The Kingfisher Pool

The 'in' baits: Corn-  Pellet - Worm and Caster - Maggot

The well thought out pool, shaped in a kind of horseshoe shape with an island in the middle. The pool, which is constantly stocked with all species of fish, holds 32 anglers. 

The pool holds an excellent stock of carp in all sizes from 2lb to 5lb marks, which are excellent weight builders in a match situation. The bigger specimens in the pool boast the 15 lb mark plus the pool holds hundreds of 10 pounders. By any means you'll know once you've hooked one of these fin specimens, in mint of condition, because of you tingling arm ache!  These carp are often caught on pellet and corn approach but persevere with any method or bait and you will be in for a long hard fight.

The crucian carp are caught at the closest and shallowest water, known to be the shallowest of 12 inches. You can catch these fish on float fished corn or double maggot, being the best two baits to use. The tench in the pool average the 3lb mark bit the biggest to date is an 8 pounder. When the carp are not feeding, these tench will no doubt give you a 30 lb no problem at all. the tench are in the finest of condition and always offer an exhilarating fight right to the net. The best method to catch these slimy fish is to float fish an expander pellet at about five meters.

Crucian carp are stocked into the pool in high numbers and substantially boosted the weights by a considerable amount. recent open matches anglers have managed up to 35lb of these 8oz-1lb fish. This is a massive achievement by any standards.

Apart from the main species in the pool i.e. the carp and the tench, there are plenty of silverfish to be targeted. There are plenty of bream in the pool averaging 6lb apiece. There is also a big head of skimmers in the pool, which are regularly, caught at 6oz a fish. The bream in the pool have recently been caught in high numbers on macaroni cheese on a float method. Apart from this bait the bream and skimmers will come to the net one after another on worm corn and expander pellet.

Recently some big roach, perch and chub have been captured from the lake and were said to be edging the 2lb mark, which in this case is specimen hunting! This is a massive bonus to the fishery and you could easily amass 25lb of silverfish without even trying, that’s just how good this pool is to fish. These magnificent silverfish are often caught high up in the water using a delicate float and using caster hook bait, constantly firing a pinch full around the float. These fish will be small to begin with but as the feed keeps going in you will get into some better fish.

Truthfully there isn't a peg that wins the matches week in week out. It is won off a different peg each week

- Pegs 1 - 8

From peg 1 to peg 8 is an average depth of 4-5 feet. All of these pegs have a fairly flat bottom. Pegs 1, 4,5,6,7 and 8 all have outstanding, margianal cover as in the beds of reeds close to the bank, which sprout in the summertime. Peg 1 has a stack of hay to the right hand side but you need 16 metres of pole to reach it, although it is under the surface so there may be one or two hefty snags. Pegs 3 and 4 offers the advantage of a tree stump at 14.5 meters, this peg is were the matches can be won or lost depending on how you fish it and on the conditions. You then run along to peg 6 and 7 were there is an aerator at about 25 meters. In the summer months the carp tend to hang around this feature a lot but unfortunately it can only be reached with rod and line. The next main feature peg on this side is peg 8. Apart from having the close in reeds it offers a bale of hay down the left margin, also it's where the fresh spring water enters the pool. 1 meter away from the bale of hay there is a hole in the depth were it drops a bit deeper.

- Pegs 9 - 13

Pegs 9, 10 and 11, 12, 13 are the shallower pegs on the lake as the depth is only about 3-4 feet. These pegs are exquisite in the warmer months of the year. At 9 meters there is a slope in the depth were you gain another 6 inches of water, on these pegs this is were the majority of fish are caught from. Peg 11is a corner peg and if the wind is blowing into the corner, no other peg comes close. Because of the heavily protected marginal cover 80 lb bags could easily be caught if the conditions were correct. If no success you could convert to the rod and line and chuck it toward the island at about 3o meters.

- Pegs 14 to 18

Pegs 14 to 18 have a massive change in depth as the water drops to 5-10 feet. You can get into this much water by fishing at the bottom of the second shelf. All of these pegs along the bank have reed-lined margins, which offer excellent cover. On peg 14 the better anglers have managed to plumb around the peg and find a hole of a one-meter radius. This is usually were you will catch a big bag of fish from.

- Peg 19

Peg 19 is right next to an overhanging tree were the depth again drops, for your information and easier reading all the rest of the pegs stated are the named 'deeper' pegs. This peg holds the maximum depth of around 14 feet. The further out you go on this peg the deeper it gets, as anglers have found. The bottom is very uneven on this peg and there are only certain places were you can plumb up correctly.

- Pegs 20 - 23

Pegs 20 to 23 are the pegs that are renowned for such good shallow fishing all year round, as the water is so deep. These three pegs only go up to 10 feet deep and this is only if you fish out far i.e. 12 meters or more. These three pegs have a fairly flat bottom after the second shelf. They have heavily sprouted marginal cover with the reeds at either side of the pegs. Peg 23is the end peg of the three, which is right by the side the start of the island, which can easily be reached, and use for a margin line.

- Peg 24 to 27 - The Island

The island holds 4 anglers on pegs 24, 25, 26 and 27. The two pegs 26 and 27 face the bigger half of the pool and 24 and 25 face the far bank pegs i.e. 12-16. Pegs 26 and 27 are very similar depths of about 6 feet. The bottom on the two pegs is very flat but a bit silty; it is advisable to use a lighter plummet on these two pegs. Only peg 24 has reeds at the side but 25 has the point of the island but you would need a long pole to reach or the rod and line could be got out the bag.

- Peg 25

Peg 25 was the so-called hot peg for some time as it is the point of the island. This is were the big carp often hold but it is a very hard task pulling them round so it is a case of hook 'n' hold. This peg is surprisingly shallow about 3 and half feet. The bottom is dead flat but there is one hole to look for at 2 meters slightly to the left. This is not a significant change in depth but is certainly something to look for.

- Peg 26

Peg 26 has a small bed of reeds either side of the peg the depth again is about 6 feet deep but after the second shelf it drops to about 7 feet. This peg seems to hold a lot of tench down the first slope no one quite knows why but it is a great fact to know.

- Peg  28 - 30

28-30 are so-called 'deep side' pegs, as named by the regulars. This comment is very true as at only your top kit there is 5feet of water. After the first shelf it drops to about 6 feet of water and after the second shelf to about 10 ft.After this deep water the further out you go the shallower it gets as it starts to shelf up toward the other side.

- Peg 31- 35

31 - 35 are all the pegs that start to shallow up a bit as the pool starts to close in a bit. 30 is very similar to the other three pegs and the same depth whereas 26 and 27 start to become shallower as it shelves up. The advantage of this is that the depth at your top kit is about 3 feet and then it drops to 5 feet, which is a decent depth to catch a good bag of fish. 27 is the other corner peg and the corner is full of reeds and the bale of hay but again it is about 16 meters away.

This pool is a superb asset to the fishery and offers many different species to go for. As mentioned earlier the matches can be won from any peg. This is why the match men keep coming back.