Angling Times 2^nd January 2008

Words by Ben Fisk

Photographs by Mick Rouse

HOW TO BEAT THE BIG CHILL

On a quiet track leading out of Dorking lies one of the country’s most beautiful day-tickets fisheries. But, as AT reporter Ben Fisk found out, the fish filled days of summer are long-gone, replaced by cold nights, hard frosts and ice. How would local ace Russ Evans set about beating the freeze?

If I were a betting man, I would have given him about 100/1. As the crisp grass crunched under the weight of his foot, Russ Evans’ chances of catching fish looked slim.

The playing surface at a frozen Old Bury Hill Fishery was more suited to Torville and Dean than casters and maggots, after overnight temperatures tumbled to minus 4°c and other anglers might have (sensibly) put a stop to this feature before it had even started. But Russ is made of much sterner stuff and was not about to make our three- hour trip down the A1 and M25 a waste of time.

The 46 year old is the manager of the tackle shop at Old Bury Hill, and his recent mixed roach and perch nets to 50lb, and bream catches to 76lb, speak volumes for the quality of silverfish sport on offer at a venue more noted for it’s carp and predator fishing.

Nesting in a secluded wooded valley in deepest surrey, it’s obvious that this isn’t your average day-ticket still water. For a start there’s the drive through the quiet estate, a narrow, winding ascent that could lead to a fantasy castle, were it not for a blind corner which suddenly reveals a pretty cottage with rolling lawns and an ancient water with boathouse and punts. This 200- year old venue, The Old Lake, screams mystery through its murky depths, with places like the famous ‘Jungle’- a collection of partly submerged snags resembling a mangrove swamp- obvious fish magnets.

Plan A- Bream

Originally Russ had promised us a bag of bream, and skimmers from here and, thanks to its raised vicinity and exposure, this was the only water at Old Bury Hill not to boats a fine glazing of ice on this brisk Wednesday morning. Its Chocolate tinge suggested the resident slabs had been feeding well, but this was not bream weather.

On the bank at first light, Russ scanned the cloudless sky and Old Jack Frost’s morning whitewash and knew deep down that it was a gamble. By midday he’d had enough. Despite searching both pole and waggler swims, he hadn’t even mustered a twitch. This was, by the way, no reflection on his own angling. His feeding of ground bait, maggots and micro pellets was accurate and carefully thought out, his rigs scaled down with sensitively strung out shot and his casting smoothly impeccable. But somewhere out there in the centre of the lake the vast shoals of chunky bronze-backed slabs sat quietly in line, their mouths clamped firmly shut in readiness for winter hibernation.

Round one to the bream.

“Bream are a funny species and the severe frost last night has done us no favours. I could sit here all day and not get one, so rather than risk a complete blow out, I’m going to try and catch some quality roach and perch on the Milton Lake, but I’ll have a job on my hands as it’s covered in ice!” said Russ.

Upping sticks and gathering his tackle together, a five – minute sprint across the complex resembled something from The Wacky Races, but Russ was soon tackling up with renewed optimism in a quiet corner of this 2.5-acre water.

Target The Margins

With only a couple of feet of ice-free water to fish in the edge, nobody was optimistic about his chances of catching, but Russ was adamant you don’t have to fish far out to bag up.

“A light pole rig down the margins with maggot or caster usually guarantees a good day and you can catch 30lb to 50lb of quality silverfish, even in winter. This comprises of roach, perch, rudd and even crucians,” he said

He plumbed up a spot close to the sharp edges of the ice and worked his lightly shotted rig around a limited space of free water, loose feeding a couple of maggots to try and trigger a response. None though, was forthcoming.

“If it wasn’t frozen, I could have guaranteed a 1lb-plus roach or perch- there’s that many in here. But now I’m starting to sweat a bit – I just want to catch a fish for the camera!” said Russ, scratching his head.

Then finally, and without warning, it happened- justice for Russ’ dogged determination. One moment, the orange can bristle of his 4 x 10 drennan choppa float bristle sat stubbornly in place, the next it plunged into freefall beneath the icy water, an unmissable bite- but miss it he did. Laying the rig back in, it was almost a repeat performance, but for the fact his tiny hook hit the bony mouth of a small perch. The relief was immense. It was all one-all – but could Russ now deliver a knockout?

All Change Again

Unfortunately, no further action materialised, so with only hours of daylight left, he bit the bullet and moved for the third time, to a swim on the opposite side of Milton where the sun now made it possible to fish several metres out into the lake. This time Russ picked a line as far out as he could, and after five minutes was into a steady stream of small roach. Action wasn’t frantic, but at least Russ was catching and decided to have a late foray to the extensive reedbed to his right.

Inching the float tight to a folded dead stalk, bites were instant and, surprisingly, this area of the peg soon turned into his best catching line, just like he predicted at the beginning of the session. Then, without a word or warning. The swim died and Russ suspected the presence of a bonus fish. He was right too. When his float disappeared once more, rather than another 30z roach coming to the surface, several feet of light- green hollow elastic was steadily oozing from the pole tip. The culprit, an 80z perch, had given an excellent account of itself and was followed shortly after by an immaculate winter crucian, dripping water like melted butter as it sat patiently in Russ’ palm waiting to be unhooked.

“This is just one of the things I love about Old Bury Hill. There aren’t many true mixed fisheries left in the UK, but this is definitely one of them where you could hook absolutely anything on your next cast. If this was the only place I could fish, for the rest of my life, I wouldn’t complain,” concluded Russ

His catch was by no means the biggest the lake has ever seen, but on a frozen December day, at least one man on the venue had succeeded against the fish. The easy option would have been to stay at home in such frost and save the feature for warmer climes, when a bustling net of silverfish was comfortably on the cards. But angling isn’t always about the big bags of carp that dominate today’s articles- this is the true reality of winter fishing. So if you find yourself on a frozen venue, don’t give up but take heed of Russ’s advice- loose feed maggots gingerly, don’t ignore the margins and carry on catching. Sometimes, it’s just a privilege to be out there, especially in the presence of scenery like that of Old Bury Hill.

Bag A Bonus

Russ Evans left it late to bag this immaculate winter crucian, but boy was it worth the wait.

Factfile: Old Bury Hill Fishery

Lakes: The 12 acre Old Lake is over 200 years old and is home to several 30lb plus carp, huge bream and tench and a massive head of Zander to 16lb and pike to 30lb. Milton Lake has 30 pegs and carp to 20lb, roach to 3lb, perch to 3lb, rudd, crucians, tench and bream. The Bonds Lake is predominately carp in the 3lb to 4lb class, making up weights to 300lb. try the membership only temple lake, where every carp is 20lb- plus and at least a dozen ‘thirties’ are known to swim its waters.

Day-Ticket Prices:

£11.50 adults, £8.50 senior citizens/juniors/disabled. Add £5.50 for a second rod and adults may use a third rod for an extra £5.50. Evening and boat tickets are both £5.50.

Facilities:

The boathouse comprises of the Lakeside café. The fishing warehouse Tackle shop and a toilet/ shower block. All Lakes are disabled friendly.

Rules:

The main rules are barbless hooks only; no keep nets except in matches. No method feeders or fixed leads, the only particle baits allowed are sweetcorn, carp pellets and hemp, no catmeat or dog meat. See the website for more rules.

Address:

Bury Hill Fisheries Ltd.

The Boathouse,

 Old Bury Hill,

Wescott nr Dorking,

Surrey

RH4 3JU

Web:

http://www.bury-hill-fisheries.co.uk/

On a very cold and frozen lake at Bury Hill I was joined by Ben Fisk and Mick Rouse of The Angling Times to catch a few fish for the cameras. It was a hard day which in the end turned out well, in January 2008 the feature will be published in the AT and when it does this page shortly after will refelct on how the day panned out.

FEATURE OUT NOW 2ND JANUARY 2008 EDITION

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