Here's our lake and swim map, plus carp tactics guide, for Manor Farm Lake on the Linear Fisheries site in Oxfordshire...
Linear Fisheries, off the B4449, near Hardwick Village, Witney, Oxfordshire, OX29 7QF | Web: www.linear-fisheries.co.uk | Tel: 07885 327708
We say...
Manor is the Dame Judi Dench of day-ticket waters, a real national treasure still at the top of its game. It is the archetypal Oxfordshire gravel pit (in its earlier years the eastern bank was still an extraction site) and as such boasts a huge number of features. There's gravel, weed, silt, deeps and shallows here.
Once a pretty tricky proposition, the fish stocks have been gradually increased in recent years but old-timers like the decades-old Spike endure.
The swims are very well spaced, but with just 19 of them it can feel busy quickly if a few anglers arrive at once.
Head bailiff Ian Roper says…
Fishery manager Chris Blunt says...
"At the right time of year it does like its bait. It's one of the waters where I'm happy to fish lots of boilies. Certainly for the bigger fish I'd go for boilies, and a good particle mix with corn for numbers of fish. In the summer it can be a great surface and zig water.
"The fish do move around quite a lot. There's quite a variation in depths but they get all over. You don't want to fish on the three main bars, treat them more as submerged islands.
"In the winter you would expect to find the fish out in the middle but they can come in close along the western end of the lake. It's not the best margin water in the world but don't discount them entirely, especially the out-of-bounds margins."
1 of 2Spike, one of Manor's oldest residents, at 38lb
2 of 2Kempy's Linear is a Manor stunner
PRICES AND FACILITIES
£29.50 for 24 hours (three rods) or £23.50 for two rods
Accompanied under 12s fish free during school holidays
OAP discounts
Showers and toilets on site
Local takeaways deliver (menus on site)
No driving on the grass
RULES
Maggots can only be used on the hook or in PVA bags or feeders
Spombs must have the float attachment
No boats/bait boats, drones, fires, drugs, fires or swimming
Floating retention slings can be used for a maximum of 30 minutes
Cars must be parked in designated areas.