This lake was a former clay pit and is part of the Cinderford Linear Park. The area is at the moment at the centre of the Cinderford Regeneration Area. This area is little used by local people which is a shame, however the club has worked hard to maintain the surroundings in order that the community benefit. Long regarded as the jewel in the crown of the clubs waters (despite the depth!) it boasts 44 pegs and three disabled platforms. In addition their is a small pond reached by a footbridge and is eminently suitable for youngsters and fishing with the whip however beware the odd tench or carp that may have taken up temporary residence.. The main lake has depths from 4 to over 30 feet deep. The deepest ones are to be found from pegs 1 - 20. In addition the bottom on these pegs can be extremely uneven this requires careful plumbing up before fishing as well as careful thought on groundbaiting techniques.

Do you want to take the challenge?

Pegs in the higher numbers are shallower from 6 - 12 feet at 12 metres. Pegs 42, 43 and 44 are deeper at 12 metres and careful plumbing is required as these can be up to 15 feet deep. Groundbait is permitted here and is the only venue which the club controls on which it is allowed. Remember to mix it up to reach the bottom or you will have a column of fish covering from 1ft. to 15 or 20ft all feeding at different levels. This is the challenge of this water, finding the level at which the resident shoals are comfortable to feed.

Matches are held here throughout the year so check out the club book before fishing.

Many species are resident in this lake and the next bite could be a Carp to over 20lb, Barbel to 2.5lb, Tench to 4lb, Bream to 6lb, Roach to 1.5lb, Rudd to 1lb, Perch to 3lb as well as Chub. The chub have been seen basking in the summer and appear to be in the 3-5lb range but have yet to be caught. My daughter recently fished here one afternoon and succeeded in catching some of these chub on the pellet waggler worth a go perhaps in a match if you want to try something different!Speaking of summer one of the more unusual facets of fishing this lake are the shoals of Bream that swim in the top 2 feet of the surface cruising all day. They can be tempted with chum mixers much to the annoyance of the Carp angler but then its a different method to try! Catches have been made to 30lbs in recent years, however they never seem to appear in matches for some strange reason any ideas? By the way ever caught eels on the drop? In the top third of a 30 feet deep swim?

Recently Trout have appeared in the lake. They appear to be thriving and the environment suits them. They have the inlet stream to breed in and a ready food supply in the lake.

One of the less noticed visitors has been at least one Otter. He was first noticed in 2006 and has appeared at odd times since. It is assumed that he is an itinerant wandering from the Forest over to the Wye. His favourite occupation appears to be to collect mussels and open them on the platforms where they can be seen in the mornings.  

2009 the quality River Wye style Roach now 10-8 ozs or more and in fantastic condition. They still seem to require the groundbait for a regular supply of fish, the secret is not to give up but feed constantly. Include loose fed maggot and hemp in your offerings be confident they will turn up! They are now very partial to soft carp pellets!

I have not yet heard of any good Bream bags this year most appear to be in the 20 - 30lb range. One evening I was talking to two guys who said that they had had a red letter day with over 100pounds of Bream last year but seemed unable to repeat the feat! They claimed Bream to 7 pounds in the catch and said that all of these fish were 2 pounds or more, where have they gone? October 2008 Tony Summers had a good bag over 25pounds of Bream and Roach on soft pellet use 4mm expanders for bait and groundbait.

I also fished the small pond one evening with the whip, big mistake!!!!! I lost 3 fish not gigantic, but Tench all around 1 - 2 lb mark perhaps they use this pond for spawning if so where are all the small Tench? Most probably hiding in all of the marginal weed growth. Although an attempt has been made to kill some of this weed it does not seem to have had the desired effect so perhaps the year on year recruitment from successful spawnings will lead to an increase in fish stocks. More rain in 2009 keeps me hoping the Barbel will have been able to run up the feeder stream and spawn. If so we can look forward to a superb fishery in 5 - 10 years time.