 Churchgate Where Dreams Come True
But only for the lucky few, and I am one of them, as I am told over and over
again.
In this article I will be giving you an overview on Churchgate Lakes, the fishery
I run for a local business man.
From what started as an empty field to probably one of the Top 10 Commercials
in Essex - and I like to think I had something to do with it. The idea was originally
to build a lake behind the boss's house and now 14 years on, there are now 3 Lakes
all in excess of 3 acres and facilities that rival any fishery I have ever been
to (and I do get about a bit!).
The First Lake on the site was what is now known as the Middle Lake and holds
all of our bigger fish including Carp to over 30lb and Cats to over 50lb. The
depths range from 4ft to 15 ft, there are 2 islands and only 12 pegs, it is very
comfortable fishing with pegs 1 to 4 in front of the deep water and as you go
past the first island it becomes shallower towards 8/9/10.
The Reedy Bay No 8 The Middle Lake
The current Top Rod is Alex England with a tally of 49 Doubles and 18 of them
were over 20lb on a 48 hour session from peg 3 fishing the Method tight to the
far bank in 2ft of water in low summer levels.
The Lake also holds prolific stocks of Silver Fish and big bags of quality Skimmers/Roach/Rudd/Tench
can be had at most times of the year.
I have personally seen Perch to over 4lb taking fish around the reeds but no one
ever fishes for them because they are all after the Carp, but they say that Perch
thrive on neglect and that's what's happening here, they are eating all the fry
and getting fatter by the year.
The Dam Wall The Middle lake
The Bottom lake was the second Lake to go in and it's a circle Lake of about 4
½ acres. The depths vary from 4ft to 16ft in places and there are certain
pegs that have 12ft of water in front on them at 4 meters.
The Lake is laid out with level platforms every 10 meters, it is aimed at the
Pleasure Angler and Match Angler, big bags of Bream/Ide/ Roach/Rudd/ Tench/Carp
are the norm with Pleasure bags in excess of 200lb and the current match record
is well over 100lb.
The Bottom Lake
The best time to fish this Lake is in the evenings, the Lake always fishes better
later in the day and the Crucians and Tench always feed in the hour or so before
dark and into the night, corn/maggots/paste are all highly effective and fished
with a small bit of peacock quill attached by a rubber and a single bit of shot
a couple of inches from the hook is by far the best way to target them.
The Bream fishing is very good on the Lake and they probably make up 70% of
the big bags we have in our Matches, there is also a good head of Carp up to 20lb
and over the last couple of years we have started to get multiple catches of small
Cruican type Commons of about 3lb I hear a lot of people say that they are f1s
but we have not put any small Carp in the lake over the last 8 years so the Carp
and Crucians must be cross breeding, all the original stock of Carp are over the
10lb mark and anything smaller is more than likely to be fish born in the water,
the edges are heavily reed lined and every year when the fish are spawning it
amazes me how many fish are in there its like a giant Jacuzzi and when they are
done it looks like a tornado has gone over the Lake, the surface of the water
is just a mass of milk and reed debris.
The best winter pegs are from 1 through to 11 as this is the deeper part of the
Lake and the fish tend to shoal up in front of these pegs.
The Top Lake was built in 2004 and is just shy of 5 acres with 2 islands and depths
from inches to 14 ft, we have planted thousands of Trees and Shrubs from root
and they have got there feet in and are going to be stunning in 5 years.
We have stocked Bream/Carp/Ide /Roach/Rudd/ Skimmers in vast numbers and the Match
Fishing is thriving with 100lb plus bags of Carp and Bream regular.
There are 36 Platforms around the Lake and the views are stunning from all directions
but be warned, it can get a bit billowy up there if the wind blows from the north
but that will get the Bream going and big bags of Bream can be had on the windiest
of days.
We have just recently finished the Café and Disabled Toilet/Shower, the
car park has been extended and we are getting it ready for Tarmac.
The open matches we hold regularly get 20 plus Anglers and Darren Cresswell has
the Top Weight of 137lb of Bream from The Top Lake on Paste.
Our Biggest Carp is a Common of 36lb and we have a Big Mirror known as The Big
Friendly Mirror or BFM for short that hovers at about 30lb in The Middle Lake
and The Big Cat is well over 50lb.
The BFM @ 28LB
The surrounding scenery is fantastic and on a clear day you can see for 20
miles from The Top Lake looking down over the other two Lakes.
My day generally starts at about 05.30 am, we open at 6 to Day Tickets, so I like
to be there when anglers start arriving so I can greet everybody as they arrive
or stop any body from getting access to the Lakes, especially if I have got a
Match booked, because you can bet your bottom dollar that no matter how many sign's
you put up, there is always someone who doesn't see them or jumps over the fence
or is just plain defiant of rules and regs and I am afraid the latter just don't
get a Ticket at all and are asked to leave.
I generally clean the Toilets first thing and while I'm doing the Tickets I am
trying to do my paperwork Memberships/Match Bookings/ Catch Reports/Articles but
the phone never stops ringing and some one always wants something from me in one
way or the other be it taking a picture of somebody's PB or talking to prospective
clients about the Fishery or Lodge or helping some old boy with his gear or showing
a younger lad how to tie a hook properly, the list is endless and that's without
having to do most of the maintenance around the site, you know -like cutting the
grass, picking up the rubbish building a Helicopter Pad for the Boss and that's
no joke.
After I've done the rounds on a busy day it can be well past 11am and its very
rare that I don't get intercepted on the way back to the lodge by somebody wanting
bait or a sandwich or I see a new day ticket arriving a going to the furthest
peg on the complex.
I am constantly trying to get some sort of order to my day and do the shopping
for the café on certain days and cut the grass for the weekend so it looks
nice but it never works out that way, as the job is so fluid on a daily basis
that it's difficult to get any consistency.
I work every weekend and am really lucky that my partner is so accepting of my
addiction, because that's what it is; I live and breathe Churchgate and fishing
in general, Lisa is one in a million and I do feel guilty about not spending as
much time with her as maybe I should, but she is so supportive that I have been
able to bring this project on and wouldn't have been able to do it without her.
So to those who say I am so lucky, I say this to you, could you work every weekend
rain or hail, could you get up at 5am every day and get in past 8 or 9pm every
night in the summer, could you smile and be polite to every body that comes through
the gate, even though you are in a foul mood because you've had no sleep and the
phone is on meltdown, could you deal with people on the beer, fishermen that haven't
got a clue - who tell you they are next best thing since sliced bread, because
you really need to love it to do it with as much passion as myself.
If you would like some more info on the Lakes why not have a look at the website
below ,in the gallery there are some good shots of our fish and if you are serious
about your fishing, you are welcome to come and have a go.
 And
to finish I will say this, it's the best Job in the world and I will be here for
a long time.
Tight Lines
Tony Runnalls
www.churchgatelakes.co.uk
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