Stonebridge Carp Lake

The Specimen Carp Lake is now closed for essential maintainance - The lake will be open in 2010

I woke up early sunday morning with sunshine bursting through the windows of my sisters house and thought, great its not raining and theres no wind. i live in bradford and was visiting my sister who lives in north allerton. we got up, had a brew and chat before i set off to stonebridge. it was warm and sunny when i arrived at 9.00am, but apparently,there had been a touch of frost through the night. i headed down to the carp lake to have a look around for what i thought might be a good swim. on my lap of the lake i saw six or seven dark objects cruising around, perfect! igot a tip from the shop, peg 8 was worth a go, so i stopped there. i'd seen a few carp both to the left and right of where i was and began to set up.

i took corn, bread, maggots and pop up boilies. because this was my first time at stonebridge, i thought i would go with the tried and tested. three pieces of pop up fake corn, held with a shot, two inches of the bottom. i cast to the left side of the island in front and then peppered a catapult full of sweetcorn around the area. To the right, 6ft from the edge, i used a maggot clip with six maggots. then i sprayed two catapults full of maggots over the top. i sat back in my chair, having a drink after i was finally set up. bait alarms on and ready for action! it was peaceful with plenty of wildlife activity going on around. the warmer weather had kick started animals into action. i heard what sounded like a very big carp crashing out of the water a few times, around the island, where i couldnt see.

an hour passed and had only had a couple of beeps, but no run. i got some bread and threw in some bread left and right in the edge to see if they would take of the surface. nothing came up. i then walked round to peg 7 and drop some maggots on top of a passing carp. it stopped 4ft away from me and went down with the falling maggots. it was great to see a double figure fish so close and unfased by me been there. it moved on. the morning had passed and i had tried everything. it looked like it might be just one of those days! they were enjoying the sun and didnt seem bothered about feeding. i thought to myself, i'm going to give it another two hours before i start packing up and heading off home. a change of scenery is always good if fishing is slow, it refreshes your approach to the day and to how you are going to catch!!

i moved round to where i had seen a few carp showing earlier. i through my pop up corn with a small handfull of corn into the bay, just off the island. within five minutes, my alarm screamed off and the rod swung right round. i had to laugh. if its just not happening in one area, the best thing to do is move. i had it on for about five minutes before i even saw it and did it fight! eventually i got it in, to see it was a gorgeous 11 lb common carp. it was a deep yellow colour in perfect condition. it was physically fit too, keeping me wrestling to get it to the net for over ten minutes. persistance paid off and an hour after the catch, i decided to pack up on a high. i had wished i had more time to fishing into the night, because the bait i had put out would of just had to of gone. i will be definately coming back here to fish when i am in the area again. i would of enjoyed it here even if i didnt catch anything, the fact i did catch a beauty, was a bonus!

Richard Clarke from Bradford

Dave Brettle from Catterick
Specimen Carp Lake Report - 28 August 2008

After visiting the fishery for the first time on 26 August 2008, I decided to have a crack at the specimen lake on 27 August for a 24 hour session. After listening to other anglers and the totally honest staff at Stonebridge, I was convinced I was in for an extremely difficult 24 hours due to the fact that over the last week the fishing was slow to say the least.

I chose peg five as this peg channels to the narrowest part of the lake, hoping to ambush the patrolling carp in a bottle neck. As promised, the first six hours passed without even a knock, then at around 18.30hrs I had my first run on luncheon meat resulting in a fine looking 10lb 7oz common. As darkness drew in I then opted to fish the margins left and right of the peg. Knocks became more frequent throughout the night. At 3am the alarm screamed without warning resulting in another common of 8lb.

5am saw me connect with a good sized fish, again on the meat, only for it to slip the hook seconds before netting! As light started to spread over the lake at 6.30am, the alarm screamed again resulting in a fine 14lb 12oz carp.

All in all, a cracking first visit to Stonebridge in an excellent enviroment. I'm already planning my next visit.

The carp lake can be exclusively yours for the day starting from early morning to late evening. Full English breakfast will be available if required. This whole experience can be shared with your friends or business associates. For further information please contact Stonebridge Fishing Lakes.

More recent catches, Common Carp, Leather Back Carp, King Carp, Mirror Carp, Grass Carp, Crucian, and Chub. We are pleased to announce that within the next month we shall be adding up to 30lbs Carp and a number of Ghost Carp.

Only 10 pegs are avalible so please book in advance to avoid disapointment.

Congratulations to John Maulding Jnr from Horden for catching his personal best weight.

Well another fun day at Stonebridge for my son Brian and myself...Read more on this with pictures - look in Carp Articles

One of our recent visitors caught 2 18lb + carp and a good variety of Grass & Mirror Carp