Bagwood Lake
Looking to fish a new venue? Then why not a fishery recommended by a pro? So here's one from Jordan Dicks who tips you off on a west region fishery
Bagwood Lake is situated on Woodlands Golf Course near Bradley Stoke in Bristol just five minutes from the M4/M5 interchange. Having grown up fishing Bagwood, I always try to make time every year to do a couple of quick sessions there. Whether it’s a few hours surface fishing or a quick night in between work.
Before setting-up you need to pop down to the Pro shop and purchase your day ticket, where you can also pick-up a variety of snack’s and cold drinks available to buy. This is where you’ll find the toilets and facilities in the clubhouse, which can also be used and the car park is only a stone’s throw away from the lake. So no long walks with your kit and the main gate is locked every night for security.
The lake is around four-acres in size with somewhere in the region of 250 plus carp with a large number of twenty-pound fish present and as you can see from the map, the lake is broken up into two sections - the back lake and golf green side. There are pipes running through from each side so the fish do move backwards and forwards between the two.
The right hand side has a larger percentage of water and often fishes better, the bottom is very clean and there are no problems with weed, silt or snags. Feature wise there is a large bar running across one side of the lake and presenting a bait on this can often result in a quick bite. Especially when it’s warm, as the Bagwood fish love to visit the upper layers of the water, which moves me onto my next tip - Zig Rigs.
They have played a huge part in my fishing in the summer months and I have caught some of the better fish using them. Although due to the water being very dirty the brighter colour hookbaits seem to work best. The depth of the lake also varies massively, so be sure to plumb the depth before moving your Zig.
Another good spot is the concrete pipes, the fish are constantly moving through them and often they can’t resist a small bed of bait waiting at the end. As for bait, well there is a very good stock of fish in Bagwood and so I have found large beds of bait work very well i.e. hemp, particles and boilie.
I’ve found this gets the fish competing and they let their guard down a lot easier in this situation. Fishing two rods on one spot can then result in getting a double take due to the nature of this competitive feeding.
The vital information you need...
Biggest resident: 29lb
Average fish size: Upper-double
Rough fish stock: 250 carp
Going bait: Nash Purple Monster Squid
Local tackle shop: Bristol Angling Centre 01117 9500 201
Takeaways: KFC and McDonalds only ten minutes away
Rod limit: Three rods maximum
Location: Trench Lane, Bradley Stoke, Bristol, BS32 4JZ
Contact: 01454 618121
Website: woodlands-golf.com
Prices: £12 for 12hrs, £18 for 24hrs
Facilities: Secure parking, toilets and shop
Known summer areas/swims: The best swims on the golf green side of the lake are pegs one, two and three, fishing to the areas shown on the map
Jordan's top tip: “If its warm use Zigs or surface tactics"