lb carp out of there. I told him that Richard and Damian like to fish either 24 or 48 hour sessions and he said that there was a £5 deposit for night fishing on the Big Lake but as long as people call up and pre-book a night session with 7 days notice this is refundable, so a 24 hour session would cost just £20 for two rods and a 48 hour session would cost £37. The website has a list of other longer sessions that people can fish if they wish.
What struck me was that this is a fishery owned and run by anglers for anglers and that the fish are well cared for which is reflected in the condition of them. The silvers I caught were very bright with good scale patterns and no damage to them and the carp was in brilliant condition. It makes a change for a fishery to be just a fishery, lots are located on farms and make up just part of the day to day business so the facilities are nowhere near as good as they are at Willow Park. Proper toilets, an exceptionally well stocked bait and tackle shop and a great cafe with the usual favourites on the menu all contribute to making any anglers day out more pleasurable and Willow Park does just that.....I had a great time. From now on I am going to be rating my experiences at fisheries with carp like the star system they use on fancy restaurants so today Willow Park becomes the first to be rated and I will award them top marks and they are the first 5-Carp fishery.
A fantastic fishery, friendly staff and brilliant fish.....I did tell Mr. Orford that my only criticism is that they are not closer to Birmingham and I will definitely be returning.....
See you on the bankside.....
Lovely write up Stu...so glad you enjoyed yourself. Hope to see you bankside soon. "Team Willow" <)))>< ...
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