SHILLINGLEE DAY TICKET FISHING NEWS 2013

Sunday 29th December.  Sean landed a beautiful 21lb Mirror while Lee, a day ticket fisherman, caught a very nice 1lb 14oz Roach. 

Saturday 28th December.  Theo landed his PB for a Pike at Shillinglee with a stunning 26lb 5oz specimen, please see photo gallery.

Sunday 15th December.  Louis landed the biggest Pike of the season so far with a fantastic 28lb 8oz specimen (photo to follow shortly) over the weekend.  Many congrats to Louis.  No one has yet to catch the biggest Pike in the lake which is estimated to weigh in at just over 30lbs.

The Lake and surrounding ponds are looking stunning at present.  The path that was laid in the spring has provided a major benefit to users during these wetter times of the year and access to both sides of the lake is now excellent in all weathers.  The path leading down from the car park towards the boathouse has also been improved recently. making access with equipment much easier than previously. 

Saturday 7th December.  PJ chipped in a with a fine Common weighing in at 20lbs, while Rob continued his recent run of success with Pike at Lakeside with another 16lb 4oz specimen. 

Friday 29th November. The weather is turning colder and Pike are being caught in good numbers.  Hopefully we will see plenty more fish being caught.

Saturday 23rd November.  Andy landed a 27lb 6oz Mirror and a 16lb Common.   Rob has caught 19 Pike so far this season, The biggest being 12lbs but the big one still eludes him .

Sunday 10th November.  Andy caught a stunning 27lb 2oz Mirror.

Saturday 9th November.  Martin landed a 12lb Pike and a couple of Jacks. 

Friday 8th November.  Les caught a 14lb Pike. 

Tuesday 5th November.  Theo caught 2 Commons. One 10lb and the other 16lbs

Monday 4th November.  Matt caught and impressive 11 Pike, the biggest being 12.5 lbs. 

Saturday 2nd November.  Sean landed a very nice 32lb Common. 

Thursday 17th October.  Andy landed a 32lb 8oz Common and a 20lb 9oz Common.  Rob also caught an 11lb Pike and also 5 Jacks. 

Work on Upper and Middle Foxdale is now almost complete.  Work will next take place on shrubbery and bramble around Lower Foxdale over the next two weeks.  This will not impact upon fishing on the Main lake.  The car park has been cleared of several piles of wood chip and stone to make more parking space if needed. 

As per recent news below, Carp and Tench are being caught on a regular basis as the Pike season gets underway and good sizes of fish are being witnessed. 

 Saturday 12th October. Sean landed a very nice 20lb 14oz Mirror and an 18lb Common.

Tuesday 8th October.  Derek caught a 23lb Mirror and 21.5lb Common. 

Monday 7th October.  Rob landed a 12lb Pike and a couple of Jacks.

Saturday 5th October.  Alex caught a 13lb Pike and a couple of Jacks.  Shane landed an 8lb Pike, Lewis an 11lb 3oz Pike and Nathan caught a 5lb Tench. 

Wednesday 25th September.  Dave again caught a 17lb 9oz Common. 

Tuesday 24th September. Dave landed a very nice 15lb Common.

A grass snake was spotted swimming across the main lake last week, an unusual occurrence !

Maintenance work on Foxdale 2 and 3 ponds is well under-way. Both ponds are much in need of weed and silt removal and should be excellent breeding ponds for fish in the future. During this time, water has been flowing from Foxdale 1 into the main lake, whose water levels are starting to rise as a result of the wetter weather.

Pike season starts on 1st October.

Friday 13th September.  Alex has caught 2 5lb Tench a 7lb Tench, a 2lb Perch and a 10lb Mirror.  Andy also caught a 10lb Common.

Saturday 7th September.  Richard caught a 19.5lb Mirror and a 15lb Common. 

Friday 6th September. Richard landed a very nice 23lb Mirror and an 8lb Common. 

Wednesday 4th September.  Dave caught a 23lb Mirror, an 18lb Common and a 15lb Common.

Monday 2nd September.  Les caught a stunning 31lb 10oz Common.  Paul landed a 3.5lb Eel! The first one to be caught at Shillinglee in a very long time. 

Thursday 29th August.  Richard, a day ticket fisherman caught a beautiful 21lb Common,  his first fish at Shillinglee. 

Water levels remain low/moderate as the recent rain has not been sufficient to raise levels on the Main lake.  Good numbers of fish are being caught and of good sizes,  Common carp being the most prolific. 

The Pike season is almost upon us, due to start in October.

Monday 26th August.  Charlie landed the only Mirror of the last few days, weighing in at 11lb. 

Sunday 25th August.  Sean caught one of the rarely seen Ghost carp, weighing at 15lb, and in addition, landed a 12lb Common and 11lb Common.  An excellent couple of days for Sean.

Saturday 24th August.  Sean caught his biggest fish at Shillinglee, landing a stunning 32lb 10oz Common, a beautiful specimen.  He also landed two further Commons, one at 14lb and the other at 10lb.  Well done Sean.  Paul hit the score sheet again with another Common, this time a 12lb specimen. 

Friday 23rd August.  Andy caught a very nice 12lb 8oz Common,  while Kevin landed a 5lb 8oz Tench.  Paul landed a very nice 10lb Common.

Thursday 22nd August.  Andy hit the score sheet again with a 20lb 4oz Common followed by a slightly smaller 15lb 2oz Common.

Wednesday 21st August.  Steve caught an 11lb Common, a further reward for his patient fishing at Shillinglee over the last few days. 

Tuesday 20th August.  Steve landed a stunning 20lb Common.

There are reports of a recent KHV outbreak at a fishery in Slaugham, West Sussex.  Visitors to Shillinglee are asked to excercise care in ensuring that all landing nets and mats are laid out and exposed to sunlight to minimise the spread of this virus. 

The Main lake and surrounding smaller ponds are looking beautiful and the good weather continues into this week, with good sized fish having come out in the last week or so.  Maintenance work has continued on the lake to remove some of the water lilies and weed which in specific areas have been encroaching on some of the swims.  Water levels are at low/moderate levels after the recent dry spells. 

Tuesday 13th August.  Theo landed a 14lb 4oz Mirror, a very nice specimen. 

Thursday 8th August.  Steve C had a further success on specimen lake with a 17lb Mirror. 

Wednesday 7th August.  Steve C landed a good sized Common of around 8lb.

Tuesday 6th August.  Steve S landed a stunning 34lb Common followed by a 14lb Common.  Well done Steve. 

Thursday 1st August.  August is now upon us and the lake is looking stunning and good numbers of fish are being caught.  Water levels have stabilised after the recent rainfalls. 

Wednesday 31st July.  Derek caught two beautiful Common carp, one 17lb and the other 12lb. 

Joe landed a very good sized Tench, weighing in at 8lb. 

Friday 26th July. Tony caught a very nice 19lb 8oz Common, Steve landed a 14lb 4oz Mirror and a 5lb Tench and Andy an 18lb 8oz Common.  A good day on the Main Lake....

Thursday 25th July.  Derek caught another stunning specimen, this time a 5lb 8oz Tench, and Lee caught sn 8lb Common. 

It looks as though the recent hot spell is coming to an end, so we should expect showers over the next few days, making for cooler conditions to fish at Shillinglee. 

Saturday 20th July.  PJ caught a very nice 1lb 8oz Roach and Andy landed a 5lb Tench while fishing at the weekend. 

Thursday 18th July.  Simon, on his first visit to the lake this year, landed a 21lb Common, a 27lb Mirror and a 6lb Tench.  Well done Simon and welcome back from your travels.

Roadworks across the dam are now complete.

The lake is looking stunning with the wonderful weather and beautiful scenery.  The fish are moving around and we have had some nice catches over the last few weeks.

Thursday 11th July.  A couple of day ticket fishermen caught a good selection of Tench from Canal Pond. 

Wednesday 3rd July.  Derek had a excellent day and landed two very nice Common carp, one 21lb and the other 14lb.  It is good to see Derek having some great results having fished on a regular basis at Shillinglee this year. 

We're nearly into July and just to let everyone know there will be price increases for fishing from the 1st July 2103.  Please see price section on website for more details. 

Saturday 22nd June.  Richard caught a 17.5lb Common.

Friday 21st June.  Steve landed a 16lb 2oz Mirror and a 5lb Mirror.

Monday 17th June.  Paul caught a very nice 6.5lb Tench.

Saturday 15th June.  Graeme fished for the first time this year and landed a 27lb Common.  Well done Graeme!

Saturday 8th June.  Scott caught a 7lb Tench, Rich caught a 9lb 7oz Tench, Steve also caught a 5lb 5oz Tench and Phil landed a 22lb 4oz Mirror and a 12lb 6oz Common.

Friday 7th June.  Charlie caught a 10lb Common and a 5lb Tench.  Andy caught a trio of Common Carp 19lb 5oz, 17lb, and 15lb 5oz. 

The Main lake is looking stunning with the bushes and trees in full leaf while the sun is shining.  Long may it last!

Wednesday 5th June.  Clive caught a beautiful Mirror carp, which weighed in at 22lb 2oz

Sunday 2nd June.  Charlie caught very nice 8lb Common and a magnificent Ghost carp at 15lb, one of the few of this variety at Shillinglee.  Richard a stunning 12lb Mirror.

Friday 31 May.  Charlie landed a 4lb Common Carp and a 4lb Tench.

Thursday 30th May.  A day ticket fisherman caught an 8lb Tench, a beautiful specimen.

Tuesday 28th May.  Harry has not fished at Shillinglee for a while since he has been tied up with school work, but fished today and landed a fine selection of fish:  19lb 9oz Common,  18lb 6oz pale Common and a 12lb 6oz Mirror.  Well done Harry. 

The maintenance work on the paths around the lake is now complete.

Silverdale has been used several times over this weekend by families who want to enjoy a fun day of float fishing and a BBQ by the bank.  Exclusive use of Silverdale for the day can be secured for £60 which includes a BBQ stove and charcoal.  A 3lb Carp was caught this weekend by one of the youngsters fishing at Silverdale for the first time.

Please call Martin on 07774 269 838 or email wakefield@shillinglee.co.uk to book Silverdale. 

Wednesday 22nd May.  Works to the paths around the lake will be completed today including the widened swim on the south/western side of the lake.  None of the work should cause major disruption to fishermen on either side of the lake.  We hope you like the improvements made.

Monday 20th May.  Luke caught a 12lb Common. 

Sunday 19th May.  Ross caught a 6.5lb Tench and Steve caught a 6lb Tench.

Friday 17th May.  Charlie caught a 6.5lb Tench. 

Wednesday 15th May.  Mick landed another Mirror, 26lb 4oz.  Also Clive landed an 11lb Common.

Tuesday 14th May.  Mick landed a 25lb 8oz Mirror Carp.

Monday 13th May.  Matt caught a 20lb Mirror, and Paul caught 2 Perch, one 2lb and the other 2lb 2oz.

Sunday 12th May.  Richard caught a very nice 16lb 8oz Common.  Matt landed a 19lb Mirror.

Work on the pathways around the Main lake will be completed by tomorrow (8th May) and we hope you all find the improvements make access to the various swims easier.  Wheel chair access will now be possible to both sides of the lake throughout the year.

An analysis of the water quality in the Main Lake and run-down water from the surrounding country-side was carried out on 2nd April as part of a periodic analysis to check on various aspects water quality.

The results were excellent and are summarised below:

Main Lake

            Shillinglee                            UK Fishery Standards

Dissolved Oxygen (mg/litre)                           24.8                                                      >5

pH                                                                 7.8                                           >6 and <9

Turbidity (FTU)                                             22.0                                                     <25

Run-off water from surrounding fields

Ammoniacal Nitrogen as N (mg/litre)           <0.03                                                    <0.3

The data for dissovled oxygen is particularly pleasing which shows how well balanced the ecosystem is at Shillinglee in terms of fish and the amount of plants in the water producing oxygen through photosynthesis.

Saturday 11th May.  Steve had 2 Tench both about 4lb. 

Friday 10th May.  Alex had a good catch of 4 Tench.  6lb, 5.5lb, 4lb and 2lb. 

Saturday 4th May.  Sam stole the show over the weekend with a monster 35lb+  Mirror carp and 3 nice Tench,  his first visit of the year.  PJ landed a beautiful 27lb Common while Andy, a day ticket fisherman caught a stunning 2lb 1oz Perch.  What a weekend!

Friday 3rd May.  The fish have started to show a lot of interest as the temperatures have improved and evidence of this is a 22lb Mirror caught be Lee,  Keith with a 16lb Common and Tony, a day ticket with 3 nice Tench between 4-5lbs. 

Path maintenance is continuing on the Main lake and should be completed by Monday of next week, slightly earlier than anticipated. Work today on Wednesday 1st May will focus on the eastern side so it is recommended to fish on the western side today. We hope you like the new format of the new pathways which should make a major improvement in terms of access in wet weather.

Tuesday 30th April. Several nice Tench were caught by day-ticket fishermen, ranging from 4-6lbs

Saturday 27th April. Alex landed his first Tench of the year, one 6lb and the other 3lb, both fine specimens

No signs of spawning as yet but this is expected in the coming weeks.

Reminder that works on the pathways around the Main lake will be starting this week, but this will only effect certain sections of the lake at any one time, so hopefully any disruption will be at a minimum

The long awaited work to provide pathways around the lake will start next week (Monday 29th April) which will make access to all of the pegs much easier and will improve the appearance of the surroundings around the lake. The work will take approx 2 weeks to complete, so access to some of the swims may be limited during this time. However, it is hoped that the work will not effect the enjoyment of fisherman during the day.

Saturday 20th April. The first Ghost Carp for some time was caught by Angus, a fine 18lb specimen. Andrew's son caught a 2lb Rudd on his first outing on the lake.

Wednesday 17th April. Mick landed a nice combination of 10lb Mirror and a 6lb Tench, his first fish of the year. Nice one Mick.

Monday 15th April. A day ticket fisherman, Alan had only been fishing at Shillinglee for 15 minutes and landed a very nice 26lb Mirror carp, having planned to fish for Tench on this occasion. No complaints from him!

Friday 12th April. Andy caught a magnificent 30 lb + mirror carp, a beautiful specimen, which he last caught several years ago when it weighed around 28 lbs. Angus landed a stunning 20 lb 6 oz common carp, his first fish of the year. Well done guys.

We may be speaking prematurely, but temperatures do seem to be on the rise, so hopefully we will see some more activity around the lake this week.

8th April. The first Rudd of the season has been caught by Paul. He landed 2 Golden Rudd. One was 2lb 4oz and the other was 1lb 5oz. Well done Paul.

April. The Pike season has now drawn to a close after some beautiful fish have been caught over the winter period, from a wide range of anglers, both syndicate and day ticket.

Spawning will soon be upon us which will provide some exciting views across the main lake. Water levels are down from the highs of a few weeks ago so all pegs are currently in operation. A program of improving the pathways around the main lake will be starting soon which will make access much easier to each of the pegs from both entrances to the fishery. This is long overdue and will provide a solid surface of about 5 feet in width on specific areas where pathways are at present very boggy. One of the pegs on the western side of the lake (referred to as 'the point') will also be widened and raised to improve accessibility and appearance.

Saturday 30th March. Phil turned in another fine performance with two nice Tench, one 4 lb and the other 6 lbs, as the weather continues to be cold and windy, albeit dry at the moment.

18th March. Ray caught two lovely Pike. One was 12lb and the other 15lb. Alex has also landed an 18lb Pike.

Monday 25th February. A recent article in Angler's Mail (page 22,29th January 2013) discusses the problems of Pike deep-hooking and the arguments for two trebles, which takes away the temptation for delayed strikes. Our recent rule changes (from January 2013) on Pike fishing are based on the arguments discussed in this article, which have been discussed at length with our syndicate and day ticket fishermen before going into print. Thanks for all your excellent feedback on this important issue.

The conditions are still windy and cold but a good number of intrepid fishermen have visited the main lake over the last few days. All pegs are in operation, despite high water flows from the local springs and smaller ponds.

16th February. Alex caught an 18lb 2oz Pike and Lee caught a very nice 12lb 8oz Mirror Carp. well done.

14th February. Theo landed a lovely 17lb 14oz Pike.

11th February.  Some more rain but no sign of snow as yet.  Water flows from the smaller ponds into the Main Lake are high, as levels on the Main Lake, although all pegs are in operation.

9th February.  Success for Pike fishermen continued with Theo landing a very nice 18lb specimen a PB for him.  Well done Theo. 

4th February. Ray caught a 14lb 4oz Pike while Toby landed a 13lb 8oz Pike, along with 5 Jacks. 

1st February.  The colder weather has now left us behind and the lake has been thawed out for a few days now. 

Andy has caught the first Carp of 2013.  A stunning 16lb Mirror Carp.

28th January.  Due to the mild weekend the Main Lake is not frozen anymore.

22nd January.  The lake still remains frozen, although we have had no further snow in the last 24hrs. 

18th January. The lake continues to be frozen and snow is falling heavily in the Shillinglee area. 

Updated rules for the fishery have now been published on the website and on notices at the entrances to the fishery.  These refer to pike fishing where two micro barbed trebles are now allowed (all lures acceptable),  a minimum of 15lbs main line and the closed season for pike fishing will now be from the 1st  April to the 30th September.  All changes will take effect from January 2013. 

17th January.  Due to the cold weather the lake is frozen today.

End 2012/early 2013.  It has now been a year since the Wakefield family took over the ownership and running of Shillinglee.  It has been a very interesting year and we have enjoyed getting to know all the syndicate members and day ticket fishermen (women).  We look forward to 2013 and wish you all a happy and healthy new year and look forward to seeing you all back at Shillinglee in the near future. 

Many thanks to Andy and Phil for their excellent work as bailiffs during 2012.