horseshoe lake - watermark - cirencester (please help)

[krusty123]

I am thinking of going there on saturday/sunday for the day. . I am still not very confident with what kit i have etc but i do have all the bait runners and other bits and pieces you obviously need....

 

What i want to know is if i will be comfortable to fish there, and is it a good idea to go there??

 

thanks to any1 that helps

 

tight lines

[bluebirdjones]

This lake is actually Little Horseshoe, Horseshoe Lake is a different lake owned by The Carp Society.

 

If you're still not confident it may not be the best choice of venue.

 

http://www.watermarkfisheries.com/Carp/lhs.html

 

Little Horseshoe

 

"A Little Bit of Magic" - A guide to fishing Little Horseshoe by Keith Sykes

Anglers Factfile

- 4.5 acres

- 450+ Fish to mid 30's

- CCTV on car-park

- Ladies & Gents Showers & Loos

Heated "Anglers Rest" - microwave - fridge - free tea coffee - photo gallery

 

 

Welcome to Little Horseshoe Lake. This mature four-acre gravel pit is very intimate in every sense of the word, and if you treat the residents both aquatic and terrestrial with deserved respect you will enjoy some wonderful moments and some incredible experiences.

There is a plethora of animal and bird life around the lake, and you will hear the constant calls of green wood peckers, mimicking what at first appears to be the sound of gulls. The banks are planted with native vegetation, and you will easily find yourself lost from the angler next door!

 

A Few Edges

There are a few little tips and wrinkles we would like to pass on that could make the difference to your angling experience, and we will say now this is not a lesson in teaching grandma how to suck eggs, but rather the feedback from the specialists who regularly fish the lake for the carp it contains.

The biggest mistake most anglers make is to assume that because the lake holds some four hundred carp that they love lots of bait on their heads, quite the opposite is true, they hate having spods raining down on them, and it is a kiss of death, and we cannot stress this one point enough!

Little and often: small PVA bags with dry stick mix or a marine type groundbait with the addition of a few chopped boilies is all you need to do the job. If you want to put some freebies in then literally half a dozen or so around the hooker.

Rigs: keep it simple on the silt and bars coated hooklinks and or the stiff Hinged Rig with boilies, balanced baits or pop-ups works a treat. In the gaps between the weed or below the tree-line the Chod Rig has done exceptionally well there this season, but do make sure you use a very buoyant hooker. Fish slack lines all the time, as slack as you can get away, tight lines seem to be another no-no, and the carp will “do your rig” quickly when approaching the water this way.

Another little edge is to fish over the weedbeds and get the rig as close as you can to the inside edge of the weed, this is where the small PVA rig comes into its own here. If the weather is warm don’t overlook the margins, they are regularly visited by the fish and with care are very catchable. Small pellets, half a handful of tigers or maggot and castor are all excellent for margin work.

In the summer months surface fishing for the carp can be very productive, but also quite frustrating, but certainly always worth a try! Maggots also work well in the PVA bag and do produce a lot of bites in the winter months fished on slightly lighter tackle and smaller hooks balanced out.

 

Features

The underwater topography of the lake is very variable, and you can find shallows that drop into very deep water, sensible plumbing assists. Much of the aquatic vegetation is visible with the use of Polaroid’s, and you will soon see the routes taken by the patrolling carp.

 

Keith Sykes

[insideoutland]

i fished there for the day a few weeks ago, while down there on holiday.

is a lovely water with some of the best carp around ... it can be a hard water but why not have a go!!

keep it simple small amount of bait, try somthink diff like mags worms hemp, and you may just pick somthink up...

i fished the first few pegs in the shallows there is a lot of weed but found that between 10 /15 yards the was a silt bed that run along the swims for about 30 yards..

good luck it worth the trip just to be there

[getnoshedup]

Was looking in to doing a session here in a few weeks time. (Little horseshoe)

 

Any one got any tips? ie hot swims, bait, etc.

 

Would you say this is easier than the regular horseshoe? Ive seen horseshoe on a few on korda dvd's. Looks massive! What kind of distance should you be able to cast? Am i outta look? i dont think i could top 60 yards at the moment..

 

Also, ive only got two rods and a spod/marker rod. Would you bother fishing it? As i could imagine a majority of people who fish it with 3 rods. Also on the pricing page, there is no 2 rod option only 3. Or am i talking nonsense

 

Cheers.

[cal35]

dont know if this is still any use to anyone-

but little horseshoe is a lovely lake- still day dream about my time on there!

 

try maize in the top right hand corner towards the snags on the left- plenty of fish in there!

 

just be careful about the weed and make sure you are dumping the lead and using safe rigs.

 

as for other hot swims- swim 1 (the first one on the left) has a lovely little overhang there- had 6 takes in a night i think!

 

and getnoshedup- you dont need to be able to cast more than 60 yards to catch fish or be able to use 3 rods to stand any chance of catching!

 

little horseshoe is a lovely intimate venue- you should be spenfing more time with just a stalking rod in hand than sat behind motionless buzzers!