Sundown Valley Camping and Fishing
Camping and caravanning base with its own on-site fishing pool surrounded by gravel path set in 10 acres of woodland.
Features and facts about Sundown Valley Fishery
To be found in a delightful country setting on the fringes of the Brecon Beacons National Park and within easy striking distance of the South Wales towns and beaches, Sundown Valley Camping and Fishing has been developed to provide an ideal caravan and camping base from which to explore the area with a mixed pleasure fishing pool on the doorstep. Set in 10 acres of natural woodland, Sundown Valley Camping and Fishing has a one acre six-feet deep pool which is surrounded by a gravel path, trees and shrubs.
Caravan and camping on site
Near the pool there are 10 hard standings for caravans with water and electric hook-ups. There is also a mass of open space for more caravans and tents and the venue has its own recently constructed toilet and shower block and a waste disposal point. Caravans can be accommodated on a nightly or weekly basis, whilst a growing number of repeat visitors are now leaving their vans on site all year round, using Sundown Valley Camping and Fishing as a ‘home-from-home’ for summer holidays as well as weekend and winter breaks.
A great venue for an angling holiday in Wales
Open all year round including Christmas, Sundown Valley Camping and Fishing allows night fishing. This means visitors can stay at the venue in their own caravans or tents or simply bivvy by the side of the lake. Over the coming months, the site is to be enhanced by further landscaping work and tree planting as well as reinstatement of the pathways around the pool and caravan park.
Pets are welcome and the flat banks around the pool make it suitable for disabled anglers in dry weather. There is a short path leading from the caravan park through the trees to the pool. Day ticket anglers and those not staying at the site can park in the main car park next to the entrance to the pool and ticket monies will be collected on the bank.
Bob's Pool
Developed more than five years ago, Bob’s Pool at Sundown Valley Camping and Fishing Park has a combination of 24 gravel and natural grass pegs which offer plenty of room for anglers. With a central island which runs along the spine of the water, the pool has a gently sloping bottom along the left hand bank as you enter the fishery from the main car park whilst the opposite bank is cut at about 45 degrees leading to a six feet deep bottom about a rod length out.
Well stocked with common and mirror carp
Stocked predominantly with common and mirror carp which have been caught to 12lbs, the pool holds a good head of mid-sized fish of both types. There is also a handful of koi ghost carp. Because the bigger fish have spawned successfully over the past few years there are also good numbers of smaller mirrors and commons.
There are also some bream, eels and a smattering of crucians together with some small tench to just under 1lb which were stocked in Spring 2010 and are growing quickly. Fish stocks were supplemented earlier in 2011 with bigger tench between 3lbs and 4lbs, bream bream between 2lbs and 3lbs and some lovely golden rudd around the 8oz mark. In addition, a quantity of skimmer bream were transferred to a nearby stock pond.
The majority of the bream are self-bred from fish which were inadvertently introduced to the pool with the initial stocking of carp. The mature fish weighed about 1lb 8oz at the time and have grown in size since then, although those which resulted from subsequent spawnings are obviously much smaller but coming on nicely.
The eels have been caught to about 1lb 8oz but rarely show – although one angler a couple of years ago had four in one session. These are believed to have found their way into the pool from neighbouring streams but are a welcome addition in view of the recent rapid decline of the eel population in the UK.
Catches of 100lb or more
Whilst Bob’s Pool is not large it regularly produces notable catches with several recent small club matches having been won with more than 100lbs of fish. Pleasure catches of 40 or more of carp at a sitting are not uncommon.
Good fishing techniques on Bob’s Pool
Whether fishing for pleasure or fishing a match, Bob’s Pool is easy to fish because of its even and fairly shallow bottom. This makes both pole and waggler techniques straightforward with fishing in the margins, down the track or towards the island all producing results. Because of the good head of carp in the water, the most popular pleasure technique so far seems to be fishing either floating bread or dog biscuit either in open water or towards the island.
Swimfeeder works well
Alternatives are to fish a swimfeeder packed with feeder pellets using luncheon meat or sweetcorn on the hook or, if you want to catch a lot of fish and are not worried about what size they are, to fish a similar technique with maggots as hookbait. The only problem with fishing maggots, as when fishing any water, is that you are likely to attract a lot of small fish before the bigger fish move in and force them out.
Luncheon meat, sweetcorn, breadflake and maggots all work well when fishing the float either on pole or waggler, although it is worth noting that so far boilies have proved ineffective. The reason for this may be that Bob’s Pool is a quiet water which has been little fished and that the carp may not yet be used to boilies.
Surface fishing dog biscuits
A more unusual technique which has proved very successful so far is to adopt fly fishing techniques and fish a Deer Hair Muddler trimmed to look like a dog biscuit and to fish this amid some free offerings of dog biscuits when the fish can be seen cruising under the surface or feeding on the top.
On several occassions when this has been done by more adventurous anglers it has proved very successful at picking out the bigger fish in the swim and is said to be a delightful way of taking carp, particularly when using lighter rods and lines than are normally used for carp fishing.
All pegs perform well
One of the nice things about Bob’s Pool is that there are no particular hot spots which regularly produce decent catches of fish. This means anglers have an equal chance of catching whichever peg and swim they choose. Fishing in the margins or up against the island, however, is usually the most productive.
Although the water has few features to fish to at present, it is planned over the coming months to introduce some beds of water lilies around the island which will create bays into which anglers can fish. And with more landscaping work and tree planting to be carried out over the coming autumn and winter, Bob’s Pool will become an increasingly attractive water to fish, making it an ideal base from which to combine an angling holiday or break with the opportunity to explore some of Wales’ finest beaches and mountains.
Prices
Sundown Valley Camping and Fishing offers an annual membership that entitles anglers to fish whenever they want as well as day tickets. Tent prices are for up to four people, additional guests are charged £1.00 per night. Pod fees are charged at £50.00 per night and tents at £15 a pitch per night.
Fishing ticket prices |
Price | All anglers day ticket |
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7.00
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All anglers day ticket | 7.00 | All anglers night ticket |
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7.00
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All anglers night ticket | 7.00 |
Caravan and camping prices |
Price | 24 hour pod |
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50.00
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24 hour pod | 50.00 | 24 hour tents |
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15.00
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24 hour tents | 15.00 |
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