brooklands lake dartford

[jimwade]

just got back from Dartford the fishery as come on leaps and bounds, all the swims are good with features abound. i believe there are some very big carp in here and it also has three large grass carp, good fishing if you can find the fish. cost 20 pound for three rods on the bank for 24 hours, good access and car park, there is also a good burger van in the car park serving hot food and drinks.

[armobeast]

Did you have much luck there ? im fishing there next week was gonna fish hawkhurst but too expensive !!!!

 

Did you have any trouble with pikeys there ? heard they can cause a bit of bother down there !!!!

[jimwade]

no trouble at all, i didn't see a sole all night everybody was to busy trying to catch carp, the people fishing were all very professional there is 24 hour bailiff on site. the British carp championships were held here last week and i was sat in the home base swim, i didn't catch but i have in the past there's carp to mid thirties lots of doubles. its very clean no litter a well managed if not busy carp water in fact i enjoyed it so much i have put my name down on the waiting list for a season ticket and at 40 pounds for the year is outstanding value... its not any easy water though and you really need to find the fish, a good tip on this water is they really like to follow the wind and with a lot of lake to cover i would travel light and only set up once they have been found.

[armobeast]

just got back from brooklands got a new pb 27 and a half absolutely chuffed only problem was the lake just died after the one fish

[jimwade]

you did well Dartford is not an easy water. did the wind change it was forecast to. if so that would be a good reason for the fish to move and your spot to dry up.

[armobeast]

now you mention it the wind did change yeah ! would you say follow the wind is a good tactic then ? im back there again on the weekend

[jimwade]

Dartford lake is a fairly shallow lake with an average depth of 8 ft rising to 3 feet on many off the bars. The bottom is black silty chod and dark gravel humps. Find the edges of the gravel and fish into the silt. However some of these areas of silt are a bit snaggy and can tangle your rigs. i have found that if you fish into the wind on this lake and your bait placement is just off of the bars you can generally score. in very warm weather fish can be seen in the A2 pads swim(which normally has the bailiff in it) another good swim is the home base snag swim(but only in the evenings) this is also a good holding spot.. during the day many of the fish hold into the margins around the island. the is also a superb spot under a tree that holds a lot of carp every morning right opposite the homebase swim. i could probably describe the tree but it would be easier for you to locate the two herons that live there as they fish under the tree a lot. i was curious one day while fishing, every morning about 5 am these herons would paddle up and down along the edge of the tree waiting for something to happen i only realised later that they were waiting for the carp to move on before creeping under it to find small fry after the carp had left. there is also a good bar that holds a lot of carp called goose point. its under water most of the time and also in the homebase bay. in serve drought it can be seen sticking out the water. it is about 8ft in diameter It sits about 2 ft under the water most times and is about 40 yards straight out in the 2nd swim in the homebase car park. the swim dose not look much and with an over hanging tree to your left makes bait placement awkward for three rods however the point is the place to be when its hot with very little wind or surface drift. I hope you have a good one cheers jim

[armobeast]

I had my fish from the margins near the industrial estate as i found a gravel bar here so have done a little pre baiting on a couple of spots this week hoping this will hold the fish in the swim .

 

All your info is much appreciated mate hopefully it will help me net my first uk 30 chris