Lakeside Fishery

Wolvey Road
Hinckley
Leicestershire
LE10 3JB

Tel: 01455 633016 (Office)
07762 475917 (Mobile) or
07808 562095


Old estate lakes hold a peculiar fascination for many anglers and Lakeside Fishery between Coventry and Hinckley is no exception. Delightful to look at and even better to fish, it is believed to date back more than 500 years to times when monks first developed the water to breed and rear carp for the table.

Although the monastery has long since disappeared the lake remains, and with its three central island crowned by weeping willows, open banks down one side and 14 acres of woodland down its other three sides, Lakeside provides a delightful setting for a day's fishing or longer stay.

Believed to be the head of the River Soar which flows north to the Trent and then to the Humber Estuary, Lakeside has been run as a day-ticket fishery for more than 15 years but has never been promoted or developed for angling until the last couple of years.

Although the fishery now often becomes busy at weekend and Bank Holidays in summer, for the remainder of the time it is usually fairly quiet, and at eight-and-a-half acres in size and with more than 50 pegs there is plenty of water to go at.

Although Lakeside holds some good sized fish with Mirror Carp to 32lbs, Commons to 28lbs and Crucian Carp over 4lbs, it is billed as a water for pleasure anglers and as such has few rules. All the fishery ask is that groundbait is used in moderation, that anglers use barbless hooks and that anglers use unhooking mats for the larger fish. Keepnets are allowed but anglers are requested not to use them to retain carp.

The fishery is open from 6.00am until 8.00pm every day and night fishing is allowed by prior arrangement with the on-site bailiff who can be contacted direct on 07808 562095.

In addition to day and night tickets, which must be obtained from the cabin before fishing, Lakeside offers an annual membership at £186.00 for adults and £110.00 for OAPs, Juniors and the disabled which runs for 12 months from the date of issue.

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Ticket Costs6.00am - 6.00pm summer6.00am - 4.30pm winter

	Adults	Concessionary
Day tickets	£7.00	£5.00
Half-day Ticket	£5.00	£5.00
Match Ticket	£7.00 (Weekend)	£6.00 (Weekday)
12-hour Night Ticket (6.00pm - 6.00am)	£12.00	£12.00
24-hour Night Ticket (6.00pm - 6.00pm)	£17.00	£17.00
12 month membership	£186.00 (new members) £160.00 (renewals)	£110.00 (OAP/Junior/Disabled)

One of the nice things about the Lakeside fish its that they are always in good condition, and even the small roach shine with silver, their red fins and eyes adding a dash of colour. The crucians are a lovely burnished bronze, and even the small 1lb fish fight with the determination and guile of the much bigger commons and mirrors.

A good example of a decent net was taken by local angler and Lakeside regular Richard Golby early in 2003 when he netted 46 Crucians, all of them over 1lb, using a seven metre pole, size 16s hook and 1lb 8oz breaking strain line. Throughout his six hours of fishing Richard loose fed small amounts of maggots to keep the fish going, although casters, pellets and bread make equally good baits on their day.

However, despite the good head of good sized Crucians - the average fish comes out at 1lb 8oz - it is mainly the Mirror and Common Carp which most anglers fish for. Whilst these run to the 30lb mark, there is a good head of fish over 20lbs and many, many more up to 20lbs. This makes Lakeside an attractive and worthwhile place to visit if you are looking for mid-sized carp.

In addition there are plenty of bream to 4lbs-plus which were caught regularly during 2003, some tench believed to top 4lbs, pike known to go to 28lbs and plenty of roach and rudd to 2lbs, plus some ide.

For the most part the lake is fairly shallow, making it a good float fishing venue, with only a foot and a half to two being being found at the entrance and a maximun of four feet throughout much of the lake with the exception being along the dam wall at the far end where up to six or seven feet of water can be found.

Most anglers fishing for the carp tend to head for the far end of the lake and fish from Pegs 13 to 40. The majority fish up to three rods on the bottom with hair-rigged boilies, loose feeding particles, pellets and pigeon conditioner which seems to work particularly well on this water.

Pop-up boilies are favoured by many anglers with about a foot of tail between the weight and the bait being left my most anglers.

While the ubiquitous pole is always popular for non-carp specialists, the waggler is also a favoured method. anglers fishing these techniques tend to use maggots, sweetcorn, pellets and carp pellet paste, although those fishing maggots should be prepared to wade through the inevitable small fish until the bigger specimens push them out of the swim.

Whilst fishing on the bottom usually pays dividends, float anglers must be prepared to experiment if they are not catching, not only with different baits but also by fishing at different depths until they find the fish.

If the fish aren't taking on the bottom, many anglers fish a couple of inches off the bottom and if this doesn't work try fishing a foot or so deep to catch those cruising near the surface.

As with many waters it also pays to feed little and regular. Whilst groundbait is allowed it is best used in moderation initially to attract the fish into the swim. They can then be held there by loose feeding particles and hook samples.

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