FOUR SEASONS FISHERIES, BLACKPOOL

[dugyfresh]

We 3 in party booked onto Four Seasons fishery Blackpool for 48hrs. On Mill lake on the 22nd July 09.

 

The Mill lake was supposed to be a "runs water" with a head of 250 as advertised, so we at least expected to catch a couple of carp each, nothing further from the truth, we all blanked!

 

We tried every rig and bait going including their own bait not even a touch. We only saw 3 fish being pulled out whilst we where there, I counted at least 20 rods in the water at that time. Some anglers had been there for over 3 days and blanked, this was before the pellet saga.

 

There are far too many pegs for such a small lake, this gave rise to other anglers casting into your swim this became very frustrating and annoying and very ignorant on the part of some inconsiderate anglers.

 

A large amount of carp pellets was thrown in the lake at four strategic points for the purpose of school age anglers and a visit by Sky TV this killed the fishing right off for other anglers on the opposite bank.

 

The pegs are large but drainage is poor, recommend 12inch pegs for your bivvy if you still fancy fishing this place after reading this.

 

After 24hrs we packed up and left, we have never ever done this in all the time we have been carp fishing. Total waste of £40.00

 

Sorry Four Seasons Fisheries but you may well have a well turned out fishery with all the amenities but there are far too many pegs on both lakes, this is not just our view but views of other anglers we have spoken to and there is something wrong with the fishing there, such comments as the carp are line shy, you need a longer hook length i.e. 10 to 12 inches!!! Are they not virgin carp you have stocked.

[reddave101]

If you ever decide to fish this place think again as its very very poor.3 of us booked the lodge lake 6 week ago at the cost of £48 each for 48hrs on the 7th august.We travelled 90 mile to get their and when we first arrived it looked great.Off we started fishing.The first thing we noticed when feature finding is that it was absolutely full of weed.We all fished until saturday afternoon and not one bite of any kind not even a line bite.I had a walk around the lake and asked the other anglers there if they had anything and all of them said no not even a knock.I decided to go to their tackle shop and spent a further £40 on their baits using their recommended tactics and behold come sunday morning still nothing whatsoever.I decided to speak to another angler who arrived the night before and found out some interesting information.The pools were all filled with TAP WATER in MARCH and MOST of the pictures on their website are stocking pictures NOT catch pictures.If you want a EXTREMELY OVERPRICED cafe and bait shop and want to catch absolutely nothing except a cold then this is the place to be.Every angler who had spent 1 or even 2 nights their at the same time as us all said they would never fish their again and most of them were locals..DONT waste your money or time you will regret going.The water is not mature or ready to be fished for a long time.....

[taylor2519]

thats strange just bought crafty carper magazine and its in their top day ticket waters. must admit looked good and not far from me. the magazine says they expect it to become the north wests premier day ticket water gutted now you've said that because i was going to give it a go but think i'll give it a miss

[paulmlpss]

How long has the lake had fish in for? A new lake can be rubbish at first until everything settles. It could be a few years before it fishes any good.

[taylor2519]

checked the website but doesnt say how old the lakes are but i do know its fairly new.

[paulmlpss]

I just read that it opened in may this year so you cant expect it to be brilliant at the moment. I fished merringtons few years ago when it first opened on a socal and some people off here was there too. All that was caught in 48 hrs on a full lake was 1 fish on the last day. But now i think it fishes alot better although i havent been again, just from what i have read on forums.

[reddave101]

It probablys will be one of the best day ticket waters but it wont be for at least 18 month.The water needs to settle and mature before its fished and all the weed needs dealing with which it probablys will be by the fish after a time.My source who told me about the tap water and pictures is very reliable as he supplied the pipe work and fittings for the mains for the water and also saw the pictures being taken as they were stocking the lakes...Its perfect sceneary but the fishing and the prices are rubbish.You would need a gold card and a hefty bank balance if you wanted 3 meals a day from the cafe.I had a minature bacon and egg bap and my mate had a ham salad which was a peice of lettuce and a slice of ham on mini bap and cost us £7..Really not worth it(the food or fishing).Forgot to mention also asked fisherman on mill lake aswell and they all said the same aswell not worth the money and nothing whatsoever had happened on their either and a couple of them had been their for 2 days aswell and some had paid for 2 but were packing up after 1 day....

[waynehodge21]

the food is expensive but everytime ive fished four seasons ive court its over stocked both lakes

[pimpme]

well i tell you my tale of four season trip

i booked on mill lake for two day me and my pal

when we got there ,had a look round first.

And asked a few lads if out was coming out and you know what they said

"nowt today mate ,but there loads in here so we should get a run pal"

so we set up for the first night ,thinking should get a run later on .

well not a sniff of action ,so the next days plan of action was bung out abit of bait in a tight area and sit on it .

well here comes the bummer,two bloke came up to are swim,and said you should be not in this swim ,we have booked it ..

we thought they were taking the mick.

so told them were on here for two nights and are not moving at all

we had put in 3kg of pellets and 2 kg of boilies and wasn't going to move .

so the owner came over to us and said you will have too move lads

so that was it ,like [edit for swearing] we are ,we were here first , you sort it out .

we told the owner..

the owner was telling us to move out of this swim..

we stayed for the night ,and blanked ..

so four seasons fisheries i will sum it up for you

ALL THE GEAR NO IDEA

[barrelsround]

ill stick to the pleasure beach

[ben500]

alright lads, i'm Ben and i'm the fisheries manager at Four Seasons. I've noticed a lot of negative comment on this forum about Four Seasons and thought i'd come on here and put a few things straight and give you the opportunity to put your grievances straight to me.

 

i'll start off by straightening out some of the more ridiculous allegations. the lakes were not all filled with tap water, we initially started to fill our stock pond with tap water whilst we waited to have two bore holes dug, these were then used to fill the lakes with fresh water from deep below the ground. Mill Lake has been full for over 2 years now, and Lodge and the match lake, newtons, for over 18 months.

 

most of the carp stocked into our waters are NOT virgin stock, we didn't want a fishery full of identicle looking, farmed carp and have sourced our fish from various locations through Blue Slate Fisheries and we have the receipts to prove exactly how many fish we've stocked

 

All the pictures on our website are capture pictures. before we opened, of course we had stocking pictures on the website, we wanted people to see what stock they could expect if they came to Four Seasons, and as no one had fished the waters, how else could we have done that ?

 

since we've been open i personally have had to ask 2 parties to move swims, this because the anglers in question had set up on a double swim when they'd booked singles (and the doubles were already booked out) this i did within ten minutes of the anglers arriving. i would never dream of asking someone to move from a peg after 24 hours and a load of bait had been thrown in and i'm a 100% confident, neither would Jon (the owner)

 

in truth, most of the comments on this thread seem to stem from anglers blanking. this we can do little about other than offer our advice based on our experience at the fishery, which we are ALWAYS willing to do. we, of course, want everyone to catch the fish of a lifetime everytime they come to Four Seasons, but in the carp fishing i know, that isn't possible.

 

since we've been open in May we've had three different 30lb carp out, a 32lb grassie and cats to 44+ and more pb's and happy anglers than i could shake a bankstick at. of course some people have gone away unhappy after a blank, but that's fishing.

 

anyhow, for those of you who stuck through my rant and got to the end i thank you, and i promise that any constructive criticisms will be looked at by myself and the owners, we want to run the best fishery we can and if we have to change one or two things we will (and have).

 

Cheers

Ben

[jules007]

Ben, thank you for taking the time to join the forum and to put some of the issuse`s right,

in carp angling forums we often only get the negative side of a story, so its always a good thing to have a fishery owner/ manager join in.

[plowmanccfc]

yh good to hear im from coventry but got family in blackpool was gonna give it ago till all the coments ive heard but if your willing to make the effort and put your view across i might just see you in the future tight lines

[doublehunter]

good to see the manager has replied to some of the issues,but what about the price of the butties ha ha

[fy353]

Hi folks, i live about two miles from four seasons. Due to a new woman i have had no time to fish this place (or any other ) this year.

However my fishing buddy has done 72hrs on the water since may, over 3 sessions. He has fished both the runs water and the speci.

The results are 2 blanks and a two fish haul on the speci, 2 x 20's no less

 

In his words (this is a fishery to keep your eye on)

 

He also says lots of naturals in the water...maybe a change of tactics if you go.

Good luck

[nath82]

hi there i live in blackpool 10 mins away and cant wait to fish four seasons but all i have heard is bad press even coming from one of the know local tackle shops and also with driving a cab in the area alot of people who get in the cab who talk about vcarping dont have anything good to say about the place.

 

i have been down and it looks the part and i do like the look if it i guess every were has teathing problems and lets hope they sort some of the problems out.

 

i on the other had will go in the near future and will egnore the bad press and after 5 or six 24 48 sessions will make my own mind up and i hope im not disapointed.

 

i will let u know how it is soon

[elmovillan]

alright lads, i'm Ben and i'm the fisheries manager at Four Seasons. I've noticed a lot of negative comment on this forum about Four Seasons and thought i'd come on here and put a few things straight and give you the opportunity to put your grievances straight to me.

 

i'll start off by straightening out some of the more ridiculous allegations. the lakes were not all filled with tap water, we initially started to fill our stock pond with tap water whilst we waited to have two bore holes dug, these were then used to fill the lakes with fresh water from deep below the ground. Mill Lake has been full for over 2 years now, and Lodge and the match lake, newtons, for over 18 months.

 

most of the carp stocked into our waters are NOT virgin stock, we didn't want a fishery full of identicle looking, farmed carp and have sourced our fish from various locations through Blue Slate Fisheries and we have the receipts to prove exactly how many fish we've stocked

 

All the pictures on our website are capture pictures. before we opened, of course we had stocking pictures on the website, we wanted people to see what stock they could expect if they came to Four Seasons, and as no one had fished the waters, how else could we have done that ?

 

since we've been open i personally have had to ask 2 parties to move swims, this because the anglers in question had set up on a double swim when they'd booked singles (and the doubles were already booked out) this i did within ten minutes of the anglers arriving. i would never dream of asking someone to move from a peg after 24 hours and a load of bait had been thrown in and i'm a 100% confident, neither would Jon (the owner)

 

in truth, most of the comments on this thread seem to stem from anglers blanking. this we can do little about other than offer our advice based on our experience at the fishery, which we are ALWAYS willing to do. we, of course, want everyone to catch the fish of a lifetime everytime they come to Four Seasons, but in the carp fishing i know, that isn't possible.

 

since we've been open in May we've had three different 30lb carp out, a 32lb grassie and cats to 44+ and more pb's and happy anglers than i could shake a bankstick at. of course some people have gone away unhappy after a blank, but that's fishing.

 

anyhow, for those of you who stuck through my rant and got to the end i thank you, and i promise that any constructive criticisms will be looked at by myself and the owners, we want to run the best fishery we can and if we have to change one or two things we will (and have).

 

Cheers

Ben

 

 

Very fair comments and succintly put. I think theres quite a bit of sour grapes about all this, like you suggest. I reckon most new places need bedding in, so twelve months from now it'll probably be a different story altogether.

 

The very fact that people were blanking certainly would'nt put me off giving it a go.

[robholmes]

I have never seen the place and i doubt that i ever will BUT...................

I have a friend that has fished the place and he had a good few 20s out and he enjoyed it and had nothing bad to say about the place............... Now we have a bad session carpfishing and we blank on top of that its then easy to slag a place off...BUT.....On the other hand if we have a really good session and bag a few lumps we are nothing but full of praise for the place! I know this as it has happened to me on both hands! Unfortunatly thats carpfishing......we blank...we catch....we dont like the place.....we love the place.....and thats how it goes....regards...rob.

[welder]

I have never seen the place and i doubt that i ever will BUT...................

I have a friend that has fished the place and he had a good few 20s out and he enjoyed it and had nothing bad to say about the place............... Now we have a bad session carpfishing and we blank on top of that its then easy to slag a place off...BUT.....On the other hand if we have a really good session and bag a few lumps we are nothing but full of praise for the place! I know this as it has happened to me on both hands! Unfortunatly thats carpfishing......we blank...we catch....we dont like the place.....we love the place.....and thats how it goes....regards...rob.

 

Rob, that's a pretty good summary of my thinking.

 

Elmovillan is quite right too. Any new fishery needs time to find it's natural performance level.

 

As regards the owners/managers, they are only human with all the foibles and failings of every other human. They'll get it right soon enough.

 

Ian

[philmac]

I've fished it for 2 36 hour sessions, including a day after the (in)famous pellet session. I have caught 1 smallish cat from Mill, and to be truthful have not seen many fish caught. But as someone else has said, it's very new.

 

I like the place and will be returning this year to try again. it's not the first place I've blanked and I'm certain it won't be the last.

 

A quick word on the cafe. The breakfast is brilliant value (at around a fiver), in my view. Everything is freshly cooked and best of all hot. I can (and do) cook at my bivvy, but nothing beats a sit down in nice surroundings and a hot breakfast.

[lennyofleyland]

i live local to the fishery and iam in contact with a number of quality anglers from around the surrounding area.unfortunatly despite the balliffs comments many of the above posts ring true. these days many a fishery claim to hold numbers of large fish that are simply not there in the numbers they say they are? the fishery claimed that there was no fish below 17lb in the main lake but as the catch reports i have recieved have mainly consisted of low doubles.???? i stand corrected as just spoke to a mate who caught the big h at 28lb in december, although he also said the fish stock seamed a bit thin on the ground

[carpmantaylor]

i live local to four seasons fishery and have been there 4 times so far and caught twice 3 fish on my first session and 2 fish on my second session all only 24 hours. i do beleive the fish are there i think everyone is just treating it as an easy water, expecting to catch, like ben said these are not virgin fish some have been caught before and as everyone knows they wise up. maybe instead of expecting to catch we should put a bit of effort in (including myself) to try and outsmart these wary carp like we would if we went to any other fishery that is hard to fish or we have never fished before. i know i will be going back again this year and good luck to everyone else who does.

[blemish79]

Hi folks

 

I was just wondering if anyone has fished here this year and if so hows it coming along im guessing it should be a bit better than the first couple of post when it was a new water any info would be great booked on htere this friday ( Lodge ) Cheers Blemish79

[carpermartin]

I havent fished it yet but im on this sat on the mill lake as it is my first time on the lake and i want to try the smaller lake first

 

Yeah has anyone been since these allgegations/comments were made. From looking at their webiste its been pretty good im quite impressed !!

 

Martin

[blemish79]

Hey Martin well i went with my mate last weekend and i have to say i was Impressed the set up is nice the Guys who work there are Great they'll give you tips and advice anytrime you want or need it and even tho we both didnt catch (on Lodge ) we will both be back for sure. Waters like this ( Lodge ) are hard waters and you dont get a fish a chuck it takes time so heres to a few more empty visits ( Not to many mind ) and then a monster lol