Rochford Park Lake
Urban carper, Alan Blair gives you the run down on one of his favourite open access venues
Rochford reservoir is a small park lake of around three-acres. It is a typical park lake, in that it is very silty, and has features such as an island and an inflow and outflow. The bank is partially concrete and the rest more natural worn down gravel and mud. There is a nice mixture of swims, including a good disabled swim, and some more ‘tucked away’ areas. It is tree-lined, with residential houses backing on to one bank, and night fishing isn’t allowed in this area to prevent disturbance to residents. Along another bank runs a busy road, and on a third a train line. Add to that the planes landing into Southend Airport not far away and it is a pretty urban venue!
Local amenities are good – there are shops and a supermarket nearby if you need to stock-up on supplies. The stock in the lake is pretty phenomenal. It is very well run by a guy called Nick North, as part of the Marks Hall Fishery portfolio and when Nick took it over, it did have some original carp present – no more than 40 fish estimated up to a top weight of mid-thirty. There are still some of these remaining, although the biggest fish is believed to have passed away along with a few of the others during a fish kill a couple of years ago. It is still a bit of a mystery as to quite what is left, but I still always hope every time my alarm goes that I’m going to catch that big, grey, leathery mirror! More recently, fresh blood has been added and in good numbers and it can be a prolific fishery if you get it right.
Areas to target are the obvious snags and overhangs, which the fish gravitate to when the park is busy. These are always well worth investigating. The inflow is definitely worth having a look at. Not only do you have that fresh water coming in bringing with it food and oxygen, it is also the shallowest part of the lake so on a warm day it really is a carp magnet. There is an island, and the shape and topography of this means it is quite deep tight to it. Get your bait as close to this as possible would be my advice – and when I say tight, I mean really tight!
Because the lake is quite silty I tend to fish with long hooklinks or Chod fish. Floater fishing is brilliant, but you obviously have the issue of the birds; it’s a typical park lake in that there are plenty of them! What I tend to do rather than try and get numbers of fish up and taking in the middle of the lake is look for opportunities in the edge and round the snags where you can manage scaring off the birds.
Because of the new stock, and the fact that some of them have come from match-orientated venues they know what a pellet hitting the water sounds like, or what sweetcorn in the edge looks like so if you want bites then stick along those lines. Yes, conventional tactics will catch, but if you really want to haul try a flatbed method feeder with a single grain of plastic corn. If you want to target the bigger fish then it is definitely worth trying bigger baits, just to avoid the nuisance bites from the high-singles and low-doubles. A big Snowman Rig or a double 15mm bottom bait will help. If you want a 20lb fish or have the intention of targeting the biggest fish in the lake then concentrate on the quietest areas. Stay away from the island, snags and inlet and try the corners and the margins.
Winning baits include liquidised bread sticks, white hookbaits (Amber Strawberry and White Chocolate are my favourites) and good old bread. Because of the number of fish, sometimes he who baits wins, so applying a bed of bait over the course of the session can score well. Little and often is definitely better than a kilo of boilies in one hit. You are better off fishing for one bite at a time. I’d be happy fishing here 365 days of the year. Unless there is a lid on it the carp can be caught whatever the conditions.
A season ticket will set you back £35 or if you want to just turn up and fish it’s £5 a day, payable to the bailiff on the bank. It’s a great venue, with friendly locals and it’s a really nice place to spend a day. For more information, tips and a look at the lake and it’s residents check out Urban Banx episode-2 on the Nash TV Youtube channel!
The vital information you need...
Biggest resident: 20lb-plus
Average fish size: Doubles
Rough fish stock: Unknown
Going bait: Nash Bait: Amber Strawberry and White Chocolate
Takeaways: Rochford Takeaway, 01702 542542
Local tackle shop: Pete's Tackle, 01702 348600
Rod limit: Three rods
Location: Near Rochford train station, Rochford, Essex
Contact: Call 07963 112588
Website: Not available
Prices: Day ticket £5, season ticket £35
Facilities: None