Opened in May 2009, the new Four Seasons Fisheries at Staining in Blackpool is certainly making an impression on the day ticket angling scene in Lancashire, offering fishing for English carp to over 30lbs and catfish to nearly 50lbs on two feature packed waters. For the non-specialist there is also a pleasure-cum-match silver fish water with smaller carp to 10lbs where the stocking levels average of 100lbs of fish per peg and where the match record has already been set at 73lbs. It has to be said that everything at Four Seasons has been done to the highest standard. There is ample car parking near the lakes and a modern reception where anglers should purchase their tickets before fishing. A small amount of terminal tackle and bait is available for purchase in the Reception. There is also a light and airy 30-seater licensed cafe (left) which looks out onto the lakes where some of the best food available at any fishery in the country can be purchased at reasonable prices. That should come as no surprise though when one considers that the chef joined the fishery from Blackpool's prestigious De Vere Hotel. As a result, in addition to more traditional anglers' food such as all-day breakfasts and local bacon or sausage barm cakes, visitors can take advantage of seasonal recipes such including pheasant and partridge or a hearty rib-eye steak served with chips, tomato, mushroom and peas or Chicken Tikka Masala. One of the more popular meals for anglers, however, is the Four Seasons Burger - a 240 gram steak burger on a floured bap with bacon, cheese, onion relish, leaf salad and tomato served with chips - enough to keep even the hungriest angler going all day! An added advantage for anglers is that all food can be delivered to their pegs. Alternatively, in good weather meals can also be enjoyed on the cafe's patio area. And it doesn't stop there. Also inside are modern and clean ladies, gents and disabled toilets and shower whilst outside the two carp lakes offer spacious wood-chip pegs, some of them doubles, each with its own 240-volt electric hook up so that anglers can recharge bait boats and mobiles or even use their laptops whilst fishing. The banksides have also matured so quickly that it looks as if the fishery has been there for years and if anglers catch a decent fish you can even have your photograph taken by one of Four Seasons' experienced photographers. Another nice touch is that Four Seasons now breeds and raises all its own fish from quality English stock in its own on-site fish hatchery (pictured right). This ensures that all the fish at the venue are disease free and of the highest quality. Whilst these are also used for sale to other fisheries, a good proportion will guarantee anglers have quality fish to catch for years to come. On the specimen lakes anglers can use two rods whilst those going for the carp can use either barbless or micro-barb hooks but are not allowed to use fixed lead rigs or braided main line. Anglers interested in reading full details of the rules at Four Seasons should follow this link. A large number of quality fish have already been taken from Four Seasons Fisheries. Click here to visit a gallery of photographs 2011 Ticket costs Mill Lake 12 Hours - £12.00 24 Hours - £20.00 Lodge Lake 24 hours - £24.00 12 hours (winter only) - £15.00 Newtons Day Ticket - £7.00 (adults) Day Ticket - £5.00 (concessions) Mill Specimen Lake At two and a half acres in size with 17 spacious bark chip pegs, two of which are doubles, the kidney-shaped Mill Lake has four small central islands which provide featured to fish to and has been stocked with 250 carp ranging in size from 5lbs to 30lbs and with 16 catfish between 8lbs and 31lbs. The lake record for carp was set in August 2009 by local angler Brian Cleary with a mirror which topped the scales at 25lbs 6oz. It is not surprising, therefore, that the lake has a minimum recommended line strength of 12lbs. In addition there are good numbers of silver fish including perch to an impressive 4lbs as well as roach, bream and tench, although these are little fished for. Fringed with irises and other water plants, Mill Lake has banks which are cut at about 60 degrees, sloping quickly to a bottom riddled with features which varies in depth from two feet to nine feet. The deepest water is to be found between the two left hand islands out from Pegs 1-4 on the cafe bank and Pegs 12 to 14 on the far bank. Out from Peg 16 to the far left island the bottom is about six feet deep, running down to between seven and eight feet going round the bend to Peg 11. From Peg 6 to 11 between there is a channel about six to seven feet deep between the bank and the long thin island whilst between this island and the smaller circular island near Peg 5 is a two feet deep ledge which is favoured by the carp in warmer weather. Because the bottom is riddled with features including trenches, table tops and humps and bumps, it pays to plumb depths before fishing and to ask for information at Reception on arrival. As is to be expected, modern carp fishing techniques with semi-fixed rigs are the most popular methods of fishing Mill Lake, although an increasing number of anglers are also using their second rod to target the bigger perch, some of which run to 4lbs, by ledgering maggots on the quiver tip. When going for the carp, anglers fish either hard on the bottom with boilies or Four Season's own pellets tipped off with a small pop-up or piece of plastic corn for buoyancy or to fish a straightforward pop-up. Both of these techniques are usually fished in association with either funnel web or solid pva bags filled with a mix of crushed and whole boilies mixed with some of Four Seasons' own dip. Whilst there are plenty of features to fish to on Mill Lake, anglers should not ignore the margins as the fish like to populate the bankside foliage. As a result, a bait fish right into the side followed with a steady trickle of pellets or broken boilies over the top can produce good results. Although Mill Lake has 17 pegs, only 13 anglers are allowed on the water at any one time, ensuring everyone has plenty of room to fish without crossing lines. Also, Pegs 1 and 17 nearest the cafe are suitable for disabled anglers who should ring in advance to book them if required. Popular pegs include the double Peg 11 as it opens onto a lot of water and gives access to the long island to the left and two smaller circular islands in front. This means anglers can fish one rod to one of the islands and the other into open water. Pegs 5 and 6 down the right hand bank from the cafe are also popular because anglers can fish out onto the two-feet-deep ledge which can be found between the small island in front of Peg 5 and the end of the long thin island. Lodge Specimen Lake At three acres, Lodge Specimen Lake is the largest of the three Four Seasons waters but despite its size has only 12 pegs. It is stocked with about 50 carp ranging from 15lbs to the mid-30s and a dozen stunning looking wild carp between 20lbs and 31lbs it also holds half-a-dozen catfish. Two of these weigh over 20lbs, two over 30lbs and two over 40lbs - making this the home of the biggest fish at Four Seasons. The common and mirror carp are the main quarry on Lodge because about 40 of them are over 20lbs. The lake record carp currently stands at 32lbs whilst the biggest catfish to have been caught so far topped the scales at 44lbs. There are also some fine bream which are rarely fished for but which run to just over 12lbs, the biggest to have been caught so far weighing in at 11lbs 8oz. Above the surface the main features on Lodge Lake are the three heavily planted islands whilst beneath the surface there is a mix of tables, underwater gulleys, pillars and even the remains of an old farm pond out from Pegs 9 and 10 which, although only four or five feet deep, is surrounded by a nine feet deep channel and still produces a mass of natural aquatic life which attracts and holds the fish. Because Lodge Lake has a soil bottom it has rapidly developed a six-inch deep carpet of weed throughout much of the lake which makes fishing pop-ups a popular method. Also popular is the chod-rig, basically a helicopter rig, which also helps anglers to overcome the weed, although a pva bag filled with crushed hook samples works just as well as the fish clear the weed from the baited area as they scavenge around the swim. Depths in Lodge vary from two to three feet around the islands to nine feet in the channel which runs around the old farm pond and seven to eight feet in a channel which runs mid way out around the island between Peg 9 and Peg 5 and then diagonally across the lake to out from Peg 11. Much of the remainder of the lake is between three and five feet deep, although there is a six feet deep bowl out from between Pegs 3 and 4 which contains about half a dozen pillars. Because of the carpet weed on the bottom of the lake, most anglers fish Lodge with pop-ups or a slowly sinking hookbait. SBS corn-shaped boilies have also proved particularly effective, either fished on their own, in a pva bag or fished over an area baited with hemp or pellets. Those going after the catfish have not surprisingly done well with large halibut pellets, large pieces of luncheon meat and with Four Seasons' own pop-ups. A well-stocked maggot clip, Four Seasons' pellets and paste baits have also proved to be good all-round baits. Newtons For anglers who prefer a pleasant day's pleasure fishing, Four Seasons' Newtons Lake is the place to head for. Being massively stocked with an average of 100lbs of fish per peg, it responds well to most methods although the pole, waggler or tip are the techniques most frequently used. Because of the large density of fish stocks it is almost impossible to overfeed a swim and it often pays to introduce a healthy quantity of feeder pellets at the outset and to top up throughout the session to keep the fish going. A large rectangular shaped water with a rectangular central island 15 metres from the bank, Newtons is about two acres in size with 44 pegs. It is stocked with mirror and common carp from small pasties through to 14lbs; crucian carp to about 1lb 8oz; roach and rudd to about 3lbs with a large number to 2lbs; skimmers and bigger bream to 9lbs with a good head around 4lbs; tench averaging 1lb 8oz but going to 7lbs; ide to 1lb 8ozs; chub to a good 4lbs and perch to over 3lbs with plenty of fish over 2lbs. Measuring 130 metres by 32 metres wide, the long arm of the lake has banks which are stepped down evenly to a six feet deep flat bottom and then stepped up again to the island. The shorter arm has a more bowl shaped bottom which again runs to six feet at its deepest. As is to be expected for a water of this type nearly all baits work well with maggots, casters, chopped worm, 4mm to 6mm pellets, sweetcorn, small pieces of luncheon meat and paste baits being the most popular. Although the fishing is generally good throughout the water, in warmer weather fishing under your feet can be surprisingly productive, particularly when there are few anglers about and disturbance is kept to a minimum. On Newtons there is a maximum hook size of Size 10 and floating baits are not allowed. Please click here for full details of the rules. Visit Four Seasons' own website Four Seasons Fisheries is continuing to develop its own comprehensive website where up to date details of catches and latest information from the fishery can be seen. Follow the link to visit their site at www.fourseasonsfisheries.co.uk How to get there... Traveling north or south on the M6, leave the motorway at Junction 32 and join the M55 motorway following the signs for Blackpool. Leave the M55 at Junction 4 and get onto the A583, again signed for Blackpool. Take the first right into Mythop Road and after a short drive in the countryside the left turn into Chain Lane. Continue along Chain Lane until you come into Staining. Chain Lane turns into Staining Road and after about a mile you will see the entrance to the fishery on the right hand side. Go back to Fisheries homepage