Still Waters

Queens Secret Fishery, Queen Adelaide, Ely

Fenland not only offers a wide selection of rivers and waterways to fish in, it also has a wide selection of still waters to try. I have listed my favourites below.

This little fishery is family run, and is situated just outside Ely City Centre. It contains mainly carp but also contains a good head of rudd, roach and tench.

It is a perfect venue for a family and even has a small hut which is fully equipped and can be hired out for a reasonable price.

You can fish this on a day ticket and night fishing is also permitted, The swims are nice and spacious, perfect for a bivvy and are also supplied with a carp cradle and sling.

Carp can go up to 20ib but there could be bigger specimens lurking in the depths. There have also been reports of Rudd up to 2ib. All the usual baits work, but the boilies tend to get the bigger stamp of fish. Boilies and pellet can be bought at the fishery.

This is a wonderful little fishery, which has a limited amount of swims available on a first come, first serve basis, so be quick if you fancy a go!

Prices and Opening Times are below:

7am-7pm £8.00, £5 junior in same swim

7am-7am 24hr £15.00 18 years +

For more information and to book your swim, click on the link below:

https://www.facebook.com/queenssecretfishery/?ref=br_rs

Roswell Pits, Ely

The picturesque Roswell Pits are situated on the outskirts of Ely town centre and are linked to the Ely Ouse. There are two fishable pits and one private pit. Both fishable pits belong to the Ely Beet Social Club and are open all year, including the river close season. They were originally manmade gault clay pits and have recently become part of the newly built Ely Country Park.  It was here the British record zander was caught back in the 90’s.

Both pits contain all the usual course species including some cracking carp. I have split the pits in to two sections, so I can go into more detail about the fishing available too you.

The Clay Pit

Baits And Methods

Despite looking deep, this pit is actually a very coloured shallow pit. This is very good for bream in the summer and the pike and zander in the winter. I tend to fish the wooded side of the pit due to all the overhanging trees, roots and hidden bays. You can also fish opposite the wooded side, but this is an area of Special Scientific Interest. Fishing can be restricted especially when the birds are nesting.
As the lake is so shallow, I tend to stick with classic float methods, usually the waggler. I use double red maggot and keep the feed going with the odd ball of groundbait and a handful of maggots. I have tried feeder methods but was always getting plagued by eels!

Pike And Zander

For the pike, I use both float and leger methods during the winter months and lure tactics in the summer.
As for the zander use the same methods as pike. Roach or rudd live baits do well in here. Lure tactics and dead course dead baits are also very successful. If you fancy a go for the monster perch, small live baits and lure tactics work a treat. Especially near the tunnel that links all the pits together. This tunnel runs under the access road.

The Sailing Pit

This pit is a complete contrast to The Clay Pit. It is much bigger, has more features and is deeper. It was here that the record zander came out of. The best swims I find, tend to be near the reed islands along “The Cliffs” and the area near the sailing club which runs along the loop line. This is where the monster bream, tench and some magnificent rudd tend to be caught. There are also some beautiful carp in here. This is my favourite pit.

Baits And Methods
For the bream and tench, I always use feeder tactics. I use a sweet groundbait mixed with bread crumb, hemp, maggots , chopped worm and a caramel additive. Use sweet corn, worm or double red maggot for hook baits. This works a treat. Waggler tactics using the lift method works well for the tench.

Pike And Zander
Use the same tactics as the clay pit, but try to get a long way out or try in the channels between the reed islands.
For information on this venue and other Ely Beet Club Venues. Click on the link below:
http://elybeetclub.webs.com/elybeetfishing.htm

Borrow Pit
Situated next to the New Bedford River, in Sutton Gault this is a strange looking pit. It represents a drain, but is actually a narrow lake. It is predominately a tench venue, but also has some good pike, rudd and the odd bream in it. It can get very weedy in the summer, so best to rake a swim out before starting, this can also help the tench get on the feed.
In the winter this floods very easily, so take extra care.
Baits And Methods

This isn’t very deep, so float tactics work best. Sweet corn and worm baits do well for the tench and maggot for all other species.
As for the pike, lures can be deadly as well as dead/live baits.

Mepal Block Fen A

This is your typical commercial fishery, stocked with carp up to twenty pound and some good tench and bream. There is also another lake here, called the pump pond. Surface tactics here using dog biscuits can be deadly here during the summer. Ledger tactics also do very well. I tend to go here for evening sessions or during the week. Weekends can get very busy, especially bank holidays. There are a lot of matches here and on Sunday mornings, the local dog rescue team, train there dogs at the bottom end of the “A” pit.

I must say though, this is the perfect place to bring your family for there first fishing trip or to catch your first carp.

Baits And Methods

During the summer use fish based boilies and pellets on the bottom, or dog bicuits on the surface. As I said earlier, surface tactics can be deadly during summer evenings. Fishing can be slow here in the winter, although fruit flavoured boilies and maggot clips can produce.

Mepal Block Fen B

This is a very large, clear lake and very hard. Be prepared to put in a lot of time to reap the rewards. It is really a pike water, but there are also some lovely tench and carp up to 30ib.

The tench and pike seem to show in the deep channel by the road as you pull up to the lake, whilst the carp seem to prefer the main body of the lake at quite a distance. A lot of anglers tend to use bait boats, to get there baits out, which seems a bit drastic!

If fishing in the summer, this can get very weedy, so it would be best to bring a rake with you to clear yourself a swim out

Baits And Methods

For the tench, cage feeder with sweet corn hook baits works well. As for the carp, bottom tactics with fruit or fishmeal boilies do well.

As for the pike, popped up mackerel tails do well, as well as Sardines and Smelt.

For more information on Mepal Block Fen A and B. Click on the link below:

http://www.cambridge-fpas.co.uk/