Lavender Hall’s Oak Pool had a major overhaul just over two years ago, and the clever redesign has resulted in each swim offering a plethora of options to explore.
Once a match and general pleasure lake, it was converted into a carp runs water in 2022. Most of the fish are now in the 10lb-20lb bracket.
Rather than simply remove the existing stock and replace them with bigger specimens, the lake was drained to allow a revamp of the features below the surface.
Snags were removed, features such as underwater bars created in each swim, and access to undercut banks improved before it was refilled.
Lily pads and reedbeds are plentiful and, although the pool may be small, with just five swims, it is big in character and a solid bet right now to produce plenty of runs.
How to fish it
Using the maximum allowance of three rods will allow you to cover your swim and increase your chances of finding a few of the venue’s stunningly marked double-figure carp.
The underwater bars are often forgotten about, but they are brilliant holding spots and can be easily found by leading around or using a marker float set up at the start of your session.
Don’t go overboard with the loosefeed to begin with. Kick off with a couple of handfuls of crushed boilies and pellets before presenting a stand-out offering on top. Keep your eyes peeled for fish breaking the surface, and react accordingly. For example, if you keep spotting fish close to the far bank, consider presenting more than one rig in the area to improve your chances of a bite.
Underwater features
The four large submerged gravel bars in the lake act as a real magnet for the resident carp, yet a lot of anglers fail to target them. These features provide the fish with shallower water to sit in and around, and as clear areas of lakebed, they are well worth your attention. The bars run from a few metres off the near bank all the way across to just shy of the far bank and, on some days, it can be worth having one rig close to you on the bar and a second one further out.
Oak Pool boasts two main beds of lilies too, which can also attract the fish at times, providing them with sanctuary as well as natural food items such as freshwater snails.
Keep it simple
Simplicity is the buzz word when it comes to rigs, and you’ll rarely go wrong with a Method feeder set-up. Fish a short 4ins-5ins hooklength of 15lb braid with a hi-viz wafter or fake corn hookbait hair-rigged to a size 8 hook.
If you fancy setting another rod up differently, you’ll enjoy similar success with a simple blow-back rig tied with 15lb-20lb coated braid, with a 1ins section of coating stripped back near the hook. Fish this with a bright pop-up hookbait along with a small PVA mesh bag of pellets, and the carp will be queuing up to be caught!
Get tight
One of the jobs undertaken when the overhaul was conducted was to cut away a good bit of the far-bank vegetation. This now allows you to pin a rig within inches of the far side, which is essential, as the banks are slightly undercut. The fish sometimes sit in these ‘hidden’ zones, but can be tempted out for a meal. Cast infrequently so that you don’t give them reason to back away. Waiting 30-40 minutes before resetting the trap is a good rule of thumb, nicking a small PVA bag of freebies on to the hook before you recast.
Double swim
There is a real social element to this style of fishing. The staff at the complex are fully tuned into this and have made Peg 4 big enough to accomodate two anglers. There is a decent amount of space to either side, allowing you both to have your own water to target. The lily pads to the left are an obvious holding area, as is the far bank and the underwater bars.
Experiment between yourselves early in the session to find what is working best on the day, trying different colours and sizes of hookbaits, flavourings and feeding patterns. Once you find the magic formula, you can switch other rigs to match, and make sure you bag up.
Venue factfile
Location: Lavender Hall Fishery, Lavender Hall Lane, Berkswell, Coventry, CV7 7BN
Contact: 01676 530299
Prices: £13 a day, £25 for 23hrs (9am-8am). Bookings should be made in advance here
Rules: No maggots, casters or worms until November, minimum reel line of 0.35mm (or 0.33m if tapered), barbless hooks only to be used.
