Just up the road from meon Springs is Moorhen Fisherny. In the past this fishery has a very good reputation for good size fish and good bacon sarnies and lots of other bits and pieces. Recently taken over by a young couple I made an unscheduled visit.
Reception was extremely good a welcome coffee and a chat with the new owners. Fishing was averagee for the small venue, however fish condition were good and I was particularly impressed by the fish coming to the surface which enabled a dry fly technique. Fish not particulary good fighters, which is probably not surprising given the size of the lake. Not a fantastic venue but good and very pleasant. I will revisite to see how the new couple are progessing.
reception 9/10
cleanliness and facilites 8/10
fish 6/10
recommend : definately worth a visit, very pleasant new owners location is pleasant wish them well.
Tuesday 11 March 2008
Thursday 26 July 2007
Avington
Incredible amount of hype with this fishery, does it live up to it ?
On arrival expecting to pay £35 for a 2 fish ticket, told that I had to add the VAT pushing the price up to £41 !, not a good start. Not shown or encouraged to use the £25.00 option and pay per pound, only realised when i left.
Three lakes, all weeded water extremely clear on 2 last one was very cloudy. I tried all three. Lake number 1 fish were obvious, and seemed to chase the right color lure, but as one observered it was like fishing in a garden pond. Fish well aware and mostly spooked, although i did manage a few takes on a PTN, small certainly is a good strategy.
On to lake no 2. See previous posts reference Luck. As I walked by two americans and chatted one of them hooked onto a large Rainbow with a tiny white lure, 20 minutes later he landed the 16 lb record fish ! Certainly the rest of the afternoon on this lake saw several successes, although it was very hard going, whilst the water was clear the fish were well down under the weed. Some very impressive Brownies. A lake not for the novice ! I managed one poor rainbow at 4 lb although I was disgusted in the condition of the fish, several of the other cruising rainbows looked in bad condition.
Lake number 3. Several novices on this lake a family of 5 boys with dad all fishing badly, so busy body me gave some subtle advice to one of them about casting and tips on holding the rod, bad move. The "worst " flailer promptly pulled out an 8 lb rainbow. Despite the success this lake was down to blind casting, water was dank only one side was useable and appeared mainly to be small brownies.
Almost without exception all the fisherman were dissapointed ( except the american !) and several made reference to the fact it did not live up to its media hype. Most of the visitors treated the visit as a special occasion. Americans on an overseas trip, one wedding couple, special dads day, two birthdays. I liked the freindliness, however hitting you with VAT was petty and has probably lost the fishery business.
Cost 4/10
Facilities 5/10
Fish condition 4/10
Fish size 7/10
Freindliness 8/10
Fishery condition 6/10
overall 4/10
value for money 4/10
On arrival expecting to pay £35 for a 2 fish ticket, told that I had to add the VAT pushing the price up to £41 !, not a good start. Not shown or encouraged to use the £25.00 option and pay per pound, only realised when i left.
Three lakes, all weeded water extremely clear on 2 last one was very cloudy. I tried all three. Lake number 1 fish were obvious, and seemed to chase the right color lure, but as one observered it was like fishing in a garden pond. Fish well aware and mostly spooked, although i did manage a few takes on a PTN, small certainly is a good strategy.
On to lake no 2. See previous posts reference Luck. As I walked by two americans and chatted one of them hooked onto a large Rainbow with a tiny white lure, 20 minutes later he landed the 16 lb record fish ! Certainly the rest of the afternoon on this lake saw several successes, although it was very hard going, whilst the water was clear the fish were well down under the weed. Some very impressive Brownies. A lake not for the novice ! I managed one poor rainbow at 4 lb although I was disgusted in the condition of the fish, several of the other cruising rainbows looked in bad condition.
Lake number 3. Several novices on this lake a family of 5 boys with dad all fishing badly, so busy body me gave some subtle advice to one of them about casting and tips on holding the rod, bad move. The "worst " flailer promptly pulled out an 8 lb rainbow. Despite the success this lake was down to blind casting, water was dank only one side was useable and appeared mainly to be small brownies.
Almost without exception all the fisherman were dissapointed ( except the american !) and several made reference to the fact it did not live up to its media hype. Most of the visitors treated the visit as a special occasion. Americans on an overseas trip, one wedding couple, special dads day, two birthdays. I liked the freindliness, however hitting you with VAT was petty and has probably lost the fishery business.
Cost 4/10
Facilities 5/10
Fish condition 4/10
Fish size 7/10
Freindliness 8/10
Fishery condition 6/10
overall 4/10
value for money 4/10
Monday 11 June 2007
Tolpuddle
Richard Slocock and his wife run a small holding and Richard is Local celebrity in Fly fishing and river fishing. However he also maintains four lakes in Tolpuddle. My visits to Tolpuddle vary considerably and depend upon the weed.
The venue is semi wild, certainly not cultivated but very conducive to a quite few hours by some varied lake fishing. Richard will give lessons both for the lakes and for fishing on the Piddle. He is a renown conservationlist and his respect for maintaining a balance for the fly life and for the fisherman has earned him enourmous respect.
Facilities are not brilliant, although he does a small shop and will let you use the toilet in his farmhouse, he also offers a sping and summer let.
Lakes vary from the early to the late season, however fishing is usually very rewarding although not easy.
So far as pricing is concerned, ranges from £13 to £30 depending on ticket. A snip for an excellant evenings fishing. I have never failed to catch a fish here.
Overall 8/10
facilities 5/10
Fishing 7/10
Pricing 9/10
The venue is semi wild, certainly not cultivated but very conducive to a quite few hours by some varied lake fishing. Richard will give lessons both for the lakes and for fishing on the Piddle. He is a renown conservationlist and his respect for maintaining a balance for the fly life and for the fisherman has earned him enourmous respect.
Facilities are not brilliant, although he does a small shop and will let you use the toilet in his farmhouse, he also offers a sping and summer let.
Lakes vary from the early to the late season, however fishing is usually very rewarding although not easy.
So far as pricing is concerned, ranges from £13 to £30 depending on ticket. A snip for an excellant evenings fishing. I have never failed to catch a fish here.
Overall 8/10
facilities 5/10
Fishing 7/10
Pricing 9/10
Wednesday 6 June 2007
Amherst Lodge Devon
What a great venue. Turn up after finding mousehole lane set up and login the rod room. Facilities to clean and gut fissh, water cooler, free tea and coffee. On site toilets etc. standard is high for a farm / lodge. Five lakes of various sizes. Top lakes for dry fly only great sport on all lakes.
Extremely high standard of fish.
Cost 2 fish ticket £15 C&R £12
absoulutely beautifull setting. Not too wild but not too cultivated.
Only criticism might be the overall size, but rarely more than 3 or 4 rods.
On site shop see the lady of the lodge for all sorts of flies and lines.
an absolute joy to visit.
Facilities 8/10
sport 9/10
Value for money 9/10
Extremely high standard of fish.
Cost 2 fish ticket £15 C&R £12
absoulutely beautifull setting. Not too wild but not too cultivated.
Only criticism might be the overall size, but rarely more than 3 or 4 rods.
On site shop see the lady of the lodge for all sorts of flies and lines.
an absolute joy to visit.
Facilities 8/10
sport 9/10
Value for money 9/10
Monday 21 May 2007
Chalk Springs West Sussex
We decided to visit the Fly fishing lakes of Arundel. I dont know if it is me but sometimes I feel that the fisherman look like they are all standing at open Urinals vying for the highest pee trajectory. Three long trenches, filled with rotting vegatation, being cirmvented by happless trout looking totally miserable. A worse sight was the meandering of fishermen, just as miserable, in the opposite direction; men standing around the outside with long poles giving the occassionall slap on the water. Aparantly it gets too crowded. The lakes looked dank, the fish lifeless the fisherman bored. Forget stealth, forget casting technique, forget fly selection, just remember to get a bright lure and strip strip strip. alternatively do as at least half a dozen were doing use a bite indicator......We did leave a present to one chap who incredibly could not catch a fish ( I reckoned they were tame !), I left John to stand by his side for 3 minutes and a fish, the first in 3 hours pulled in, perhaps it was luck or perhaps more care with a young audience. So we caught a fish without paying. Sometimes in the press you see sob stories about how difficult it is for these lakes to survive, how underpriced they are, how bad the fisherman treat the facility. After visiting Chalk springs, the only sympathy I have is with the fish and the fishermen. Later in the evening we went to Tolpuddle, thats another story......
Reception 2/10
Facilities 4/10
Fish 6/10
Lakes 3/10
Overall poor
Reception 2/10
Facilities 4/10
Fish 6/10
Lakes 3/10
Overall poor
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
