Syon Park, Brentford, Middx. TW8 8JF Contact

Location-This fishery is only eight miles west along the A4 from Marble Arch.Address-Syon Park, Brentford, Middx. TW8 8JF Contact- Andrew AllenPhone number: 020 8568 6354Mobile: 07956 378138Web site-www.alburyestate.com e mail andysyonfishery@eggconnect.netSpecial contact feature – Andy edits a high quality newsletter called “The Windknot” that is really a magazine packed full of information about fishing and events on Albury Estate venues. However this is a lot more than just a promotional magazine for Albury Estates as it contains some excellent articles by regulars on the water. I particularly enjoyed reading “Start smoking” by Trevor Coxon and S.K.I.F.F.L.E. by Tony Hern which is an account of some of the latest children’s incentive at Albury. An excellent production scoring 10 out of 10.The Fishery. At Syon Park there is a 6 acre lake. It is long and slender with islands and a bridge adding feature to this relatively shallow, coloured water lake set in the middle of park land. The main house is visible down a long avenue of trees from some swims in the lake. This is a seat of the Duke of Northumberland who I am told, also enjoys his fishing.The lake and surrounding area are all well maintained and it is hard to believe that you are only 8 miles from Marble Arch. It is really like being in the country.Access to swims is very good for physically disadvantaged anglers who, by arrangement with Andy, can drive in and park virtually on the water.Season: Open all year for rainbows but normal close season for brown troutapplies separately for this species.Fishery records: Rainbow trout 181b Brown trout 131b 10oz.(This brown trout was caught when I visited the venue)Stock: Both rainbow and brown trout when in season. Average weight about21b 8oz. However when talking to regulars when I fished the venuethis figure appears to be on the conservative side.Ticket prices: On all Albury Estate waters they have introduced a revolutionary day rod membership for the Millennium. You pay Albury Estate Fisheries Ltd. membership of £7 for a full days fishing. Fish are purchased separately from the Albury Estate Fisheries Partnership; Choose from 2 fish at £12, 3 fish at £17 or 4 fish at £22.Note: Fish from Powder Mills, which is the groups big fish water, will count as 2 fish.Members are guaranteed the number of fish purchased. If you don’t catch all your fish on the day, simply re-join any fishery for a day at £7 anytime during the season and take your fish.There is also a very flexible season rod membership that can be virtually tailor made to meet individual requirements.Tuition: Hour long sessions costing £30 can be booked in advance.Corporate days: These can be arranged to suit client’s needs on all Albury Estatewaters.Other facilities: Although the main lodge is not yet built, there is every facility on the other side of the car park. These include toilets and a restaurant serving hot meals all day. A days fishing at Syon ParkWhen editor, Geoff Maynard told me that he wanted a London trout fishery to be included in this series, I thought that I had been given “Mission Impossible”. However after talking to friends of mine I found this was not the case, as they had fished Syon Park in Brentford – only 8 miles from Marble Arch! I phoned Andrew Allen to arrange the day.I had arranged with my photographer to leave late to avoid all the traffic entering London. We left from Sunbury at 9.15 a.m. and had a clear traffic free trip down the A316 to Syon Park. The entrance to the park is most impressive down a road through open parkland to the main car park. As we unloaded, Andy turned up to greet us and advise us on how to tackle the fishery. It had been a very frosty morning and the water was due to bitterly cold North Easterly winds all week. Andy advised that we fished deep and slow with a white fly.We walked down to the bridge where Andy had advised us to make a start. As we walked down the lake we could not believe that we were so close to London, it was like being out in the country, we were surrounded by parkland.I decided that as the lake was quite shallow that I would fish relatively light but with a medium sinking line, so that I could get the fly down to the bottom. I therefore selected a 8ft A.F.T.M. 4/5 rod with a WF5S line. This made for a nice lightish outfit that would be easy to use. I selected a small gold bead mayfly nymph tied on a size 12 hook, as it was white and clearly visible in the murky water.I had a few casts and found that I could easily cover two-thirds of the way across with the outfit and that it took 35 seconds for the fly to reach the bottom. It was certainly deeper that I had originally thought. I then started to fish properly, tweaking the fly slowly across the bottom. It did not take long before I had my first take from a beautifully conditioned rainbow just short of the three pound mark. The fish gave a great account of itself on the lightish tackle.Then I noticed some of the regulars arriving as, like us, they had waited for the traffic to clear before setting out. I was amazed at how light many of them were travelling. Many had travel rods with them. Although there were not that many anglers on the water, I guess up to 10 on 6 acres, I doubt if I have ever seen so many travel rods in action. It is a very friendly, easy going place, so I went round to talk to the regulars. They often use travel rods so that they can travel by public transport or, in one case, by motor bike. They all stressed that these rods and light gear allowed them to fish when otherwise fishing was not an option. In Summer, with its longer evenings, these anglers will often take this light gear to work and go directly to the fishery after work. All the anglers that I spoke to had had big fish on their travel gear from the fishery.In the meantime, Russ Doig, my photographer had seen an angler on the far bank playing a big fish. He took his cameras and walked round to witness a new fishery brown trout record at 131b 10oz. This fish beat the previous best by 2oz. That fish had been taken on the previous day. This was certainly encouraging as the fishery had only just started to restock with brownies, as the brown trout season had only just opened.The majority of the fish we saw caught were rainbows in perfect condition. These in my opinion averaged well over 2.5lb and there was no doubt in my mind that this is a well stocked and run fishery.I fished on to catch another rainbow of about 41b before Russ decided to have a go fishing. He was soon into his first fish of the day, that was again a nice, perfectly conditioned rainbow. By lunch time, I had had three nice rainbows whilst Russ had two rainbows on a small cats whisker fished deep.We enjoyed a relaxing leisurely lunch before starting the afternoon session. I thought that, as it had warmed up so much, I could change tactics to fish a WF5F line with a longish leader, to fish a small gold-bead damsel fly. Russ immediately caught another rainbow of just over three pounds and about an hour later I completed my limit with a nice plump three pound plus rainbow. As I started to pack up, Russ caught his last fish which was again a lovely conditioned rainbow of about 2.51b, which was the smallest fish of the day.

Conclusion- Don’t be put off by the location of the fishery. Although very close to London you feel as if you are in the country with magnificent scenery and excellent fishing. It is an exceptionally friendly place and well managed by Andy. It certainly adds a new dimension to fly fishing for Londoners