Arrow Valley Lake
At nearly 30 acres in size, Arrow Valley is an attractive water in Redditch offering mixed fishing for carp to 30lbs and silver fish
Key facts about Arrow Valley Lake
Nearly 30 acres in size, Arrow Valley Lake is an attractive large open water offering day ticket fishing from 6.00am until dusk for common carp to 30lbs, a large head of bream to 5lb with the occasional larger fish being caught, perch to 3lbs and roach and rudd to over 1lb.
Plenty of pegs to choose from
With 70 pegs to choose from and two rods allowed per angler, access to the pegs is served by four separate car parks. This ensures that anglers have no more than 200 yards to walk to any of the pegs with the majority being considerably closer.
Arrow Valley Lake was excavated in the early 1970s to supply clay and gravel for the development of Redditch New Town. It is now a popular amenity in the South Moons Moat district of the town with walks around the lake, a large children’s play area and a modern Visitor Centre with licensed cafe which sells a range of coffee shop style food and drinks. The cafe has a balcony overlooking the lake as well as conference rooms and toilets.
Other attractions to the lake
In addition to the angling, Arrow Valley Lake also has its own sailing club and is home to Acorn Watersports which provides kayaking, canoeing and a climbing wall.
Control and protection of the fish
Although the venue reportedly suffered the loss of fish when some anglers were said to be taking their catch home for the table, this was eradicated when responsibility for the angling passed from Redditch Borough Council to the Arrow Valley Visitor Centre in June 2012.
AVVC now runs all aspects of the fishing and has introduced regular bailiffing to improve angler liaison and prevent poaching. Also, being a large water, the existing fish stocks have grown on and Arrow Valley has now returned to being a productive fishery for both carp and silver fish. Indeed, matches are usually won with weights approaching 90lbs. The match record is currently 93lbs, although this is not expected to stand for long.
Matches on Arrow Valley Lake
In addition to offering pleasure angling, Arrow Valley also welcomes club matches at a discounted rate of £5.00 per peg and works closely with the Redditch Federation of Anglers to hold regular open matches throughout the year and a Winter League series which attracts about 15 anglers.
Further details of the Open and Winter League matches can be obtained by telephoning John Bushell on 07879 624248.
Although the lake has a broad tarmac walkway around its one-and-a-quarter mile perimeter, there is also a narrower hardcore path close to the bankside for anglers which means they are not troubled by non-angling visitors to the lake.
Arrow Valley Lake
Despite its size, Arrow Valley Lake has a fairly flat and even bottom with banks which gradually slope to depths of between six and eight feet. The deepest water can be found off the Shakespeare Bank from Pegs 35 to 38 where up to 10 feet of water can be found about 30 metres out.
Popular pegs on Arrow Valley Lake
As a result, the fishing is easy all around the lake although the most popular pegs tend to be those opposite the two islands where fish can be found throughout the year. These are Pegs 21 to 30 and 53 to 56 where fishing a method feeder towards the islands is particularly popular for the carp and bream.
The pegs along the Bluebell Bank opposite the Visitor Centre about 200 yards from the Squash Club car park is a good spot for first time visitors to try as it offers between six and eight feet of water 10 meters out from the bank and holds a good mix of fish.
Fishing on Arrow Valley Lake
Whilst a method feeder is popular with anglers going after the carp, boilies fished on either modern or traditional carping techniques are also a popular bait with strawberry flavoured boilies and pop-ups both having worked well over the past couple of years.
Standard 8mm to 10mm fish meal pellets fished in combination with a feeder packed with smaller feed pellets can produce good results, with decent bags of bream, skimmer bream and roach which have been showing, making the lake a popular venue for silverfish anglers out for a pleasant day’s fishing.
However, because of the size of some of the carp in Arrow Valley Lake, fishing the pole is not recommended if you are targeting the commons as they derive from wild carp and are powerful fish.
Vegetation encouraging spawning
Until recently there was little bankside cover at Arrow Valley, but the planting of reeds around the water’s edge has helped not only in providing increased cover for anglers but also in providing valuable breeding grounds for the silverfish which are now successfully spawning in the lake.
This has particularly been the case for the bream where there have been large catches of skimmers to anglers fishing lighter tackle and whilst the average size of the common bream is between 4lbs and 5lbs it is believed the lake holds some specimens to double figures.
Angling for carp and bream
Anglers fishing for the carp are recommended to use 10lb line to Size 10 or 12 hooks although it can sometimes pay to fish slightly smaller to a Size 14. When fishing for the bream lighter line strengths can be used, although many anglers still stick with 8lbs to 10lbs line for their general fishing. Good catches of bream are taken in summer on Size 14 or 16 hooks, although in winter it can pay to drop down to a Size 16, 18 or even 20.
Fishing for the bream is good on both pole, waggler, the method feeder or open ended feeder with the most popular bream baits being small pop-up boilies or 8mm to 10mm white or red boilies. Bunches of maggots and 4mm pellets are good baits for both the mature bream and the skimmers.
An increasingly popular bait in recent months for both the carp and the bream has proved to be 10mm to 12mm discs of bread punched out from a sliced loaf with one or two discs fished on a hair rig proving most successful.
Roach fishing on Arrow Valley Lake
Although the roach fishing at Arrow Valley Lake is not as good as it used to be, there is still a large head of fish between 8oz and 1lb with the occasional larger specimen coming to the net. Not surprisingly these days the most popular technique when fishing for these is the pole, but the waggler is still very effective with the most popular baits being large pieces of hemp, tares, maggots and casters when fished over a bed of hemp. The same technique is also good for the rudd which are beautiful fish in pristine condition.
When fishing for the roach and rudd, a 2lb main line tied to a 1lb 8oz hook length and Size 18 to 20 hook is recommended.
Perch fishing on Arrow Valley Lake
Whilst few anglers tend to fish for the perch, Arrow Valley Lake holds a good head to 2lbs 8oz with the odd fish to 3lbs and over. Here again, the pole and waggler are most effective with chopped worm or a bunch of red maggots on a Size 14 or 16 hook and 2lb 8oz to 3lb line being recommended.
As with fishing for the roach, if you don’t catch on the bottom try coming up in the water, feeding the swim regularly with samples of hook bait to attract the fish. This technique is also good for catching rudd.
Prices
Permits:
You are required to purchase a fishing permit prior to attending a session. You can do this by visiting the Arrow Valley Visitor Centre.
Day ticket costs:
Adult: £6.00
Junior 12 to 16 years of age: £3.00.
Annual permits:
Annual permits are available at £30.00 for seniors, £20.00 for Concessions and Juniors 12-16 years of age. Night permits are available at £60.00 but are restricted to a maximum issue of 30.
Annual permits can be purchased by following this link.
Rules and conditions
Arrow Valley Lake General Fishery Rules (June 2022-23) and Permit Arrangements:
1. Day permits can be purchased in advance or on the day, at the Visitor Centre, from the “Corn Stores”, 360 Evesham Rd, Redditch, B97 5JB, 01527-541982 or online at www.arrowvalley.co.uk/fishing Prices are: adult £6.00, junior 12 to 16 years of age, £3.00. Annual permits are also available at £30 seniors, £20 Concessions and Juniors (12-16 years of age) Nights permits are £60, maximum issue of 30.
2. Night fishing is allowed by a limited number of night permit holders only. Night anglers fishing in areas reserved for matches must vacate pegs by 8.00am if fishing on the morning of a match. Details of pegs reserved will be posted on the “Arrow Valley Fishing” Facebook page and on noticeboards at the lake and must be checked before fishing, especially at weekends.
3. All anglers must be in possession of a current Environment Agency rod license and a functional landing net.
4. Children under 12 years must be accompanied by a supervising adult.
5. Anglers must ensure their pegs are left completely free of litter.
6. Angling on the lake is only allowed from the clearly designated pegs.
7. Baited hooks must never be left unattended in or out of the water.
8. Only barbless hooks are permitted for use.
9. Removal of fish from the lake is strictly forbidden. Any person in breach of this rule may face criminal prosecution.
10. Carp should only be retained in keep-nets during properly sanctioned matches, and must be in a separate net to other species.
11. Angling methods which use floating hook baits are not permitted on the lake.
12. Anglers are permitted to use a maximum of two rods.
13. Anglers taking part in properly sanctioned matches have priority of use of pegs in reserved areas on the match day. Persons failing to observe these rules will be asked to leave the lake immediately and may become subject to a permanent ban.
Please note: Redditch Sailing Club have the right to exclusive use of the lake as follows: April to September, Sundays between 9.00am – 1.00pm. Tuesdays and Thursdays 6.00pm – 9.00pm. October to March, all-day Sundays.
The fishery management reserves the right to amend these rules at any time and accepts no responsibility for any injury, loss or damage to persons or property arising directly or indirectly as a result of angling on the lake.
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