Dates for your Diary:

Fly Fishing for Pike. Congratulations to Rich for landing this hard fighting 14lb pike on Shearwater Lake. It took a Fulling Mill perch fly. This was the best of a number of pike caught by Rich this winter in Shearwater Lake where the pike can be found up to 26lb.

Have you considered becoming a member of Woodington Fishery?

For the annual sum of £68.00, membership entitles you to a discounted ticket throughout the year  (from 1 April 2010 - 31 March 2011 inclusive).  Whichever ticket you purchase, whether it be bronze, silver or gold, as a member you will be entitled to a discount of £2.00 on each ticket purchased throughout the year.

 Additionally, four members’ days are held throughout the year.  This year the dates are as follows:

                                     -           Sunday,      11th April 2010
                                    -           Sunday,      13th June 2010 (B-B-Q)
                                    -           Sunday,      10th October 2010
                                    -           Sunday,      19th December 2010 (Xmas Competition & Lunch)

On the above days, discounted tickets are purchased in the normal way.  However, in order to make the days as enjoyable as possible, we provide the hospitality - breakfast snack, two course lunch and afternoon tea.  Please note: Members must book meals 48 hours in advance to the specific members’ day being attended. Additionally, just to make the day a little more competitive(!) we provide a shield on each day for the best brace.  Should you wish to become a member, please contact John or Amanda before the 1st April 2010.

A Peregrine Falcon : a recent visitor to the fishery    click on images for more info....	Peregrines are the fastest animals in the world and are believed to achieve speeds approaching 200kmph (124mph) when plunging from the sky after prey.

For Sale: 10ft dinghy, trailer and Seagul outboard motor for sale - £325 (credit card accepted)

Kevin, Mick, Nigel and Dave’s carp-on-the-fly day. ‘We went last Monday 14th September and the weather was mostly sunny with a blustery wind. We were welcomed by John with a coffee and he told us how the lakes were fishing and what type of flies to use. We opted for the Silver ticket of 2 fish then C&R which didn’t allow us to fish Spring lake. We had a fairly late start so eventually started fishing around 11.00am and went off to Kingfisher Lake. The water was crystal clear and you could see the fish moving around. I had a few follows on a Daddy Long legs and decided to change to a green weighted Montana. After casting out and letting the fly sink, I caught a nice clean, fully finned rainbow of about 2lb which fought really well. I had a few follows after that but not much else. I think the bright conditions put the fish off. Kevin and Mick managed one each as well.
We stopped around 1pm for lunch which Amanda cooked for us, a toad-in-the-hole with apple pie and ice cream to follow, delicious!

After lunch, Kevin, Mick and Dave carried on with the trout fishing but I wanted to try the fly fishing for carp. I had already asked John if we could try fly fishing for carp and he said no problem at all. We had baited up a few swims with floating dog biscuits earlier on and I could see the carp moving around the lily pads. I set up a 9’ #7 rod with a floating line, 7 foot 7lb leader and tied on an imitation pellet fly which I purchased from John’s well stocked tackle shop. John gave me a few hints. “Don’t strike straight away, the carp will nudge the fly a few times and if they think it’s ok, then they will take it but even then they might spit it out before you can strike. If you hook one, it will go straight to the bottom and you wont see it until you get it to the net” I fired out a few more pellets and waited for the carp to start to feed. It didn’t take long, soon enough, there was the familiar sight of big lips sucking in the pellets. I cast out to the nearest feeding carp, sank my leader and waited. Sure enough, as John said, the carp nudged the fly around, some took it and spat it out and obviously, I struck too early! It’s so hard not to strike when you see a carp sucking in your fly and you think you have it but it’s already spat it out! Truly heart stopping stuff!

I eventually hooked one and it shot off like a train. I had a hard fight with this fish for about 10 minutes until I managed to land it. It was only a 5~6lb’er but it was a beautiful fish, fully finned and in great condition.
I had disturbed the swim so I ventured off around the lake and saw some more carp cruising around and managed another two and lost one. I had loads of near takes and carp spitting out the fly but slowly the fish disappeared from this area so I went back to the lily’s and met up with the rest of the guys who had decided to give the carp a go as well.
Mick and Dave had a imitation bread fly on and Kevin had the same as me. We all had takes and eventually Kevin hooked up but after a long fight, the fish swam under the pontoon he was standing on and swam away again wrapping the line around one on the legs of the pontoon! Needless to say he lost it! He did manage to land one later on though and with the sun-setting, we decided to call it a day.

We all had a fantastic time and will certainly be returning for more fly fishing for carp next summer. If you haven’t had a carp on the fly, I urge you to do so, it’s seriously good fun! We will also be going in the winter as you can also fly fish for pike in Shearwater Lake which is the largest lake at Woodington.’

Fantastic brace caught by John Bradley on the Blackwater river during  members day on the 5th April  (3lb 4oz & 3lb 8oz), both                caught on PTN, size 16.	John says 'If you check out the spot pattern,....they're not the same fish!' "Champion of Wellow" We believe you John!