Building a venue

[Oneabung]

Anybody on here got experience of building a venue?

I am buying a piece of land with a small pond with a spring in it and permission to construct a snake lake.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Also I would like to know what you guys would do if you were in the same position... I dont want to just have a series of holes in the ground - I know this is the best way to make money but I want something with a bit of character... how wide would you dig it and how deep etc

[ridgeacre]

Dont think you could go wrong following what Neil as done at Heronbrook with his snake type pools.

[royst]

I dont know if this is possible but what about flowing water ......like in a river ....and then you could put proper fish like chub and dace and barbel in it and we could fish with them rod thingys and stickfloats, just like the good old days. Probably not very practical, and expensive to run a pump all the time.

[woody1]

Holes in the ground are popping up everywhere, some are very successful whilst others almost inevitably fall foul too some kind of polution, sickness or fishkill. I would suggest once you,ve examined the pros and cons and viability and dug your watercouse, leave it for at least 2 years to establish itself before you begin a stocking progam. there is no reason why prior to this you cant establish a small stock pond with limited stocks so that you may carry out local health checks via the E.A,. It is a big undertaking and there,s a mountian of things that you,re going to have to examine and investigate and i,m sure the E.A will gladly give you free advice initially. Try sending Dr Bruno Broughton an email, I think he,s at Rodbaston college.

[billy whizz]

If its for match fishing make sure it is a max of 11 - 13 metres not 16 as the majority do not have 16 m poles and those that do have super taper / power number 4's and have already removed the number 1's so they only have about 14 anyway. How about varying the channel instead of a straight line giving some pegs more shallows either near or far bank. Probably best to think why you do not like snake lakes and do the opposite.

Thick beds of reeds - Aaarrgghh have to fish within a inch to get a bite
Wider than Average pole - Aaarrgghh someone will chuck a feeder
Multiple Islands - Aaaarrgghh you need to draw the end of one
Bridges - Aaaarggghh some tw%t will walk over it during the match

[Oneabung]

Good advice Billy...

Royst.... I would have bought a river if I was going to do that - its just tooooo expensive to get it to flow properly!

Any more ideas chaps??

[Liquidized]

Hi Simon

If you need any advice on any aspect of building and running a fishery then Neil Dale at Heronbrook is always willing to help

[Dotteddown]

If i was digging out a lake i would make sure you have a good depth in the margins TIGHT to the bank, (min 2ft) as you will catch really well here and the fish will settle easier and obviously spook less.Bolingey is one example as is Lands end.
Also under water features are a must like bars, holes,shelves ect as fish love these and are feeding spots!

Personally i wouldnt make it more than six feet deep as this is comfotable,and a nice depth for shallow fishing ect.
Also look at the compass and think about wind direction as this could pay a major part in how well the lake fishes and obviously how comfortable it will be to fish and present baits.Who likes sitting in a north easterly with the wind sock in your face blowing the float directly under your pole!!!Not me!!

Make sure you dont stack the spoil too close to the lake as this will make shipping the pole in impossible at a uncomfortable angle,loads of fisheries make this mistake.
Comfortable pegging is vital, nice big platforms clearly marked with space between makes a big difference than squeezing pegs tight together.
Spring fed lakes fish harder round here due to water temp and usually take longer to respond after winter than non spring fed lakes, remember this when you stock it.
Talk to your local anglers and see what they would like as these will be your bread and butter..
Anyway i think i have waffled on enough for now,it really is a minefield mate wish you all the best with it...

[Clive]

If its for match fishing then make sure you dig it deeper around platforms to protect fish in keepnets in the summer
and make sure the whole lake is the same depth or you will end up with crap pegs at certain times of year

[polepot]

Toilets and a cafe

[Dave]

id love to have my own fishery id love to break into fishery management

[Clive]

id love to have my own fishery id love to break into fishery management

Thats the sort of constructive info any new venue builder would kill for Dave

[woodhouse]

Fill it with as many carp as you can, most anglers dont want to catch anything else.

Dont put any other types of fish in there to pester anglers.

[markco]

Hi Simon,
we have just finished our club pond its an oval shape with 23 pegs all well spaced out and plenty of room to ship poles back etc. It was started in Sept 04 and we modelled the place on Meadow pool at Heronbrook its widest part is only about 11mts so its comfortable fishing for all the lads (we have some oaps ) and they can fish the far side no problem.
The main track is within a 6 inches all the way round and there doesn't seem to be any flyer pegs as yet.
We have taken advice from the EA and have made it into a mixed coarse fishery and even though we still have to add more fish we are really glad that we didn't turn it into a carp puddle.We were advised to plant the water heavily with Sedges,Bulrush and iris etc and we have planted over 500 and this has made the water look at lot more mature even in 12 months. We even had the Roach and Rudd spawn twice this year
The matches have been fair all winter with between 4-6 lbs winning and the back up weights all close and only 2 carp have been caught in about 3 months although we dont have hundreds in the place they have switched off the funny thing is we have still been catching tench quite regularly all winter .
I would say that we have had to put in an awful lot of work to get it to its current state and it is a credit to the lads in the club for this, but what a feeling it is to sit there looking at what you have created it really does make you proud.

[Oneabung]

Thanks Markco - sounds brilliant .. thats exactly what I am looking to achieve and know its going to be alot of hard work and yes cant wait for that feeling to say "we built this"

How much land did you use and what did it cost you to get it dug out?