Welcome back to Kilnsey – a winter update on the fishing lakes
We’re looking forward to welcoming anglers back to the fly fishing lakes on Saturday 24 January. After being closed since early December, it’ll be good to see familiar faces back on the bank, and to welcome a few new ones too. (Please note that the Family Pond remains CLOSED and will reopen at Easter).
What’s been happening
While we’ve been closed, the main lake has been fully dredged. This removes built-up silt and old vegetation and gives the lake a proper reset. For a while there’ll be less natural cover and food, so we’ll be supplementary feeding the fish as things settle and vegetation re-establishes.
With heavy machinery on site during a very wet month, some banks and verges were damaged, so we’ve put in new footpaths in places to keep access safe.
The area where the pier used to be remains wet and boggy and will stay closed until spring, once the grass has had time to recover.
Fishing at Kilnsey – a few changes
We’ve also taken the opportunity to review how the fishery operates.
- Our stocking policy is being updated, with the aim of having more larger fish (8lb+) in the lakes, including both rainbows and browns.
- We’ve made some sensible updates to the fishing rules, which are available on the website and will be provided on arrival.
- For safety, all anglers, including those who’ve booked online, will now need to sign in on arrival and sign out when leaving.
Looking ahead
The dredging of the main lake has been a major investment, and later this winter we also plan to dredge the lower (roadside) lake. Over the year ahead we’ll continue improving footpaths and install a dedicated fishing platform for disabled anglers.
A note on prices and tickets
Fishing prices at Kilnsey have been unchanged for four years, but rising costs mean we’ve taken the difficult decision to increase prices.
On average, the increase is below inflation, and our loyalty card remains in place, offering regular anglers around 10% off. Updated prices are on the website.
Following a recent poll, we’ve also simplified our tickets. From reopening, we’ll offer:
- 4-hour catch & release
- 8-hour catch & release
- 4-hour with 1 fish
- 8-hour with 2 fish
Thanks
Thanks, as always, for your patience and continued support. Everything we’ve done is about looking after the lakes and keeping Kilnsey fishing at the standard it should be.
We’ll see you back on the bank from Saturday 24 January.
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