Tactics for big park lake

[MRVIIX]

Hi I've just joined a big park lake I've only ever fished small lakes in the past and in abit intimidated please could someone give me some tips on tactics for this big lake

 

[framey]

Find em

feed em 

catch ‘em 

you just need to break a larger lake down into smaller lakes 

find the best view of as much of the lake as possible in each area 

follow the winds.

just visit as much as you can and walk don’t even take the gear if it’s not too pressured

[MRVIIX]

Thank you for the information mate 👍 

[yonny]

9 hours ago, MRVIIX said:

Hi I've just joined a big park lake

How big?

Frameys' advice is spot on. On big waters I tend to find they're much easier to catch than on on small waters. The hard bit is finding them.

[salokcinnodrog]

11 hours ago, MRVIIX said:

Hi I've just joined a big park lake I've only ever fished small lakes in the past and in abit intimidated please could someone give me some tips on tactics for this big lake

 

Walk and look as much as possible, often leaving the gear in the car or at home.

I used to fish a 400acre plus reservoir; 4 or 5 days a week I would walk a section (as  @framey says breaking it down) or all the way around, then fish my 2 days off. The walking often gave me an idea where they were, weather and wind dependent, or I  expected them to turn up.

Wind may have more effect on big open waters than tree surrounded lakes.

A big westerly based wind used to push them up to the North Eastern end, whereas a northerly I would be looking into sheltered bays.

Don't forget your binoculars and polarised sunglasses, and even on big waters, the margins or close in can produce.

 

[Jone5y]

My advice for anybody fishing big public lakes (or big lakes in general) is to buy a bike that you do not mind being stolen. Leave it at the lake.

[welder]

I too tend to find larger venues a  bit intimidating, it's like fishing an ocean! I agree with all that Framey says, particularly the part about breaking a large lake into a series of smaller ones, psychologically.

I try to remember to never overlook the margin, it's the one feature that every water has and is frequently ignored.

I remember being told that three things will find fish. Observation, observation and observation.

Ian.

[emmcee]

When I first fished a big pit I set my stall out and fished at 40yds or less for 90% of my fishing, especially when seeing most anglers casting as far as they could. I also concentrated on the bays on this particular lake as the fishing was comfortable for me and more into my style. Im not someone who likes to fish as far they can so I only ever launched baits to the horizon if that's where the fish were. 

Don't get sucked into what you see everyone else doing. 

And the obvious one is location, location, location.  Also Write down where you see them , the wind direction,  weather, the atmospheric pressure (in my opinion  and my findings were these factors play a bigger part on larger pits than smaller ones)all these will help you get  a picture of the fish are up to. 

[kevtaylor]

5 hours ago, emmcee said:

Don't get sucked into what you see everyone else doing. 

Great advice that 👆 do your own thing 

[salokcinnodrog]

7 hours ago, emmcee said:

When I first fished a big pit I set my stall out and fished at 40yds or less for 90% of my fishing, especially when seeing most anglers casting as far as they could.

All of my fish at Ardleigh Reservoir were caught at around 40-50metres maximum. One was caught at about 20metres when I saw fish moving around an inlet so cast a bait where I saw them.

Even on Alton I don't think I cast more than 70metres.