Clearwater Lake, nr Mattersey, nr Retford

[barbel master]

has anybody fished clearwater lake ???? im thinking of going there on my birthday , is it any good?

[nodrog48]

i have the fish are monsters i had 10 on an got 2 out its a good fishery u can get car to most pegs
there are a few bait bans an dip net

[Vampy99]

--- Written on Wednesday 18/04/2011 ---

I’ve been fishing Clearwater regularly for the past 4 years now – the following is just from my own experience.

I focus mainly on pegs 50-70; this is the bay furthest away from the house. I’ve tried other areas of the lake but for me this has been the most productive.

For tackle I use a 1.75lb test curve rod designed for Barbel fishing, 12lb mainline straight through to a size 6-10 eyed hook. I use a very small waggler float, usually something that takes a couple of no. 4 shot.

I don’t sit on the platform, I sit a couple of feet back from it, & bait up either side of the platform around 1 rod-length out. It’s around 4ft deep here. Initially I bait up quite heavily using sweetcorn, luncheonmeat & small pellets. I use luncheonmeat predominately as hookbait, however if the bites dry-up I will try bread or sweetcorn.

If I’m not getting any bites I will switch between the 2 swims I’ve baited up. One thing I’ve noticed is that if I catch one carp 80% of the time I will catch another within 30mins, they seem to travel in shoals of 2 or 3. I’ve had carp out up to 18lb, & my average fish size is around the 8lb mark.

The best time of day to fish is definitely in the morning before 10am. After this it seems to go dead until around 3/4pm. If there’s been some wind during the day I’ll take note of the flow of water & when it does get later in the day I’ll walk to where the water has been flowing to all day. Every now & again I’ll pick off the odd carp here on floating bread.

I’ve witnessed many match fisherman fishing with the pole 5 or 6 metres out, using a size 20 hook & 3lb line. Likewise people using the feeder out to the middle - you’re wasting your time. Stick to the margins.

A couple of years ago the lake was stocked with Ide & small carp all around the 4oz mark – the small carp seem to have disappeared but the Ide are ever apparent – I’ve had them up to 3lb this year. They will quite easily attempt to swallow a lump of meat this size of a £2 coin so be persistent when the float is getting little knocks all day.

The lake is about 12 acres in size & is spring fed. The spring runs into the lake from under peg 8 – this is where the carp anglers tend to fish. I happen to know from talking to a chap who caught it the lake record is 38lb (that’s if he’s not lying, but the ad in the paper does say carp to 30lb…).
You can bag up all day on Ide/Roach/Perch/Rudd/Skimmers if you fish with 2 maggots down the edge, just be prepared in case you hook a carp. I’ve caught a couple of Chub in the past, however I’ve never caught a Tench.

There are usually matches on Saturday’s, but there are always pegs available for pleasure fishing. You can get the car to pretty much any peg, the suspension does take a bit of a hammering on the way round though. There is no café on site, there is only one portable toilet on site. Day tickets are £6, you can fish 2 rods for £8.