Carp Fishing at Holly Pools
The 2 sticks in the water give an idea where the water level part of the swim will be constructed.
For the last 2 months I have been wielding a chainsaw in the woods around the lake here at Holly Pools.  The result is 13 trees removed from around, and in some cases IN, the lake. These trees had either fallen in the lake, were in danger of doing so, or were storm damaged. No nice trees were harmed in the making of this post!
Having cleared a large section of bank that previously held a stalking swim (just room to flick a margin rod into a tree shaded area the carp liked to hole up in away from the action), it seemed like a good idea to improve the “fishability” of the lake.
Discussions with David and Martin at Angling Lines, as well as with friends who have owned and run French carp lakes for many years, resulted in the following plan;
  • turn the cleared bank where the stalking swim used to be into a really nice water-level pitch with room on the bank for a bivvy
  • make a new stalking swim towards the shallow end of the lake
It will then be possible to cast to the whole lake, with just a few areas under trees perhaps needing a bait-boat. This also has the effect that 2 anglers can fish with no possibility of interfering with each other, and with some care (and perhaps winding in lines during a run) 3 anglers on the lake.
If we feel the fish are missing the shelter of a no-pressure area, we can add a buoyed off area in front of the stalking swim (which will then become a really frustrating “large carp viewing platform”!).
For those of you who think Carp Fishery owners spend the winter in bed or the Caribbean – here is where 2 months work has got us so far. More pictures to follow of the swims being completed.
Nik and Holly
Carp Fishing at Holly Pools