On Sunday 22nd January, The Dorset Arms angling club will be fishing at the Sportsground, so would all members be aware that there maybe limited fishing spots available on the day.
Category Archives: News
OPEN DAY – New Lagoon – Saturday 3rd June 2017
The Society will be holding an Open Day on the New Lagoon on Saturday 3rd June this year. We shall be producing some flyers which will be posted around the Country Park and given to local clubs and schools as well as being advertised in the local press. There will be an observation tank on site for viewing some of the different species found in our waters. There will be a barbecue with seating and shelter from any possible rain, guidance towards fishing with have a go fishing available with all fishing equipment supplied. Goody bags & prizes for various activities on the day and a raffle. I’m sure there will be other things going on during the day and all info will be posted on here and in the local press.
NEW LAGOON opening day’s fishing – Saturday 1st April
The Society are pleased to announce that the date for the first day’s fishing on the New Lagoon will be Saturday April 1st (no joke). Because there are limited swims on the New Lagoon and it is anticipated that there will be a good number of members interested in fishing the first day, it was agreed that the fairest way of deciding who fishes on the 1st weekend, would be to draw tickets from a hat. Any interested members can contact Austin on either 07974488040 or at abattell@hotmail.co.uk. Names will be drawn and successful members contacted nearer the time and will need to pay £5 on the day. All proceeds will go towards our official Open Day on the New Lagoon which will be held on Saturday 3rd June (details to follow). After the first day’s fishing, any member will be able to fish the New Lagoon by booking via Norman the bailiff on a new number which will be available nearer the time. The reason behind this, is to prevent too many members arriving and some being disappointed after a long walk from the car park. Rules will also be published on here and on new signage due to be installed at the New Lagoon.
NEW YEARS MATCH – Sportsground – 18 fished
Last Sunday was again a very challenging day with bites hard to come by on most of the Sportsground. The most productive area seemed to be from the boatyard up to the allotment on the back of Barden Road. Tony Crossley drew the Golden Peg and with the way he has been fishing this season, he was deemed to have a very good chance of taking the pot. Unfortunately for Tony, it wasn’t to be and Sid Lancley to the honours for 1st place with 3lb 15oz, second place went to Ray Allen with 3lb 7oz and third spot went to tactic changing Match Captain, Martyn Hill who weighed in 2lb 4oz. It was predominantly Roach which made up the weights with the odd small skimmer but Lee Wakeman was fortunate enough to take fish of the day with a 1lb 12oz Chub. Ken Watson had the best Roach which went 11oz. A good turnout considering the conditions and all weights will go towards the overall Match Championship.
A BLAST FROM THE PAST
NEW SWIMS ON THE NEW LAGOON
Ted, our head bailiff, has been busy preparing the new swims on the New Lagoon. Leading up to Christmas, Ted managed to get 4 swims done and will continue with the rest after the New Year. At this month’s Committee meeting, a date will be set for the opening day’s fishing on the New Lagoon and we are aiming for the beginning of April. It is likely that the Society will run some kind of draw, maybe a raffle, for places on the opening day as there are limited swims and it’s probably the fairest way of doing it. Watch this space and notices on our Facebook page and signs at the Ballast Pit. Notices will appear in respect of how the Society will run the New Lagoon.
WEIRWOOD RESEVOIR


The Society is pleased to announce that our fishing rights on Weirwood Resevoir will continue on a rolling yearly agreement from each December. The fishing on Weirwood was very good over the festive break and it was nice to be informed by Brendan the Manager that a lot of our members used the fishery and caught some nice fish. There were a number of Pike to upper double figures caught from the boats and the South Bank along the wall. Perch are showing also with fish to well over 2lb and one specimen of 48cm was caught by one of the regular visitors. I had one visit on New Year’s Eve with Jason Craven out on a boat and although it was tough drifting with very little breeze and thick fog, I did manage to catch a couple of nice specimen fish, a Pike of 15lb 6oz and a Perch of 2lb 9oz. I also lost another Perch at the net around the same size. The Perch fishing can be fantastic from February through to May, with a chance of a fish of a lifetime.
Large Pike from Barden Lake
NEW LAGOON – Stock delivery from Coursefish UK
Early last week, the Society received it’s latest batch of stock from Coursefish UK – we had 372lb of Quality Roach with lots of fish weighing 1lb and several going 1lb 8oz. There were also some Rudd to the same size and a few big Perch. We also received 190 small stunning Carp which hopefully, one day, will become the new stock for the Ballast Pit and Barden Lake. We still have 4 Large (20lbish) Redmire Commons to be delivered soon for Barden and the possibility of some very large Tench for the Ballast Pit and New Lagoon.
All the fish were in excellent condition and all went off strong into the lake.
BALLAS PIT – New maintenance entrance
A small work party consisting of Larry Howard, his son Olly, Ted Bryan and Austin Battell completed the drainage and maintenance entrance to the Old Ballast Pit last week. Two solid days of graft and plenty of coffee got the job done. The new 18” diameter pipe was placed in the existing ditch just inside the gate, it was then backfilled and tracked in and the old bridge that was being used was removed. We also installed a new 3.3m wide field gate for access for maintenance machinery, fish delivery and, if needed, emergency services access. This has really smartened up the entrance to the Pit and should make access with barrows and trollies a lot easier. This area will be seeded where needed and some type one will be tracked in at a later date so that the ground will stay firm. We have also installed the new red marker post which designates the start of the long stay fishing swims towards the bottom end of the lake. We also added some extra barbed wire at the bottom end boundary of the New Lagoon area which should help to stop people entering through that fence line.