up fish.I catch most of my carp from this venue float

Clawford Vineyard at Clawton near Holsworthy in Devon has always been one of my favourite venues. The accommodation is first class in large rooms with TV, coffee making facilities and en-suite. The views from all the rooms that I have stayed in have breathtaking views of the lakes, vineyard and the beautiful Devon countryside.Downstairs there is a large bar and residents lounge. The bar and bar area are bigger and better fitted-out than most of my local public houses and there is also a restaurant downstairs that serves good quality food for both residents and the general public. It is very good and very popular with locals and residents alike.As I left this year they were just starting work on six self catering units that should be ready for use by Easter. No doubt these too will be top quality. The lake digger was also due on the following Monday to dig two canal lakes and another lake. This will give Clawford ten good sized lakes.The fishing at Clawford is good and improving every year. The lakes are stocked with different species and sizes of specimen fish. Ghost carp are present in only one lake, which is Fletcher’s Lake but grow to well over twenty pounds with plenty of double figured fish as back up. The lake also contains some good roach running well over a pound. However the bigger roach are in Wanda’s Lake and are reputed to run well over two pounds. The roach I have had have been of a terrific average size with some good specimens. To date I have not converted the two pound mark but have come fairly close.There are also chub, ide, rudd, grass carp, cat fish, tench and specimen carp on site in the various waters. Judging from the number of carp just under thirty pounds, next year should see a bumper year for low thirties. There are also much bigger carp to be caught from this fishery; I believe it has something to offer every angler. There is even a golden lake on site for anglers like me who like pretty fish. In this lake all the species are in their golden form.Another fishery that I visited this year for the first time was Duncton Mill. This is a trout fishery in West Sussex, near Petworth, in an area designated as an “Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty”. I would say that this statement was an under-statement as Virginia and I were absolutely gobsmacked when we saw it. This small country estate has eight acres of spring fed trout lakes, and a heated outdoor swimming pool with free access to the estate’s woods and old orchards.Accommodation is either self catering in one of the three cottages on site or as bed and breakfast in the main house. There is only one word in my opinion to describe any of the accommodations and that is “luxury”. They are certainly a top league player in the holidays stakes.Unlike the other venues in my holiday features this is a trout fishing venue but there are plenty of good quality coarse lakes and rivers close by. If I wanted to visit the area and fish either for coarse or game fish this is where I would want to stay. I passed two coarse fisheries on the journey from Petworth to Duncton Mill. One was a lovely looking river whilst the other was a lake. Talking to locals on the fishery there is no shortage of coarse fishing in the area.As regards the trout fishing, this is a top private venue with fishing restricted to season rods and residents. Naturally there is an additional charge for residents who want to take advantage of the top quality fly fishing on site but I don’t think they will be disappointed.The fly fishing is on three gin-clear spring-fed lakes that are stocked with a good variety of trout including rainbows, browns, brookies and tigers. The tiger trout is a specially bred-on-site hybrid between a brook trout and a brown trout. Certainly a very distinctively marked fish.I have covered the trout fishing on the lakes in the October and December issues of this magazine. The articles are archived so that you can easily read them.On site there is a trout farm that breeds fish for the venue and for stocking other waters. I expect they keep the better fish for their own lakes. Judging from the fish that I have either caught or seen caught, this is the case, as they are all well-finned averaging just over 2.25lb.The lake in front of the house and by two of the cottages is not normally fished. In it you can see in the gin clear water some terrific specimen trout of all varieties. Even if you are a coarse angler these fish are a sight not to be missed. In the Summer I saw brown trout that were in my opinion over twenty pounds, with much bigger rainbow trout present. The tiger trout with their white edged fins could be clearly seen and I suspect that at least one of these was over the current record.This is a terrific holiday and game fishing venue that has a lot to offer. If you do decide to holiday there I would seriously recommend that try a lunch at “The Cricketers” which is just down the lane from the fishery. It is within easy walking distance.Swanage is a regular holiday spot of mine as a friend has a holiday flat that we can use but there is plenty of good accommodation in the area. The local tourist board has details of most types of accommodation at this popular resort. I have included this area in this holiday feature as it demonstrates how you can still get good coarse fishing in when on a family holiday to the coast.As the flat we use is on the second floor of a block, my tackle has to be compact yet remain effective. To this end I am using compact multi jointed or telescopic rods. In the sea I use a 12ft Des Taylor 3lb test curve telescopic rod with a large fixed spool reel. This is loaded with 15 lb b.s. line to fish leads up to 3oz. These hold well in Swanage bay as there are no particularly strong tidal pulls. If there were I would use small grip leads.The first coarse venue that I found was “Arfleet Ponds” at Corfe Castle which is less than 5 miles away from where I am staying. There are only two lakes in the complex but they are very different in character. The main lake can be seen from Corfe Castle and is just over an acre in size. It is fairly shallow, averaging between three and four feet with deeper holes going down to over 5ft. The lake was built in 1978 and stocked shortly afterwards. It is now a mature well stocked carp lake with individual fish running to over twenty pounds with a good head of doubles. There are also roach, rudd and tench present in the water.The second lake is a much deeper and more mature lake, going back to about 1930. The lake deepens off very quickly so that you can be fishing as much as 30ft deep a couple of rod lengths out in certain swims. This water, as it is more difficult to fish than the other lake, it is the least popular but it does hold the bigger carp. This lake is mainly carp with rudd, roach, eels and tench as back-up fish.I catch most of my carp from this venue float-fishing with a multijoint rod in close. I float-fish with a centre pin loaded with 8lb b.s. line with a pole float and a size 8 barbless hook. The baits I use come from the local supermarket in Swanage and include a variety of meats, cheeses and sea foods.The owner, Tom Hunt, charges £4 for a full day and £2 for a two hour session which I think you will agree is very reasonable for quality fishing.Also whilst fishing at Swanage, I often travel to Wareham to fish on the tidal River Frome below the main town bridge. This is free fishing and you can catch a whole range of sea and coarse fish. It is one of the very few “free” fishing venues in the country that offers a genuine chance of a three pound roach. I do not intend repeating myself as I have already written a detailed fishery review of the venue which is archived. It appeared in December 2000.Naturally no feature on holiday fishing would be complete without mentioning “Anglers Paradise” and its eccentric boss, Zyg Gregorek. This venue offers top quality accommodation that caters for the whole family. Anglers Paradise is strictly self catering and residents only fishing. The luxury fitted kitchens have every possible convenience laid on, plus satellite TV with the cartoon network for children as standard. There is also an adventure playground, donkey rides and various activities to keep children happy.There were 12 lakes on site when I last visited the venue – but I stress “when I last visited” as Zyg loves digging new lakes and has plans to increase the number of lakes in the near future. Zyg is a top class breeder of ornamental fish so it is not surprising to find them stocked in many of his lakes. He also has a terrific head of big carp running to well over thirty pounds with countless twenties. His fishing is best described as ‘designer’ fishing with individual lakes stocked to suit all tastes.I particularly like the exotic species that he has on sight; these include golden orfe, golden tench, blue orfe, koi orfe, koi carp, grass carp, golden rudd and catfish. These are not small pond tiddlers as I have had koi carp into double figures, golden tench to 6lb 3oz, golden orfe to 6lb 2oz, blue orfe to 4lb 4oz and koi orfe to 5lb 1oz. I must stress that none of these are venue records as other anglers have recorded bigger specimens! The great thing about these ornamentals is that they can easily be caught using standard float fishing tactics. Zyg himself has had some terrific specimens using conventional float fishing tactics with worms as bait.Although I have had plenty of twenty pound plus carp from the venue, I have never had a thirty from Anglers Paradise. They are present but I always get distracted and end up fishing for the ornamentals. However, in my visits I seen some very good carp caught on conventional boilie fishing tactics. The venue has a lot to offer all anglers both carp and pleasure.If you are looking for a holiday targeting very big trout then Dever Springs in Hampshire has got to be a venue to visit. This venue, at the time of writing, holds both the British Record rainbow and brown trout at 36lb 14oz and 28lb 2oz respectively. It’s stocked daily with trout starting at around 5lb plus into both of the two gin clear lakes. I covered this venue in detail in a review that we published in November 2000. This is archived and well worth checking out before fishing the venue. I therefore do not wish to repeat myself too much as it is so easy for you to look up our archived material. The fishery will soon put you in contact with a good quality pub for bed and breakfast. Knowing the manager, this will again be top quality accommodation.I live less than fifty miles away and can do the journey to Dever in less than an hour down the M3 and A303, so I have not stayed there but as a trout fishery you will find it hard to beat. My arm is still aching from the catch that Geoff and I made in the November review.

If you are a fishery or holiday venue owner with fishing and would like a review for this website, contact Laurie on 020 7573 5473