Stories

Jess caught this 24lb mirror carp on a match rod size 14 hook and 6lb line
on friday 26th june, peg 10 on a half day sesion. i also caught 3 other
double figure carp, 4 tench to 6 lb plus loads of bream, its the best days
fishing ive had and personal best. !!!!!! SUPER LAKE.
 

10th May 2009

Rob Dowsett
Rob caught this 29lb 8oz Mirror carp on Sunday 10th May using a pole float on his match float rod, Using a size
18 hook on only 6lb main line I can tell you he thought his rod was going to snap, It was bent double.He can't remember the peg number possibly peg 32 or 33 but it was on the pointed bit that sticks out a bit opposite the island fishing just under his rod tip,
The fish took him 50 minutes to land, "I was bloody aching after that" he said.


16th September 2007


Name: Richard Bonney
AGE: 35
Home town: HARLOW
Occupation: MECHANIC

 
After a long break from fishing I returned to the sport about six month's ago, My main interest being carp fishing.
On the 16th September I fished peg 3 on the larger of the two lakes at Lake john fishery. I was using two 2.5lb TC rods both with 10lb mono main line, and using luncheon meat on hair rigs, My first catch of the day was a 18lb 8oz mirror carp which was soon followed by a 38lb mirror carp, both these fish beat my previous personal best, which until this day had been 12lb 8oz.

MANY THANKS FOR A GREAT DAY AT LAKE JOHN!!!!!!



Friday 23rd June 2006
Roding Valley High school special day out,
This hand full of kids from Roding Valley High school have put in a lot of extra hard work this year to earn a special treat, a days fishing
at Lake John Fishery, and what a day they had, they caught nets full of fish between them and had a great time on what turned out to be a lovely day.
Well done guy's hopefully we'll see you back at Lake John real soon.

 

Friday 28th October 2005

The date was Friday 28th Oct 2005 and my son Daniel and my mate Mark where fishing Lake John top lake with myself. We arrived at the lake at 5.30am so we could set up early and have a full days fishing. By 6.30am we were all set up and rods were out and then the rain started in force. At this stage Daniel had only had his rod in the water for about 2 mins when he had his 1st screamer. Maybe its not going to be a bad day after all. After Dan I had a nice run and pulled out a nice 14lb mirror and had several others throughout the day.
Even though I had a good days fishing my son and mate had better ones. Daniel by about 10am had a run and landed a 4lb Golden Tench which was one of the best looking fish I have ever seen, and though it wasn't one of the biggie Carps from the lake it made his day because it will take years to catch a better looking fish than that one. To finish the day of right on last knockings my mate then hooked into a lovely 29.5lb carp his new PB only just having beaten his old PB two weeks earily with a 24lb from the same swim.
There will be a fight to see who gets that swim next time, or I will just have to make sure I get there before him (lucky sod). But as usual a great days fishing from a top lake. Thanks Colin. (bait used was pre drill 14mm marine pellets from The Bait & Feed company)



Tuesday 26th November 2002

Still Catching the Biggies

Pictured below is Old man Les (as he is affectionately known to all at Lake John) Les Ewald is probably the most regular visitor at the lakes, at the tender age of 82 years young, he still shows the lads how to do it!!!!
Good on ya Les, keep up the good work.
 

What a Day
Thursday 5th September 2002

As told by Len Parker & Craig Belsey
Thursday is our day off from running Hancock's Cycles of Cheshunt.
Craig had emailed Colin prior to our arrival, to get the most up to date information on the best swims and which baits to use, we went along to Simpsons at Turnford for our bait and Tackle, We had a nice early start, arriving at 4.30am for a 5.00am start,
I set up at peg 11 and Craig set up at peg 10, At 7.15am My personal best catch was a 31lb 8oz mirror carp, this beat my old record by 20 lb, this was followed by a 19lb Leather carp.
Craig started slowly, but by the end of the day, he had landed no less than 17 double figure carp, the largest being an 18lb 8 oz mirror carp.
All of the fish were caught on donkley choker pellets, with a size 4 hook and 15lb line.
"What a great days fishing, well worth the day ticket price of £10.00 Many thanks to Colin and his excellent fishery".

Wheel off Fortune


It all started with the usual preparation and last minute checks to the website for the latest on form baits, and a disciplined night away from the pub, so they would be nice and fresh for the early start of 3.30am as they set off from there sleepy village in Stevenage, so that this would see them first in the Queue, come 5am for the grand opening of the gates, all was going well as they made good time on the motorway, until there was a strange noise coming from their ever reliable trusted Volkswagen camper, as the noise grew so did there concerns, as a wobble had started to get a little too much to ignore, so the hard shoulder was the first unplanned stop and a good job too, for after a close inspection and a quick piece of arithmetic, Terry's mate Bazza soon realised that two wheel nuts had decided to jump ship, and two more were also about mutiny, 15 minutes later, and Terry's only concern was that he was going to miss the spot at the front of the Queue, that he had promised his pal Barry, and not the near death experience they had both nearly encountered.
From now on the rest of the journey would be steady as she goes, so as not to incur any more hickups, finally the end was in sight, only to find that this short pit stop had cost them a couple of places (you blokes are keen) as arrival time was just a touch past 4.15am, this was of great relief to Terry and Barry, all this unbeknown to myself, I dragged my way to the gates just after 5am as per-usual and a small precession of 15 or so cars followed on, Terry and Bazza had claimed there spot (pegs 34 and 35) for the day, and as it turned out, it was all worth it.
A bit of a slow day all round on the lake, one or two Carp had started to show, but Terry was soon to change all this as his p.b of 6lb was about to be smashed to bits, fishing a free running lead and 8 maggots to the hook Terry who has only been fishing a year spent the early part of the morning baiting his peg close to the island, and just as the morning was ending, and the afternoon beginning, Terry struck into a sensational bite, and in his relative inexperience, wondered what the hell to do next, this is when Bazza the wheel nut counter of that morning, and all round top bloke, talked him thought the next few minutes of his day, not one hickup this time as Terry William's had put his first Lake John Carp on the unhooking mat, at an amazing 31lb 7oz... and only just under the lake record, a big well done mate from all at lake John (photo above).


Plugging a Leak
As many of the regulars to the lake will know, the bottom lake has over a period of two years developed a leak which in the height of summer can see the water level fall by nearly 3ft.  
The bad area of ground runs from peg 17 to 19 it only allows the water to fall so far but when the average depth is 4ft, the lake can really suffer. 

So on January 2nd 2002 at 7.30am after wishing that I had won the lottery and would never have to work again, I jumped into the 1.5 ton machine and I started to dig.
  
The plan is to take out the out the bad ground and replace it with a clay bung. 

It is now 23rd Jan and I am about 75% complete, so fingers crossed this is the answer to the problem,
But we will soon know this summer...
 

Low Oxygen Levels at Lake John

On July 29th we saw a potential big fish kill on the top lake as over night the dissolved oxygen levels in the water fell to a very dangerous level of 20%, this situation was caused by the tremendous hot still conditions on the lake and water temperatures reaching 24 degrees this combination of hot weather and no breeze or wind moving the water surface was a deadly awakening, as at 5.45am the alarm was raised by old man Les as he is known on the lake, as one of the most regular anglers to visit us," Colin I think your fish are in trouble", he said so it was an extra early start this day for yours truly. 
That night I had already had two pumps running on the top lake as I was sure that the constant still weather was going to give us problems, so my next action was that of a phone call to the emergency services.

The fire brigade lead by Jim Jewel, were soon on the case and by 6.30am they were pumping 60,000 gallons of water per hour, this was perhaps the last thing they needed as they had been putting out a fire in Southend which didn't see there return to Waltham Abbey until 4.30am that morning by 9o'clock the same morning seven pumps were running flat out and remained so all that week.
Keith Wesley of Bedwell Fishery services was always close at hand for any advice and tips that we might need and along the way and with the help of Rob Argent of the E.A fisheries office Hatfield we then installed three more pumps bringing the total to ten.

Monday 5th our dissolved oxygen reading was back to a more satisfactory 75% which mean we were on schedule for re-opening the following day.
I would now like to thank firstly all the anglers that morning for leaving the fishery and allowing us to concentrate on matters in hand and a very big thanks to all the boys down at the Abbey fire station, Bedwell fisheries services, and Hatfield E.A office and Peter at pcwebs for putting on the net all my updates  and there were a few that week.
To prevent this happening again we are now in the process of buying a new airation system for the lakes...
Who said running a fishery was a doddle????
"I've become a scientist in a week and passed with honors".

Waltham Abbey Fire Service in action saving the day.
"Thanks Lads"

Little & Large

Billy Evans who is nearly 5 years of age, hooked  two carp on 18th September 2000
The first being a 16 pounder, the second a whopping 28lb 4oz he landed with a little help from dad Tony, as Billy could not reel the monster in, but the fish was safely landed with with the landing net by Billy, Who to everyone's amazement netted the fish with one swift go, braking the net handle in two places.
The fish were hooked on Barbless size 2 legered with hair rigs loaded with a meat and sweetcorn cocktail, Billy is remarked upon as a natural born fisherman by most of the regulars who fish Lake John in Waltham Abbey.
The fish was weighed and held in the photo by Colin the Lakes owner, as Billy was reluctant to hold the monster himself for fear it may eat him!
Most Children of Billy's age sit and watch Disney cartoons, but not Bill He sits up to watch Rex Hunt or John Wilson on Sky t.v. each night.Most Anglers looked on in amazement as they had drawn a blank that day as he landed the fish, with his £12.99 carp rod from used tackle and a 4050 Daiwa bait runner. total cost of his tackle was £47.00.
Sorry lads it seems you don't need expensive kit after all, Just a little patience and tips from Angling Times and mail.
The fish was landed with 15 lb. line at 7pm

Lake John's Snake in the Grass

This is not your everyday Fisherman's tale about a catch at Lake John Fishery

This snake actually came out of the water onto the bank to my left. I saw a movement out of the corner of my eye and when I looked round it had its head in the air it seemed to be watching me.
I quickly grabbed my landing net and managed to catch the snake as it tried to get away from me back into the lake.
After taking this picture and showing it to other anglers nearby I put it amongst the trees well behind the lake. Everybody who saw it thought it was an adder, (mainly because it wasn't green), and not a grass snake. However I have since searched on the internet and it would seem it was actually a grass snake and quite harmless. Apparently they are not necessarily green but can be various colours from light Brown to Grey. Their diet is mainly frogs and newts.
An hour or so after releasing the snake, it or another one very similar, reappeared this time on my right. However as soon as I moved it went back into the lake and swam away into the weeds.

This Story and picture were supplied by Chas Murray a regular Angler at Lake John.   

If you have an interesting story (Funny, Quirky, or Strange,) you would like to submit, Please e-mail the details with any pictures, maybe we can enter it on our features page.  E-mail to stories@lakejohnfishery.co.uk

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