Barbel fishing near Marlborough/Calne Wiltshire

[Dave Quinn]

I do a fair amount of fishing in Wiltshire, I was a member of Amalgamated fisheries but only fished the still waters and I'm a member at Bowood House, a very picturesque estate lake. Bowood is very pretty and quiet but expensive for a single lake ticket and as it holds a lot of bream and tench but is 34 acres the fishing can be very hit and miss. There's a close season on the lake and after summer the fishing can get very hard, I had too many bad days this year to justify renewing next season.

Are there any decent day ticket stretches for barbel within a reasonable drive of marlborough/calne, or some decent club fishing in the area? I'll be there over new year and might be able to sneak away for a half day so a day ticket would be ideal for then, but I'm looking to join somewhere next year

 

[Steve Double]

Your nearest day ticket-only barbel fishing is probably Aldermaston Mill on the Kennet.

 

[Clive Shipman]

Dave I'd try Lacock on the Amalgamation the barbel sport is not as hot as it used to be but there are plenty of chub. It's only 3 miles from Calne and if you need any more information just let me know.

 

[Dave Quinn]

Thanks Steve, thanks Clive

I'll rejoin Amalgamated, its pretty reasonable and I was thinking of rejoining it for the stillwaters anyway.

And thanks for the offer, Clive I'll do that nearer the time I fish

 

[Andy Frances]

Hi Dave,

I rejoined Bowood this year after many years away, more for the benefit of my boy who's the same sort of age I was when I first fished there. We had some lovely afternoons catching tiny roach and some decent tench. I'm undecided about next year as well as it cost me a fortune. They made me pay for Daniel as a junior even though he was always fishing on my platform sharing my rod!

I still have access to a bit of the Bristol Avon that I have to limit numbers on but there is space if you or anyone else is interested. It used to have barbel to 14+ and big carp but most have been eaten I'm afraid. The chub population there is still good, there are some good roach and huge pike. I'm positive there's still the odd big barbel too...it's hardly been fished in recent years so it's a little bit unknow. Drop me a line if you'd like to know more.

Cheers,

Andy

 

[Dave Quinn]

Hi Andy

I didn't expect a reply from one of the 50-odd Bowood members. This is only my fourth year there so it's difficult for me to compare but other than a few decent days in summer it's been pretty poor this year, there was a fair bit of moaning on the day we were invited to fish the private area in October, and the bailif said it had been slow for everyone. It's a shame as I've had some good bags of tench and bream when I've been in the right place at the right time, and the setting and the tranquility are as good as it gets. Maybe just a bad year, come may when it starts warming up again properly I might see things differently