The Season Ticket enables anglers to take the occasional fish without additional charge
Most of Willington Lake Trout Fishery ranges between three and four metres in depth with the deepest point being in the centre of the bay at the very far end of the lake where six metres can be found.
A very stable water, Willington is rich in daphnia, corixa, freshwater shrimps and snails which makes it home to a large number of newts and frogs.
The diversity of species in the water and its excellent hatches of lake olives, mayflies and sedges is reflected in the fly patterns which work best. Natural immitations such as corixa, emerging sedge patterns, sedge pupae, buzzers, leech patterns, lake olives, olive parachutes, hawthorne flies and daddy longlegs all prove popular and successful baits.
Because it is 19 acres in size with several promontories and bays, Willington offers one-and-a-quarter miles of fishing from the bank. To prevent erosion and ensure maximum access to the waterside, all promontories have been boarded, nikerspanned and toe boarded.
The size of the lake and number of platforms also means that irresepctive of which direction the wind is coming from there is always somewhere on the water for anglers to fish.
Before starting it always pays to ask at the clubhouse where the fish are showing best and what type of fly they are falling to.
Also, because Willington is not a huge water on the scale of Draycote or Rutland Water, a Five Weight rod is recommended, most anglers fishing a floating line with a 6lb fluorcarbon leader between 10ft and 12ft in length. As with most waters these days only barbless or de-barbed hooks should be used and Willington restricts hook sizes to a maximum of Size 10 with 12s, 14s and 16s being the most popular.
In winter the fish tend to lie in the deeper water, so it pays to fish a heavier fly and longer leader to enable the bait to sink faster. However, even in winter, if there are mild sunny days, it is not unusual to see a good fly hatch which leads to the fish coming higher up in the water.
As for baits, in winter most anglers use buzzers or small lures but when the weather turns to spring hairs ears, diawl bach, pheasant tails and montanas become more popular whilst on warmer days march browns, green montanas and anything olive also do the trick.
When spring turns to summer and the fish feed nearer the surface, Willington experiences a very large hatch of damsel flies so again it pays to use something green whilst in summer the dry fly comes into its own with lake olives, mayflies, gnats, daddy longlegs and nymphs fished just under the surface all doing well.
As autumn approaches and the temperatures start to drop, daddy longleg patters come into their own, especially during September and October. However, even this late in the year there are still the occasional fly hatches, so it also pays to go equipped with buzzers.
As you would expect, it pays to roam a water like Willington and although there are plenty of exposed stations there are also several tucked in between reed beds which give plenty of cover for anglers who like to sneak up on their quarry and locate fish which are closer in.
The variety of fish stocked in Willington Lake also adds some spice to the fishing with anglers never sure what they are going to catch next.
The 5,800 rainbow trout stocked in the lake range from 1lb 8oz to double figures and most are triploid (non-reproductive) females. However, a decent number of cock fish were also introduced and these have a distinctive humped back and kyte jaw giving them a similar outline to salmon.
How to get to Willington Lake
From the A50/A38 Toyota junction take the B5008 to Willington. After about a mile you come to a canal bridge. Turn left immediatley before the bridge and after three-quarters of a mile you will see the entrance to the fishery on the left. If you are travelling through Willington, cross over the canal bridge and turn right.
 For up-to-date information on what's happening at Willington Lake Trout Fishery you can visit their website at willingtonlaketroutfishery.co.uk. Although still in its infancy, the website is being continually updated and included information on this week's catches and photos. |
Go back to Fisheries homepage
Willington Lake Trout Fishery
On arriving at Willington Lake you are struck by its unusual shape. It could almost have been created by an angling architect with plenty of bays and promontories. In fact its shape was determined 'naturally', for just over eight years ago this pretty stretch of water was created after the diggers moved in to extract gravel for the roads to the massive new Toyota factory and when they moved out the resultant excavation
filled naturally with gin-clear water which now sustains an amazingly abundant amount of vegetation and insect life.
Its growing success, however, should hardly be surprising. Owner Mark Jenkinson is developing the fishery with the intention of giving anglers just what they want so they look forward to going back.
When by the bankside, the diverse stocking policy of combining ranbows with brown and blue trout means that anglers are never quite sure what they are going to catch next.