WHATS NEW AT REVELS!!

A page of latest news from Revels fishery as well as a diary of everyday happenings and thoughts an internet blog of day to day runnings of a busy developing fishery.

Im hoping to keep updates regular again now and any one wanting to read the old news pages these are now in this link:- OLD NEWS.

15/01/08 Christmas is out of the way and the new year is upon us and its all happening here. We are currentaly making the biggest lake changes since the fishery was built and all is going well. The Main lake has been increased in size with the addition of a new island. We have expanded this lake in 2 ways and now looks greatly enlarged following on from the little bit we did some 18 months ago. Im very happy the way this has gone although things are a bit muddy and churned up in the areas the work have been done in which is to be expected the way the weather is at the moment but the only time of year we can do work like this. One move that might not be at first popular with all but once viewed can be appreciated why we did it and thats the point has been removed. This has created much greater water area and a brand new island feature. The main reason behind this has often groups of night anglers have come in on a friday night for a weekends fishing and a group of 3 with 3 rods each have taken over the lake. This is no longer possible. There is still a good sized point to set up on but with the new features to fish from other anglers can set up on the other side and not be effected. Also once stretch of water behind the main island has been to narrow and grown over to fish. This has now been greatly widened and created several new swims. In all 30+ pegs are now possible very comfortably on the main lake which is greatly more then the 22 before. This would also now make for one of the most feature packed commercial lakes anywhere in the area. We have also removed a lot of our trees from the fishery and opened up the lakes greatly. The newest small Trendles pond very popular especially amoungst the holiday and match anglers has been slightly increased in size and a further new island feature added. The extension is only about a third of what was orginally planned for due partly to soil and weather restrctions but really adds a new character to this lake and also adds to our match cabability but again will take time to settle down and regrass over the area of extension. Despite the terrible weather this has all gone well and at the time of writing we start enlarging the specimen lake tomorrow. In all these 3 lake extension greatly increase our angler capacity. We are currentaly actively sourcing new fish which we hope to be stocking before the start of March. The Open matchs have been going well and well supported and some comments made on further improvements have been taken on board. We have postphoned this weekends match to the following week due to the very wet condtitions. Pike have been showing well and im pleased with the progress here. Last weekends match was fished on the main lake just before our works started and the bags of Roach caught were very impressive. Trout lakes have also fished well with one group of anglers returning 22 fish in thier days sport.

27/11/07 Autumn/winter weather is here and the fishery has very suddenaly gone much quieter although still a few dedicated anglers braving either very cold frosty weather or wet and wild. Behind the scenes things dont stop and we have just finished replacing our oldest on site holiday van with a much newer more modern van. We were very lucky and stumbled upon this van by accident but its huge the biggest we have ever had a whopping 40ft by 12ft and inside you would never believe you were in a van. This 6 berth van has replaced the old single bedroom van behind the bungalow. An old favourite i know to many of our visitors that knew it well but each year it was getting harder to prepare it for the summer season. Also this van being more modern its enabling us to stay open all year now with our accomodation. The last van to be replaced now in out ongoing improvements is the big double one at the top by the specimen lake and this is planned for later in 2008. Fishing has been up and down. Early November fished well and one pair of visitors had a stunning session on the specimen lake with over 20 double figure Carp to 21lb 6oz and a dozen Cats 4 of which were between 20lb and 37lb. As the frosts came in things have slowed right up but we are hoping this weeks warmer winds will liven things up again. The Pike have sprung into gear and there has been some good sport in multiple catches but you have to work for them. Silver fish feeding well and just waiting for our monster Perch winter sport we get here. Open coarse match planned for this Saturday and Open Pike match for this Sunday although forcast not to good. At long last and nearly 2 months late we have been promised the heavy plant machinary for next week to start on out lake enlargements and a few alterations although scaled down now from my original plans of a few months ago its still enough for some big changes. Full details and pics in next update.

07/10/07 AT LAST AN UPDATE!!!! Its been a long time and im very sorry and ive been driven mad by our regular visitors asking whats happened!! Well we are still here and this being our 20th year has been our busiest ever we have had a totally full book on both our holiday vans and the specimen lake and in all honesty its been as much as what we can keep up with on the fishery and in the shop ive not touched the website or our Yahoo club group and appologise for that. We have been lucky that a part time member of staff has been able to come in full time but as October is comming on things have now got quiet and we can take stock on what needs doing. Some swims have had heavy use and there are repairs to be done. At the time of writing we are awaiting some heavy machinary which is booked for the end of the month and we have some plans in the pipeline for some lake extensions but nothing to announce yet as we have not finalised what we are doing. As far as happenings since my last postings, well as anyone is aware there has been some awfull weather that started not long after my last post and kept going for weeks. We were spolit with the fishing earlier in the year and it went strength to strength but around the second May bankholiday the air pressure and tempertures started there summer long rollercoaster and it took its toll on the fishing and it could not start at a worse time right at a crucial spawning point. Junes fishing was very difficult for the Carp although the Bream fishing has continued to go from strength to strength and i got quite concerned for the Carp and we lost approx 30-35 females over the space of 4 weeks being spawn bound. We have replaced these fish and more since i hasten to add. Anyway July showed the signs of settleling down untill the weather turned again. In the end a patten formed where the worst the weather was the better it fished venture out on a wet wind swept day and you could bag. Fish on a lovely hot settled day and it was a struggle and this was pretty much the pattern right up to the August bankholiday where the fishing was on for 2 days then off for a couple of days. This patten has been pretty much reported countrywide and i have spoke to several fishery owners i work closely with and all have expirenced a simlar patten. Then at the beginning of September we had a high pressure system establish its self for the longest period of time since April and at last the fish came out to play and there have been some good catches right up to the time of writing. Although they still tend to hold up in the favourite swims as has been discovered with our regular customers. Bream have continued to amaze and there have been some really good bags out this summer along with the other silver fish. Trendles lake has fished well and the small stocked Carp from the beginning of the year have grown and an astonsihing weight. The biggest stocked was just 5lb and we have now seen several fish from 8lb to 9lb 8oz and the lake is still teaming with fish and they readily respond to a handfull of pellet. DDAS club had several 3 hour evening matches there in th summer and 50lb was needed to be in the frame. This lake is favourite for enlarging later this month as well. The old top match lake has produced some very large pleasure bags this year again but along with the rest of the fishing has not been consistent to later on in the year. The other lakes have all had there moments and everyone always has there favourite. We have continued with our restocking program and have just introduced another large batch of small fast growing Mirror and Common carp. Member of staff pictured below with sample fish part of hundreds more that have gone in:-

We are expeciting the huge influx of smaller fish to give some really good match sport into next year. We have not forgotton our specimen angler though and have some really nice home grown fish in the 19lb-23lb bracket now. Also we have just taken our second stocking of Pike. I know not everyones cup of tea and they have only gone in limited lake where we were allowed to stock them. We are jusyt about to launch 2 series of OpenMatches. One for the general Match angler and one for for the Pike angler. The Pike matches are very experimental and have limited pegs the dates are as follows:-

NOTE:- WE HAVE MANY LAKES AND NORMAL DAY TICKET ANGLING IS NOT EFFECTED ON MATCH DAYS

OPEN COARSE MATCHES:- All on a Saturday 17/11/07, 1/12/07, 12/01/08, 19/01/08, 9/02/08, 23/02/08 £20 entry all in per match including £4 pegging fee

OPEN PIKE MATCHES:- All on a Sunday 18/11/07, 02/12/07, 23/12/07, 20/01/08, 17/02/08, 16/03/08 £6 entry per match optional £5 superpool no pegging fee.

Match booking on (01300) 345301Matches are open to all anglers and are a friendly fun affair even for novices.

05/05/07 Just a quick update as so so busy here at the moment. Its been busy and everything has been ticking along nicely. More and More gear keeps turning up for the shop and we have just become a Masterline Masterdealer again after several year and lots of exciting things happening there with Masterline adding Trubucco to their range along with the original Ryobi Masterline, Normark, Cortland and others. We have just strted getting some Maver gear in as so many people have been asking and we are now holding more tackle then we have ever ever have and its is a considerable display. We also have a couple of liquidation clearences in the pipeline and if you have not already joined then subscribe to our yahoo group (link further down this page or on the main page) as it get first offers on that site.

Just proof of how quick things happen here i was happily mowing th grass minding my own business here 2 days ago and my mobile rang and within 2 hours we were getting emergency section 30 consent from the Environment Agency and taking delivery of 40 pike rescued from certain death after a removal excercise on a Trout fishing stretch of the River Frome. As we have waters here which are classified as "NON-ONLINE STILLWATER" we were able to do this and there were 8 fish between 18lb-24lb so this winter look forward to some piking fun.

(above) Member of staff with one of several around 20lb Pike being introduced. Another pair of twenties in the net ready to go in.

Fishing has been very good and ive had to keep reminding myself its only just May as the fishing is at mid-summer levels and we are already monitoring the water situation as we just dont know what the summer has in stall for us. Ive seen Carp to mid twenties, Tench to 5lb 2oz and Bream to over 7lb from the Pike lake. Bags of Carp well over 200lb from the Old top Match Lake and still bags and bags of Skimmers from all lakes its really been a mystry where in some lakes they have come from. We witnessed a hige slab of at least 6-8lb spawning in Desparation lake just last week and this lake has produced so many skimmers lately. Yet 3 years ago a Bream had never been heard of. Catfish are being caught at levels never seen before and mid twenties to mid thirties are a daily occurance we have nearly fully fuly booked now for the summer and the last few date available at the time of writing are listed below. These can be reserved on payment of a deposit wither in person or over the telephone.

Last note to make on this update we would like to welcome Sturminster and Hinton angling club to the fishery for a years affliattion from June 16th and look forward to meeting members.

16/04/07 Its been a busy couple of weeks at the fishery and still only mid-April we are in a really crazy weather cycle and the fish dont know whats hit them as the Carp are taking floating baits like its July. Anyway fishing has been good despite the amount of anglers on the bank. Specimen lake is really on form and benefited from our winters work. Never had such a head of 20lb+ Cats show and there has been 18 Twenties as well as a lot of smaller cats out in just 10 days including our new record of 39lb 4oz and lots around the 28lb mark as well. Banking these fish is now much easier with the lack of weed in the lakes. Lots of Carp as well showing to 23lb. In all really pleased with this. As for the main fishery amoungst the Carp which are showing in number the Bream have been the headline of the week with so many comming out and even more shocking they are showing from lakes where we have never really had them in before. All the fish range from 12oz to 5lb and are showing everywhere from Dead tree to the favourite Bream swims of Middle lake and Main lake and a member of staff had a really good bag from Desparation lake while fishing for Carp with B.A.M pellet of all things this shocked us further as well as the numbers of Bream caught. Pike lake has had its few hard core anglers fish this always hard going water and as always patience pays off and there has been a couple of carp to mid twenty and some really nice Tench to 6lb which is good to see. Trendles lake has been a star as ever amoungst the holiday anglers and really is bagging city with 50-60lb possible in just a couple of hours and following our trial match weight of over 100lb we hope to host another open match at some point but dates to be announced. We still have some bank jobs to do on the fishery with our ever ongoing improvements but this has ground to a halt for the moment as we have got so busy we have all been pretty much stuck to the tackle shop serving customers but we should have a lull in things now for a couple of weeks before the summer starts proper to finish up a couple of winter tasks. Dont forget our yahoo group (link below) Join us here and we update every couple of days and the group is interactive for anglers to post back comments and is getting very popular now.

05/04/07 A really quick update here as we are so so busy with Easter holidays looming down on us but had to announce the capture of our biggest ever fish which has just been banked and witnessed at 39LB 4OZ this Catfish obviously comming from the Specimen lake the early hours of this morning. This was caught by a holidaying family staying with us and pictures will follow as soon as they forward them to me when they get home next week. Overall the glorious spring weather is here and as soon as the horrible East breeze died off a couple of days ago every lake is in full gear with everything showing from loads of double figure Carp to some really nice Bream and Roach and some stunning bags from Dead tree lake, The Old top Match lake and Trendles lake as well as everything else. Dave Stanbridge from Yeovil had a cracking Chub last week well over 5lb and the first ive seen from the fishery for many months but proves these old Chub are still in there to be caught. I reckon they come out more often but often get mistaken by other anglers not expecting to see them. Anyway so much to do and so little time to get it all done today with the bank holiday starting tomorrow.

25/03/07 Quick update cold weather has taken its toll on the water colour the last 10 days and what a shame as it was looking really good. Fish however still feeding resonable despite the clear water but hopefully things will colour up again as the stiff N/NE breeze eases off. We have really made a move forward on some work on the top match lake putting in several new swims some that have been unfishable for the last 4-5 years and its really taking shape on this lake again that so rarely gets the chance for new work being the furthest from the main fishery. Our open match yesterday has been an astonding success depite the hard conditions the first trial of the new Trendles pool has been a full success. 1st on the day was Alex Murrray (Team Mossela) with a fantastic 103lb 13oz of Carp from Trendles. 2nd Matt Parsons (Sensas Thyers) 85lb 5oz Carp and Roach Dead Tree Lake and 3rd Ian Brouncy 50lb 5oz Carp from Trendles Lake again. In all we have manged to keep a level playing field in these two lakes and have just installed a gate at the entrance of Dead Tree lake which enables us to now be able two seal these two lakes right off in the event of a private booking complete with a private parking area at the edge of Trendles match and can take around 30 pegs between the 2 lakes and not interfere with the other day ticket waters whatsoever. Hopefully plans are already in the pipe line for a big enlargement of both of these 2 waters if things go well this summer hopefully doubling capacity. Private bookings now being taken with a very resonable pegging fee. Not the full day ticket charges some fisheries impose. Looking forward to the warm weather now as if these weights are possible on a day when i was really concerned for the outcome whats possible when they really come on the feed!!!!!!

The moment of truth as the winning 100lb+match bag comes to the scales

15/03/07 First taste of spring is here and have we ever made the most of it!!! Its been non-stop work.. We have really got on with some work round the lakes and we have dried out nicely. We have tried to keep strict to our plan to work on only one lake at a time before moving onto the next. Strarting right at the top of the fishery we have finished putting the new swims round the old recentaly enlarged stock pond. The specimen lake which i talked about in my last update is now finished and has been completly de-weeded and is at its clearest for 3 years as well as this we have cleared the island and trimmed the trees right back and laid the hardcore paths right round. In all very pleased with the finished job. We have then just put the finishing touches to Trendles lake and now well into Dead tree lake. With our fourth comming open match on the 24th March (still taking bookings by the way) we have put in some work on the old top match lake. There is so much more to be done here but it will have to wait as it is the bottom of the list of lakes to be sorted but we have touched up a couple of swims and installed some more. Also a retired angling customer of ours has given us a day and his skils to remove a couple of very large troublesome trees from the Main lake which has opened a swim up and allowed us to put in another that has not been used for years. In all im very pleased how this has gone and has really opened up the main lake from the top end which has fished so well so far this year and i reckon will be one of this years favourite areas and the spot that 2 of our 3 known thirty pound Carp were landed from last year.

On the fishing front the warm weather has really got things going and fish have been rising to the surface well. Ive seen good bags from all lakes. We have had 2 20lb+ catfish out in 2 weeks as well as some smaller Cats the first of this year and i await eageraly for our first 40lb+ fish which is very possible this year. Ive been surprised since removing the weed how many smaller carp that have been caught from here which we will be using else where on the fishery. Despite several fish from 2-5lb a group last weekend still managed 67 fish with an average of 10lb. Deadtree lake and Trendles lake still producing small carp in 50-70lb bags to paste, maggot or corn. Main lake has produced a string of doubles and fished well although not seeing the large silver fish of a couple of weeks ago. The old Top match lake which is renowned as a summer only water and set our plesure bag record last year with 400lb in 10 hours is starting to show its form with 150lb of fish yeaterday to feeder fished corn to the island. This lake was stocked with small 1-4lb Carp some 11 years ago and they have steadily grown. Last year they were mainly comming out at between 8-12lb but yesterdays bag every fish was over 10lb and the best at 15lb. Another hot summer on this lake and we could be soon be looking forward to a lake full of purely home grown 20lb+ fish and a lot of them. We are now trying to get our last big jobs done as we have a large booking of holiday anglers for this summer season which starts from Easter as when the lakes are getting busy its nearly impossible to be felling trees or hammering in swims.

While we have been busy with the lake work we have finished installing our hot shower block and also finished converting the fishery toilets to lake water. We try to do our green bit and already recycle some of the fishery rubbish. We also try to use re-cycled bags and packaging in the shop. By all means the smallest drop in the ocean on the whole picture but when working outside like we do a lot of the time the last 12 months we have seen and expirenced things that bring it home that we all need to do our bit. We are already making plans on big fishery changes for this Autumn before this season even gets going. Southern electric have agreed to remove a couple of power cables that just cross the far corner of our porperty and we have had some cracking ideas some very original so ill keep them under wraps for a minute.

We are nearly doing updates on the fishery daily over on our Yahoo group so if you want to follow things faster then happens on here and be also free to add comments yourself then follow the link below to join. This group has really taken off now.

25/02/07 We have just finished re-decorating all the holiday vans and in the nick of time as well as this week and last every van is full.

Holiday vans ready for anglers.

Despite being very wet on site at the moment due to the non-stop rain the fishing has been far beyond my best expectations. The youngsters have really been doing the business as well. The string of low doubles that have been comming out has been non stop. Fish after fish. One father and son here on holiday managed 9 doubles to 20lb in just 24 hours from the main lake. And another Father and son followed this with 6 doubles on thier stint on their stint. One young lad from Wales fishing on his own today has had several fish including a 13lb and 16lb specimen his personnal bests this has also been followed with a couple of 20lb fish and unconfirmed rumours at the time of writing a 30lb fish has shown again but just waiting to confirm this. New pics on the pics page. There has been some really good silver fish out. One chap on the main lake adopted a very strange technique as we have a lot of water pushing through at the moment he found enough flow on the inlet to actually trot a float so he set up his river gear to the amusement of some other anglers and bagged some stunning roach to 1lb 15oz as well as some good Perch. New Trendles lake and Dead tree lake continue to porduce large bags of small carp and since last writing they benefit from a further introduction of 600 pastie sized carp.

One of hundreds of fantastic new fish being stocked.

We have spent a lot of time on the Specimen lake and have had a really big clean up of the vegatation in and out of the lake and it really looks different. Some anglers have been shocked of the change we have made. Some really happy some not so but with the lack of snags now thats more fish on the bank and i think as soon as the Spring growth sets in everything will look really good. Lots of new plans and lots to announce but not for the minute as im going to keep you waiting so check back soon.

We have announced a date for an Open match at the fishery of Saturday March 24th and entries are being taken now.

The Yahoo group we have set up is growing well and updates are nearly daily on there. Following link below to join. We are getting a lot of second hand tackle comming in and its being offered to the group before anyone else as well.

15/01/07 We have just started a brand new interactive group on yahoo which we are going to use as a communication method for all our local anglers, holiday anglers and local club members.

This is a site which can be used for members to post messages about anything of interest about angling local club waters and our own fishery or even bring anything we need to know about or even suggestions to our attention any interaction is welcome. Members will really become part of the Revels fishery Community. Any of our extra special tackle offers we get especially items where amounts are limited will be offered to memers first via the group as well as details of any matches or announcements.

Membership is free just simply complete and follow the link below to be amoungst the first to be part of something very new. It is expected to take 3 months or so to get the group upto full steam so do allow a few weeks before the messages begin to flow:-

Dont worry though we will still be maintaining our regular blog here.

10/01/07

Just a really quick update to say due to the crazy mild weather the lakes are fishing exceptionally well for this time of the year and the carp are feeding really well with 100lb still possible in the right spots which is unheard of for us. First anglers fishing the new lake although a bit muddy have described the fishing as fish sucide as it is litually a fish a chuck and this lake is still only half stocked. Our first batch of new fish for 2007 is due 10/2/07 and comming in is another 100lb of pastie sized carp and 250 small tench and this continues our program of fishery re-stocking started last year but i must admit the cost and short supply of these stock fish is really bad but what we are getting is tip top quality and anglers catching these new stockies have really remarked on this. The ground is really saturarated at the moment its been so so wet but we are pleased how our paths are holding up with the amount of anglers comming and going and there are many swims on several lakes easily accessible without the need for boots on our hard core paths which is very good to see.

01/01/07 HAPPY NEW YEAR AND HOPEFULLY AS EXCITING AS LAST

Just a quick couple of notes before the year gets underway. Ive been happy with the main of the fishing on site during the christmas holidays. Make no mistake fishing is nothing like the height of the summer but still get the right spot and the right bait and ive seen several bags touching 100lb mainly on Dead tree lake which for winter stillwater fishing i really can not complain about. The water did go very clear for a bit during the foggy days last week but the fish kept feeding mid water. Dorchester and Distrcit Angling Club had there annual xmas match and there was some very reasonable bags caught with nearly 50lb taking first place and some good back up weights.

The second bigger batch of new fish are in and there was some fantastic looking fish as well. The Trendles lake is now stocked although we still awating to hear about another batch of different fish as well. Ive been asked a lot about matches and these are a possibility on a more regular basis but there are also a lot of rumblings going on about the whole keepnet issue due to the devestating effectd of KHV in the country last year but after a long disscussion here over the holidays we are going into 2007 with no new restrictions on nets although we may ask for anglers to sign a declaration if they wish to use nets to where they were used previous to comming to us. I have looked into supplying our own nets but after hearing what happened at a popular Cornish venue trying this i was not impressed. So ill see what happens but just to confirm there are no new restrictions for the time being. Also ticket prices are all frozen for the forseeable future and we are one of the only fisheries in the southwest with a day ticket price under £5 although night tickets may have to increase 50p this summer and this is only due to the rubbish recycling restrictions local council put on us and this is about to get tighter with the recycling rules and as the vast amount of our rubbish is generated by the night anglers this is the fairest way to pass this on but this is a little way off yet.

Holidays vans are about to get there annual makeover and we are opening up from Feb. Shower block is on schedule to be finished by March for touring van, camping and night angler visitors.

part of the third place Dorchester and District christmas match bag

Some of the hundreds of pounds of new fish arriving in Trendles lake.

This time last year i was talking about how stunned i was that my small entries here on the huge worldwide web was getting so many hits and here again as im writing we have had nearly 10,000 hits since this time and will soon be exceeding 30,000. With so many people reading my wafflings and many spelling mistakes ill try and keep everyone upto date with the happenings here over the next 12 months and if this year was anything to go by who knows what will have happened by this time next year. Happy new year everyone!!!!!.

08/12/06

Another year ends and i wish all our customers past, present and future all the best.

Ive missed my November update due to a very strange happening. I spent a little while in hospital after being bitten by a creepy crawley that turned out posionous. After making the Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail and the Sun as well as many lesser papers ive had a lot of customers reading about it and had a lot of well wishing emails which i thank everyone for. Despite missing the sale in Salisbury which is where my mishap happened while setting the fishing stall up im back on form now.

Onto the update. Well im a little more behind on the lake work then what i had hoped for and only just getting the chance to get on with the new swims but we have had a chance to lay another few hundred yards of hard paths and in the nick of time as well with the wet weather comming in. We have also fully hard cored a path and wood chipped the swims right round the Specimen lake. So not the mud bath it was last winter and it looks good. Im very pleased with this. Most of our time here especially while ive been led up has been spent on the mail order side of things and the tackle shop which has been exceptionally busy. The whole Keenets affair which ive talked about below has lead to yet another batch of crazy priced gear comming in, even though i thought we had it all and i currentaly have a vast amount of tackle in storage at the moment as it is far to much for the shop and would fill our shop many times over. We have really gone to town at sorting the shop out and bought some more fittings and taken some more floor space back from the adjoining shop that was not being used and we were paying rates on anyway and now enlarged our tackle shop quite a lot further and it is currentaly crammed in every corner from floor to ceiling with gear and some very very cheap offers. We would now probally have one of the largest displays of tackle anywhere in Dorset. And we have some offers so cheap its scary.

One small view of the shop as of today

Anyway we have had our toilet facilities changed and now have a separate area for holiday residents staying with us as well as hot showers which i know has been of interest to some of our long term night anglers and this will be all up and running by March. We have further electrical hook-ups going in shortly in the caravan field and now have a hard core area for camper vans as i know a couple of regular visitors have asked for these. Trendles lake is full and holding well. There has been a small amount of bank movment but not down to leaking but more to the amount of rain we have had and we have just processed the section 30's for permission to stock 1000lb of Carp which will hopefully be in by Christmas.

Trendles lake Septemeber

and as of today ready for stocking and fishing

The stocking of small carp that went into Dead tree lake back in May and agian in August (pics below)have done very well and are all comming out well over a pound now and i look forward to the potential bags that will feature here next Spring. We have some good silver fish comming out of the Main lake at the moment and its nice to see bags of fish not dominated by Carp. We have a reputation of being the last fishery in the area to ice over during really cold snaps due to the power of some very deep underground springs and we will have now taken this to a new height by buying a piece of equipment that will keep our main lake even clearer in the advent of icy weather but this is yet to be tested and the way the weather has been i dont know if we will even get a chance. All the holiday vans are drained now but we are already taking bookings for straight after xmas and half term week in Febuary is nearly fully booked so im even more hoping the weather will stay mild. If you are thinking of booking for next year we now have the diary open and a lot of last years customers are already booking.

In all i could not have dreamed of acheiving what i have when i was writing this time last (see old whats new) and it has been one hell of a busy year for us here and i cant wait for the spring as ive so many other idea and improvements i want to do. I hope to get a chance to work on the lakes now over the next few weeks and sort soem of the tree growth out from this year. Have a good Christmas and hope to see a lot of you next year. HAPPY CHRISTMAS

stop press:- We have just cleared a retail shop that has gone out of business of tackle. Where we are going to put this i dont know but again some stunning bargains and some fly gear as well. No peace for the wicked here.

29/09/06

Well in the 19 years ive been building,creating and running the fishery this is busiest year to date. Right from customers to new developments and ideas and in the shop as well its all happening here on all fronts and at times we have had trouble keeping up and this month is no exception and ive just been in the right place at the right time to secure a really huge amount of very very cheap gear for the shop. First though ill just point out although we have had some digger work on the fishery this is mainly at the far end where the dayticket anglers do not go anyway and the main fishery is as it always is and the few alterations we have done on the main lakes have been done in a way you would barely know any digging has been done as all the turf has been relaid in all very clever.

Where do i start!!. Ive had emails and phone calls asking for an update on the lake excavations. First all the heavy plant is gone as due to the dry ground we have moved forward very very quickly and cleanly with our recent works which is a pleasant change as when we have some digging done here as we are usually upto our knees in mud but this has been a very clean visit. I wrote last month on what i wanted to acheive in the next few weeks (listed in the last update below) and in all its been a 90% success. First the enlargement of the main lake and opening one of the banks up has been successful beyond my expectations and im really pleased with this. The creation of a new island has increased the overall size of the lake and the areas enlarged have been left very clean and new swims ready to fish as the machine driver was very very good in replacing turf where he had dug you would not know he has been there and is very impressive. This was a very quick bit of work for the amount it has acheived and in just a few hours has transformed this lake that local anglers and visitors would hardly know it. We have also just introduced a new stock of 15 double figure carp onto this lake as well. Next the widening of the arm of Deadtree lake is better then it was but i dont feel is quite enough yet so i will see how things go and listen to what the anglers think. Next the new lake that was put in last year has had its dam rebuilt and has been increased in size by a third as well and while empty of water has had the island reshaped and another added. The dam which slipped in the heavy rains last may just before we started stocking and then leaked has now been built differently im still open minded about this and as to if this will now be fine and again time will tell. This lake still will not be stocked and fished to late next year although i may use it for a bit of fly fishing once the water is back in while we are waiting to see what happens with the dam. The climate and weather does appear to be changing and with a lot less rain about we have to put careful thought into what we are doing. The specimen lake has not been touched although i wrote below about hoping to enlarge slightly but basically this was for the clay to sort out the new lake and it was not needed in the end. The stock pond has been very successfully doubled in size and is now of a much better size although i know may of our holiday anglers have had fantastic fun on here over the years this has now been greatly improved and with an addition of another island as well. This whole area of our property has been an overgrown wilderness for many years and this has all now been cleared and landscaped and another very small pond which was once a small holding pond for new fish when we first set up has been uncovered from the dense overgrowth and has been exavated out to a fishable size although still very small we are going to see what happens over the next year and will if all goes well open this up into a further small lake.

This is one small section of Main Lake before alteration then during (very strange happening the Carp went mad while the machine was digging for an hour these 2 people caught 3 doubles from this swim within 20 mins of this photo why they choose to set up there with 7 other lakes to choose from i dont know but still it paid off so what do i know!!) and finally one section finished. There is another section like this just off shot.

We have put in place the area where we hope to create two very unique undercover any weather fishing swims on the top ponds. We hope to cover this and install washing facilities, electric, cooking and sleeping facilities. This is still a little way off but we are forging forward with this very different idea which i touched on in last months writings below prehaps not an eden project style dome like i joked about but still much better then sitting out in a full atlantic storm. In all a lot going forward.

The lake number 12 we created at the begining of the year then had problems with this now has been drained the dam rebult and at the same time enlarged further and the islands reshaped. The banks had already greened the summer and as the work was inside the lake it saved disturbing the already settled in banks. Hopefully this will now be full and stocked by next summer.

The far end of the fishery where our holiday anglers know well but day ticket anglers dont get access we have doubled the size of the water nicknamed the "Stock Pond" and above this right on the spring head we have opened up an exsisting tiny pond to see what the chances are of turning this into the 13th water next year. This area of the fishery has been overgrown for many years and this has now all been tidyied and landscaped. This is the only area we have been left with that is a bit muddy but hopefully the grass seed will soon take hold.

On top of keeping a watch on all this we have had the job of collecting the remainder of the clearence tackle from the Keenets operation from Warminster. Now the whole situation here with the rumours circulating the fishing world is a rife and its not for me to comment but basically they are now operating out of Birmingham under a new parent company and the remainder of the stock that did not go to Birmingham we have purchased and it has litually taken us a 7 tonne lorry and several trips to get it back to the fishery and we have some crazy priced bargains now available to take us right into next year.and beyond. A lot of this we have to sort still and it will appear in our shop for sale as we do. Some of stock that did not come to us has ended up going to auction to clear and we basically had no room left anyway this will be at Livestock Market at Netherhampton nr Salisbury on November 11th and i have been allowed to have a stall there for the day so will be in attendence. If you want details of this let me know.

If this all is not enough to keep me going we have introduced a new stock of double figure Carp into the Main lake as well as the specimen lake and finally we have replaced our very smallest holiday van with a bigger 2 bedroom mobile home. Ill be sorry to see this little van go but its the oldest one on site and was due for replacement as its had a hard busy season this year as we have been fully fully booked since July but have just now got a few vacancies from October on and the way the weather has been so warm still the fish are really fishing well still. So if you have not been with us before or fancy a quick break before the winter give us a ring. I hope to have the staff back on swim improvements and with the enlargements on the lakes we have some new swims prepare so our work is cut out again this winter. I feel as though due to the new works we are well behind with this again but we will get there. I hope to get some more hardcore down again soon on the paths to imporve further on what we started last winter and a quick footnote we are at the time of writing putting in a hardcore park that i have been asked for by visiting camper vans complete with its own eletrical hook-up.s Ill stop here although ive lots more to tell but again ill leave some more for my next update.

STOPRESS:- Just had a couple of new developments happen today which will be very much to the benefit our our night anglers and caravanners and campers but ill follow this up with my next update

Staff member holding one of another batch of fish just been introduced to the lakes. This is the last of our series of stockings this year but plan more next year and not just Carp either.

26/08/06

Bankholiday weekend is here again and as ever its the busiest weekend of the year here at the fishery and this year is no exception. We have had some really exceptional catches and surprises happen here in the last few weeks and rumours have lead to us being particually busy with visitors. We have even had to quickly provide a temporary overflow carparkfor this weekend as we have well exceeded what the usual fishery carpark can hold. Basically fishing has been as follows:- We have had 3 fish out in three weeks that have exceeded 30lb confirmed and witnessed by either myself or a member of staff. These have all been different fish and are as follows. Common of 30lb 12oz from Main lake on Prawns, Mirror of 30lb 15oz from Pike lake on Cooked Beefburger!!!! (yes you read it right) and a Mirror of 32lb 5oz from Pike lake on Pellet. There have also been our best showing ever of 20lb+ fish from the Specimen lake and all other lakes as well. If you read my other ramblings below you will see i have been expirementing with a few secret feeding techniques to the fishery to maintain fish growth and health and this combined with the warm summer has really seen the fish packing on weight. Double figure fish that we know well due to markings have been showing and increasing in weight by as much as 4lb-6lb this year which is quite remarkable. I take a lot of pride in providing a fishery of home grown fish and this was topped with our 37lb 15oz Catfish this year and all these fish are totally home grown at the fishery and not bought in or imported just for catching.

Another fish gets caught this summer now well in the twenty pound+ bracket.

I dont take pleasure in seeing the fishery so busy and look forward to returning to our usual levels of trade but on the whole as we have had a very sucessful summer and our best one in the 19+ years we have been going. Its been really rewarding to get some good postive remarks about the fishery but dont forget i dont mind the bad ones either as ill always take them on board and address them any way within my means and thanks to our regular anglers in helping making this such a good year and as always you will also see us pile a lot back into with investing in further fishery improvements very shortly. Now most of our big digging works usually happens in the height of the winter but there is a couple of improvements we have put off for a few years as we really need solid hard ground to do them in so we are going to bite the bullet and we have a collection of heavy plant arriving this Friday to start the big work again. This will be done as diplomatic as possible not to effect the rest of the fishery as there are still a lot of anglers about in September. We were going to do this in early October but the contractors have had to change the dates. The main plans are as follows and that is to enlarge the main lake into the biggest lake on site by far by removing a area of land from the center of the lake. This has been carefully planned so as not to ruin the lake that has had 19 years to mature and also after careful calcualtions we are creating a new island and instead of losing swims we will be gaining 2 more then what we had before hopefully . The lake will now be permentaly pegged from the dam which has never been fished or allowed access to anglers before. Next we intend to widen the new arm of Dead tree lake as the recent addition to this lake is still needing a couple of extra metres width. Again a shame as this is just starting to mature but it been asked for by many anglers and better done now while its hard and dry then later when the gorund will scar for the winter. While on the main fishery a couple of well known snags are going to be chained out by the diggers. Next we aim to finish our newer lake that we encountered problems with earlier this year and also further extend this. We need to thicken the bottom with an additional layer of clay which this area of our land lacks so this is going to be taken from the Specimen lake bank also increasing the size of the Specimen lake at the same time. Next our very popular Stock pond which daily visitors to our fishery reading this will know very little about but our holiday anglers know and lovel is changing forever. This is a very small water of only about 1/3 acre but is very mature and only holiday residents get exclusive access to and has been a great hit over the years for a bit of quiet easy fishing while the other lakes are busy. This is stuffed to the brim with everything including a few surprises and is where we harvest some of our stock fish from. Now this is about to be trebled in size to a resonable lake size water and again with careful planning will not upset the fact it is already very mature. Also we may allow very limited Dayticket access through a very special additon to this lake and this addition is very very special and possible a first in the fishery world but im keeping that a secret but a quick hint have you ever on the coldest most terrible winters day when fishing would have been impossible been to the Eden Project!!!!!!. Now while you are thinking about this finally there is a small chance after all the other improvements have been completed and if money, time and weather hold out that we will be creating our 13th water again this will be a small affair and a replacement for the original Stock pond but we will see how we get on. We need somewhere to grow our future 40lb fish!!! LOL.

In the shop we have had a very unplanned and large introduction of equipment. This is mainly due to the happenings at Keenets or Sharpes group as its now known which as many of you are aware we have had a very close and loyal tie to for the full 19+ years the fishery has been going and due to the current depressed state of the tackle trade they have seen fit to move to Birmingham and been taken over by a new parent company. I must admit ill miss my regular trips up the road to Warminster to pick some bargains up. There will be a lot of exciting new products next year but in the mean time we have picked up thousands of excess items at a massively reduced price and we have just open the cases in the shop and torn the lids off and selling them from there cases at silly discounts but when they are all gone they are gone. I.e Keepnets from £80+ down to £25, Method coil feeders from £1.50 down to 50p. Carp waggler rods from £60 down to £20. Poles from £125 down to £35 Bib and Braces from £60 down to £20, Landing Handles from £16 down to £5, Brollies from £35 down to £10 Rod rests, Pole rollers,and hundreds and hundreds of other items. Ill try and list this on our Tackle shop web page but there is so much and its going to go fast so not sure what time ill get. If you are located not to far away from us it would really pay to take a drive over to see what we have got as im sure you will find it worth your while. If you a booked in for a stay with us this autumn then you are in for a treat when you see this lot. And ive still more to pick up this week.

The fishery shop as pictured today is really bursting at the seams and there are some crazy bargains to be had but not a lot of room left.

Anyway thanks again to everyone who has fished with us this summer which has made it a very enjoyable one for us and hope the same for you. Rubbish has been kept at its lowest level ever round the lakes but there is still the odd culprit and please someone tell me why oh why do they do it. Anyway this lot will keep your appetite wetted for my next update in a couple of weeks as ive still lots i want to write about but ill save it to then and ill tell you how the improvements are going. Still not to late to book an autumn holiday with us and as from October fo rthe first time in months we do have vacancies again.

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