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 Stoppos Fishery
Westbrook Farm Coton in the Elms Road Lullington Staffordshire DE12 8EE Tel: 07971 854104 E-mail: marktommo1@hotmail.com 
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Stoppos Fishery really started coming into its own in 2010 with some nice fish having been caught - including carp to 16lbs and some lovely bream to 8lbs coming to the net. Pictured above are - from left to right - bailiff Mark Tomlinson with a 15lb 8oz mirror carp taken six metres out from Peg 16 on the method feeder with corn and worm on the hook; Little Tommy Hancock with a beautifully conditioned 10lb 4oz fully scaled common caught on corn from Peg 19; and Tom Hunt with a 12lb 8oz carp caught close in on corn from Peg 22.
Until last year John's fish was the biggest of several decent sized bream to be taken, but much bigger fish started to show early in summer 2010 with the best catches coming to anglers fishing the pole, waggler or feeder close in where they tended to catch tench and skimmers before the bigger bream moved in. |
Stoppos Fishery regular John Bradford (right) bagged the largest bream to come out of the fishery in 2009 - a 5lb 10oz specimen which fell to double caster - but during 2010 has been outdone by other anglers who are reporting catching specimens to 8lbs.
Stoppos regular Mark Tomlinson set a new match record for Stoppos at the end of August 2010 when he landed a 92lbs 12oz bag from Peg 2 during a Wednesday afternoon match. Mark was fishing a method feeder two rod lengths out with corn on the hook to beat second placed John Stevens who fished Peg 1 for 79lbs 6oz caught on the pole on fibre paste. Third was Frank Harris who fished close in with corn in the feeder and plane brown crumb with corn on the hook for 59lbs 10oz off Peg 5. In fourth place was John Bradford with 56lbs 9oz on Peg 32 in Lump Alley. John, who fished corn and meat on the feeder close in where a lot of big fish are caught, landed three doubles and lost a dozen or so other decent fish which would probably have won him the match. Fifth place went to Harry Andrews with 51lbs 5oz off peg 19. Harry caught close in on the pole on corn and lost as many as he landed. |
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Offering angling on a membership-only basis for just £30.00 a year, Stoppos Fishery between Tamworth and Burton-on-Trent on the delightfully-named Coton-in-the-Elms road at Lullington is a two-acre reed-lined former irrigation reservoir full of commons, mirrors, F1 carp and silver fish.
Even in winter pleasure angler can now expect to take between 60lbs and 70lbs of fish including nice bags of roach to 30lbs. Membership entitles fishing 365 days a year and the only bait bans are that catmeat, pellets and boilies should not be used and micro-barb hooks are allowed although full barb hooks should not be used. There is a minimum line strength of 6lbs due to the large number of carp in the water. Like most other fisheries these days, anglers can only use keepnets when fishing matches and fish should not be removed from the fishery.
Clubs can hold matches on Stoppos at £5.00 per peg or £120.00 for the whole pool. Anglers wishing to book a match should contact John Stevens on 07971 854104. Stoppos currently holds a regular Saturday Open Match. The draw is taken on the bank at 12.00 noon with fishing from 1.00pm until 6.00pm. The entry fee is £15.00 all-in. Members joining the fishery will be given a full list of proposed match dates when they join and membership runs for 12 months from the date of joining.
The result is that the water now carries a healthy head of common, mirror and F1 carp as well as tench, bream, roach, rudd and perch. The commons now run to 16lbs and the mirrors to 19lbs with plenty of fish around the 5lb mark. The biggest silver fish are the bream which go to 8lbs followed by tench to 5lbs and roach, rudd and perch to about 1lb 8oz with the average roach being between 8oz and 12oz.
Anglers should note that pellets are not allowed, that anglers should take their litter home with them and that dogs are not allowed by the pool.
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With few rules and its own car park, your £30.00 a year membership fee gets you a water where you will see few other anglers on a venue where pleasure weights regularly exceed 100lbs in warmer weather and matches are usually won with between 50lbs and 60lbs, although the match record was broken yet again late in August 2010 by Mark Tomlinson when he landed a 92lbs 12oz bag from Peg 2 to take the lake match record from 12-years-old Tommy Hancock who set it only a few weeks before with 66lbs 15oz comprising a mixed bag of carp, tench and bream from Peg 19. Tommy still holds the lake record for the Saturday Open matches. Scroll to the bottom of the page to see some match bag photos.
At first sight Stoppos may seem a fairly open and featureless water, but the reed mace around the banks give anglers plenty of cover and once you nestle down on one of the 32 pegs you are surrounded by the tranquility of the water.
Stoppos has been run for the past seven years by lifelong angler John Stevens, who has been carrying out regular stockings of the water since he first took it over, raising many of the fish himself in nearby stock ponds so that he can control the quality of the fish.
Match fees are £5.00 per peg or £120.00 to hire the whole pool
Stoppos Fishery
Unusually for a water of its size, even when fishing the deeper water there is little or no undertow, which makes Stoppos an easy water to fish with the sliding float if anglers want to head for the deeper water on float tackle. During 2010 the water turned a fantastic colour as the fish started to feed avidly.
When fishing the pole it is recommended anglers use up to an 11-metre carp pole with a 16 elastic run through three sections. An 8lb main line connected to a 6lb bottom and a 14 micro-barb hook should handle most eventualities.
Meat is currently the most successful bait whilst other popular baits on this technique are bread punch, caster or chopped worm, with bread punch being particularly effective for the roach, and sweetcorn, particularly when fed in large amounts.
Much the same technique goes for anglers fishing the waggler where an 8lb main line and 6lb bottom is again recommended. Plumbing the depth is important to ensure that the bait is just on the bottom and groundbait needs to be mixed fairly stiffly to ensure it gets to the bottom before breaking up.
