Stillwater Front Lake

An October day at Stillwater Front Lake

2024

The one thing missing from this year has been fishing sessions. For various reasons it has been difficult to book sessions in. But friends have returned home and holidays have been spent and so the calendar began to open up. I have managed to paint a number of wargame figures (the other strand of this blog eventually) and pleased with my progress so felt a session on the lakes would be in order.

Thought we would have a day away from London so decided to go for a walk around Godalming, always a nice place to browse and lunch. I have the Farnham AS ticket and usually fish Badshot Lea but decided to have a walk around Stillwater Front and Back lakes with a view to a visit.

Both these waters hold a good head of carp but the Front Lake holds bream. I wanted to float fish as a change from sitting behind buzzers this season and so all my sessions of this season I hope will be float orientated. The lakes are both pretty and peaceful with lots of features. I read the guidebook and watched the video and felt that the Front Lake gave the best chance of a mixed bag.

On arrival I decided to go for the open water along the canal bank and settled on peg 21. There was an overhanging tree to my left and a carp angler about two swims down. The few other anglers present were all sat behind buzzers.

I decided to feed two spots. I had a mix of a krill based groundbait and a carp/tench groundbait, using around 6-8 orange sized balls over the session. I had rapid dissolve pellets in two flavours, halibut and some bloodworm. Hookbait was white maggot or small worm with the option of hooker pellets. Tackle was a 13 foot Fox specimen float and fixe spool reel.

From the 9am start to around midday it was a bit of a struggle, a few missed bites and a couple of small perch and roach. Made me wonder what the half dozen cormorants in the tree opposite were eating? My ticket was checked around midday and I got some good information from the two bailiffs. It is really worth talking to fellow anglers and the bailiffs as they do shed a different light on the notes in the handbook. Suffice to say that any future float sessions here will be in summer, close to the pads and probably as part of a carp session. Although a feeder session on either lake might spring some surprises.

One of the perch not much bigger than the worm!

From 1-2 pm the fish started to show with some nice sun on the water. I had seen the odd carp move and there were some large swirls. Part of me had hoped to find some neglected larger perch in this carp water but having learnt that there were catfish present as well as the pike I was less hopeful. I was soon getting a bite a cast on maggots, missing a lot and dropping a fair few off but must have brought a good 40-50 fish to hand. A match angler on the pole could have amassed a good weight here. I chopped and changed baits using hooker pellets or worm tipped with maggot in hope of larger fish but they were like peas in a pod 3-5 inches pristine condition. 

So a good start, caught plenty even if small. I was recommended to try Chaley Park Lakes and so my next post will be about my visit there.