Return to Temple
This 200-year-old tree-lined Victorian estate lake surrounded by irises and lilies covers 12 acres and has 75 pegs. Old Bury Hill, or the ‘Old Lake’ as it is known, holds a fantastic head of specimen carp, with several 30s and plenty of doubles and 20s, and is also noted for huge catches of specimen tench and bream, and outstanding winter predator sport with numerous double-figure zander and pike.
Fishing is available from both bank and boat, the lake’s purpose-built punts giving access to the famous ‘Jungle’ area, which is noted for its huge catches of specimen tench.
Probably the oldest, prettiest and arguably most prolific commercial fishery you will have the pleasure of wetting a line in, Old Bury Hill is a tree-lined and lily-fringed 12-acre estate lake bursting with fish. Maintained as a traditional, mixed coarse fishery, the Old Lake boasts a huge head of quality carp, tench and bream, along with an abundance of roach, rudd, perch, crucian carp, chub, pike and zander, providing all-year-round fishing.
Among the specimens are carp of over 30 lb, bream of over 10 lb, tench of 9 lb, zander to 16 lb, crucian carp to 4 lb 8 oz (caught in summer 2016) with perch, roach and rudd.
The tactics adopted range from hair-rigged boilies by carp anglers to pole or feeder by match anglers, and waggler by pleasure anglers. The fishing is relatively straightforward and huge catches are a regular feature on this large, prolific lake, especially in spring and summer. A five-hour match catch of 168 lb was recorded in 2017 from the Long Bank, and John Houseman and Chris Tulley once shared a 500 lb haul from a boat, which included tench and bream to over 8 lb.
Individual hauls of 100 bream in a pleasure session have been recorded, of fish averaging 4 lb apiece, and the bream are remarkably resistant to cold weather, providing match anglers with good bags of fish even when they have had to break a hole in the ice to fish their peg.
The water recirculation regime on the Old Lake ensures plenty of bites, because the constant ‘flow’ keeps the fish moving and feeding. The deeper water off the front bank is a great place for big bags of winter ‘slabs’, with chopped worm and casters in feeders a good tactic, though ‘tea-bags’ of pellets in small PVA mesh parcels is also popular with match and pleasure anglers.
All 75 swims have large, wooden platforms, ensuring comfort and enough room for seatboxes, bait-waiters or rod pods and shelters, with plenty of room between pegs. Multiple catches of double-figure and 20 lb carp with the chance of a 30-pounder is what capable carp anglers can expect from Old Bury Hill. It’s a big carp action paradise. A tremendous stock of mirrors, commons, leathers and linears and even a brightly coloured koi provide plenty of variety. Mornings and evenings are incredibly productive times, and even short trips can bring multiple hauls on boilies.
In winter, predators provides access to arguably the finest day ticket specimen zander fishing on offer, with numbers of double-figure fish reported each winter. In the right conditions the action is fast and furious from bank and boat. And with pike also present, there is variety in the predator fishing, too. The pike and zander season opens on October 1 each year and continues until March 14. Lures can be used, as well as deadbaits (small chunks of fish seem to work very well for the zander), but there is a barbless single-hooks-only rule at Bury Hill, for the protection of the fish and for easier unhooking, so leave your trebles at home.
Ever fished from a boat?
The popular Old Lake punts take up to three anglers with all their tackle in comfort for a relaxing day of exploring the lake’s nooks and crannies. The Jungle is where many boat anglers head, as this area is inaccessible from the bank, and is renowned for its big bags of tench, particularly in spring and early summer, when a dozen tench along with bream and carp is possible.
The Jungle is also the place where you will find the Old Lake’s specimen crucians, which are known to approach the British record. When winter arrives, it is the pike and zander that take over the mass of roots making up the Jungle.
To book your boat or for more information, please call us on 01306 883621 or email us info@buryhill.com
Fighting fit fish in fast flowing water…
A unique feature of Old Bury Hill is one of the most advanced aeration systems ever built at a commercial coarse fishery. Increased oxygenation and water flow means healthy, hard-fighting fish and happy anglers. Even through prolonged periods of hot weather, Bury Hill’s aeration system prevents oxygen levels dropping, and fish becoming lethargic and refusing to feed. Since its installation in 1997, two huge corkscrew water pumps have shifted up to seven million gallons of water a day through the fishery. But you won’t find unsightly fountains that spoil the atmosphere. Instead, the water is silently removed and then returned through three inlets along the Island Bank, each one flowing with rejuvenated water.
As well as being a feature that attracts huge numbers of bream, roach and carp, making for excellent fishing, these flowing inlets also prevent the lake completely freezing during cold spells, meaning Bury Hill is a truly all-year-round fishery.
Carp Safety
Bury Hill prides itself on beautiful carp in the best condition, to ensure that you catch the fish of your dreams. We enforce rules strictly to protect our stock from tackle dangers and poor handling. You will only be allowed to fish for carp if you adhere to the following rules:
• You must own a large, padded unhooking mat which must be wetted and used at all times that a carp is out of the water;
• Barbless hooks only;
• Carp must never be carried in the hands, only in a weigh sling or a zipped-up sling-style unhooking mat;
• No sacking of carp;
• Landing nets must be a minimum of 36 inches on the Old Lake when targeting carp
• Landing nets must be dipped before you enter the fishery to guard against disease transmission;
• No permanently fixed leads. Bailiffs will check your rigs;
• No particle baits with the exception of sweetcorn and hemp.
You will be asked to leave the fishery without refund and/or your membership will be revoked if you break these rules.
Over the coming months, we will be developing a series of ‘CATCH MORE… Fact Sheets’ aimed at helping you increase your catches at Bury Hill!
Download a copy of the latest Bury Hill Fisheries 2017 Brochure.
