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Hampshire Venues?

Carl Massey

Carl Massey

Member
Now the rivers are having a rest I was wondering about giving a few of the fairly local lakes a go until spawning season. Being a Cheshire lad I had an abundance of options with meres/lakes and ponds but now living just east of Southampton near the coast I'm struggling to find anywhere to suit me. I really don't want to spend time round small ponds looking other anglers in the eye, but fancy some larger venues for general pleasure fishing. Any ideas please on something within an hour or so that's over 5 acres in size and isn't what could be termed a carp venue?
 
Carl Massey said:
Now the rivers are having a rest I was wondering about giving a few of the fairly local lakes a go until spawning season. Being a Cheshire lad I had an abundance of options with meres/lakes and ponds but now living just east of Southampton near the coast I'm struggling to find anywhere to suit me. I really don't want to spend time round small ponds looking other anglers in the eye, but fancy some larger venues for general pleasure fishing. Any ideas please on something within an hour or so that's over 5 acres in size and isn't what could be termed a carp venue?
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Difficult to find a large water that is not known for its carp fishing.
You may have already researched these.
Local angling clubs with waters of about that size are Eastleigh, Portsmouth angling, RN and RM ( Dryad lake) some local clubs have exchange tickets for Dryad I believe. Park gate royal British legion (Swanwick lakes may be a bit small for you ), Butlocks heath reservoir may be close to you. Timsbury ac, further afield Christchurch ac have some large lakes, probably ringwood AC too. There are some large lakes south of Chichester. Hatchet pond in the new forrest. Don’t expect any these to not to have carp.
You can go a long way from Southampton in an hour I guess you could get to gravel pits in the Thames valley.
 
Thanks Ralph for the suggestions so please note I'm not an anti-carp person. I spent a lot of time in the 80's and 90s doing my carping stuff, but also mingled with all other sorts of fishing for the lovely other species we have. In those times I was in the minority when fishing so now it just feels like waters are carp waters or not. I may be wrong and out there we might have some places to fish where all are welcome, whether if coming down for a few hours or those that want to spend days. My time is limited now so I like those short sessions where I can be focused, and should the need arise I'll gladly get out a heavier rod to try and get a carp out on the surface or with due stealth close in. That's the sort of fishing I enjoy now.
I'll have to do some homework and see what's available here local to me. I will also be Up North at times maybe trying out those special meres in Cheshire and Shropshire. One in particular (with a wizarding connection) haunts me still as after half a dozen visits I've still not caught a thing. The place still draws me back as it just seems to a perfect a place to be fishing. We can but try.
 
The ‘one in particular’ (if i have the right one) was my favourite water in the whole country (& i travelled all over!) in the 80’s & early 90’s. Big bream (at the time) nice Tench & numerous 2lb + roach. It was a local club ticket at the time & then taken on by a big, well known club and is now one of those Carp waters you are trying to escape! I dropped out of the club that has it as i was so disappointed with what they had done to the place
 
Carl Massey said:
Thanks Ralph for the suggestions so please note I'm not an anti-carp person. I spent a lot of time in the 80's and 90s doing my carping stuff, but also mingled with all other sorts of fishing for the lovely other species we have. In those times I was in the minority when fishing so now it just feels like waters are carp waters or not. I may be wrong and out there we might have some places to fish where all are welcome, whether if coming down for a few hours or those that want to spend days. My time is limited now so I like those short sessions where I can be focused, and should the need arise I'll gladly get out a heavier rod to try and get a carp out on the surface or with due stealth close in. That's the sort of fishing I enjoy now.
I'll have to do some homework and see what's available here local to me. I will also be Up North at times maybe trying out those special meres in Cheshire and Shropshire. One in particular (with a wizarding connection) haunts me still as after half a dozen visits I've still not caught a thing. The place still draws me back as it just seems to a perfect a place to be fishing. We can but try.
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Happy to help, I don’t do much still water fishing any longer so it was a bit of a struggle to remember them,
I did not mention Broadlands lake and there are other lakes nearby, I think controlled by test valley angling club.
I’m also east of Southampton, Warsash, so if you discover a hidden jem somewhere let me know.
 
As mentioned by Ralph Harris earlier, both Ringwood and Christchurch clubs have some good gravel pit/lake fishing in the Ringwood area (mainly on the north side of Ringwood, off the A338). Mainly carp oriented but also offer opportunities for tench, bream etc. Eastleigh & District AC also have a range of lakes/ponds a bit closer to you (including one near Wickham) which offer potential for species other than carp. The only downside at the moment is that the M27 can be a nightmare at times, particularly where the ‘Smart’ motorway works are ongoing (until 2026 😤) between Southampton Airport and Whiteley.

Good luck and hope you find something that suits.


Dave
 
I'm a guest member for Christchurch so will have a better look at the options around there, including Ringwood. It's a bit further away for short Spring visits and times when the rivers aren't open but will see how things go. For Eastleigh they don't accept new members until 1st May but their waters look interesting as they also offer some river opportunities. I'm in Lee not far from Ralph so the M27 is a little troublesome but even without roadworks it's busy at work travel times.
There's also the big water at the bottom of the road to wander about with a lure rod in order to tempt a Bass or Mackerel. I shouldn't moan really but being fairly new to the area it's good to ask what venues are out there that cover our fishing at this time of year. Thanks for the feedback.
 
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