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Arezue Wright- Parklife
Clear your preconceptions of the grim tales of local authority-owned lakes that are furnished with once loved, shopping trolleys and dog poop in every peg. These hell hole waters ruled by the lawless gangs threatening to help themselves to your pricey collection of tackle are few and far between. If you do your research and invest a little time into looking at what local waters you have access to you’ll soon see that in most cases they are just urban myths circulated by the few amongst the many in the hope of preserving or keeping the crowds away from the hidden gems that swim within their waters.
Public access will never be without its problems and whilst we may on occasion have to share our chosen venue with other water users, such as the canoe clubs or dog walkers, tolerance is usually the key. More often than not, if we learn to embrace these public waters, you will find that extra eyes and ears on the water not only deter poachers, therefore, securing stocks, but can also help to promote angling awareness and help to keep the venues safe for future generations of anglers.
I bet that the old gent you can set your watch to walk by the banks every morning with his little dog, or the avid athletes who pound the parkland highways every evening can more often than not become your allies and a valuable source of intelligence when it comes to fish spotting, or witnessing recent captures. Even the local canoeist or sailing regatta can offer vital information whilst afloat, helping locate those hidden features, sandbars and Carp sanctuaries which may take us just a little more time to find on our own.
Stocking levels of fish can fluctuate from venue to venue and whilst some fisheries are left in the hands of the local authority where stocks are minimal, some which fall in and out of club ownership can be subject to better stocking policies. It is these hidden gems that make reasoning for fishing at the forgotten public access waters which can throw up that unknown or lost special fish that’s been lurking in the depths just waiting to be caught!
With this encouragement, I have some tips for when fishing public access and park lakes.
Firstly, public access lakes mean the entrance to these waters is in most cases free from obstruction and so a great advantage for you to walk the banks gathering as much information about the water prior to casting a line.
Next, check the social media platform of the public lakes or park lakes you have in mind of visiting. Most lake owners are on the social media train and so using this tool to gather as much information as you can about your chosen water saves you wasting time and effort turning up to a free lake that is more than disappointing.
In addition, park wardens and bailiffs can be a valuable source of information so feel free to step into their office, if you don’t ask you’ll never know. Most will welcome interest as after all, anglers only have the interest of the lake and its finned residents in our hearts.
As briefly mentioned before, rather than oppose other water users, try to embrace them as in most cases they can have their advantages when it comes to mapping out swims and feature finding.
Also, make sure to check whether pre-baiting is allowed as some waters may forbid it. If permitted this tactic can be deadly and again regular access, walking the banks and baiting will soon see you priming those secret spots and ultimately help you put more fish on the bank.
Finally, my last piece of advice is that waterfowl, feeding the ducks and public lakes go hand in hand as many elderly park visitors would have introduced a regular source of bread when feeding the ducks. I bet that if you observe where ducks are being fed that the carp won’t be too far away!
It just takes some open-mindedness and a few steps for you to be landing a park lake whacker, which has come as a result of intensive research campaign combined with accurate feature finding and pinpoint baiting strategies.