Woodland Waters
Ancaster near Grantham, Lincolnshire. Tel: 01400 230888

I thought Christmas had come early this Easter Bank Holiday, when I managed to book a week’s holiday at Woodland Waters in Lincolnshire. Can you imagine my excitement - knowing I would be staying at one of the nicest fisheries in the area and all I had on the agenda - was to go fishing! Now that is a delightful thought. As ever, preparation is the key to success, so I visited their website www.woodlandwaters.co.uk to see if I could gleam some information... what sort of fish, how big, how many lakes - all the usual questions you ask yourself before visiting a new water.

I opted to take a pole, a float rod, a leger rod, a couple of spares (just in case), a couple of reels, the carry-all, the seatbox, in fact - almost all of my gear, you just never know do you? I did leave the heavy carp gear behind - mainly because I hadn’t got room in the car - having to leave space for the wife and dog and a change of clothes... it’s a hard life.
The fishery is set in delightful surroundings in the rural heart of Lincolnshire, there’s five lakes: Specimen, Match, Birch Lake, Small Carp and Roach Pool, so lots of water to aim at.

I’d booked into one of the lake-front lodges and I can honestly say, it was absolutely fabulous. Top-of-the-range with everything you need for a family holiday. The lodge I stayed in was called Shelduck and was situated on the edge of the match lake. There’s nothing like waking up in a morning, opening the patio doors and checking out your favourite swim. That is if you can see it for the snow. I haven’t mentioned the snow have I? Yep, it snowed like there was no tomorrow, not your normal small flakes, but big, feather-sized flakes that soon covered everything, just what you need when you’re on holiday.

Was I down-hearted? Of course I was, a weeks fishing and a blizzard just don’t go together! But the lodge was snug and warm, the TV had free-view and I’d got a few fishing books that needed reading, so not a bad alternative. Did I mention the on-site bar and restaurant?

Quickly moving on, the weather eventually cleared and I was out there with a light float rod, a small dibber and a single maggot on a 20. Every chuck resulted in a lively, red finned rudd, nothing big, but the activity keeps you warm. Then a marauding carp came along and gave me the run-around until I managed to coax it safely into the net. It only weighed a couple of pounds, but it was long and lean, just like a ‘wildie’ and had obviously been in training. Lovely stuff.

I managed a couple more carp before the white stuff returned and wiped out the fishing for that day.



Towards mid-week the weather cleared a little and I managed a session on Birch Lake, it’s quite shallow - so when you hook into a carp it just runs and runs. Even with my inaptitude I managed to land over 30lb of carp, tench and rudd.
The set-up was quite simple, Champion Baits hooker pellet on a 14 Kamasan with 3lb hook-length to 5lb mainline and a small dibber, feeding half a dozen free offerings every put-in. Not rocket science is it? But extremely effective!
So if you are looking for a holiday, camping, caravan or lodge - with great fishing - Woodlands Waters ticks all the boxes. If you’re out that way on a fishing trip - and there’s lots of waters in Lincolnshire, drop in for a recci, I think you’ll be impressed.

Good fishing to you all
Kevin Miles