I was first introduced to Thorncross lake many years ago as a much younger man. Back then, the lake had not long been constructed as an irrigation reservoir, and at the time was being used a stock pond. I was there to help out with a netting party to remove the stock in order for them to be transferred to another lake. It was a bleak winters day, there was no cover around the lake and not much in the way of grass at the time. The water level had been dropped in order to facilitate easier netting. I remember thinking what an ugly looking little pond it was. I didn't think much about Thorncross again until over a decade later when it was mentioned in an overheard conversation. Apparently the owner had taken control of the lake and stocked some Carp, but from the sound of it there wasn't much to write home about regarding size. It wasn't until about four years ago that it came to my attention again. At the time I was at a bit of a loss for something to do fishing wise, and as autumn and winter were fast approaching I decided to give Thorncross a look.
Myself and my constant fishing companion Lee, arrived one September morning to be greeted by Francis, the fishery owner. It seemed he hadn't seen anyone for some time and was surprised, (suspicious!) to see two new (unsavoury looking!), faces arriving at his fishery. He informed us that the Thorncross fish were moody and that most anglers seemed to struggle on the lake, and being the honest chap he is, told us not to expect too much. (Francis has become a good friend and later confessed that he didn't expect us to catch anything!). Now for myself and Lee that's like waving a red flag at a bull! It seemed the challenge was on!
We made our way through through the gate and onto the fishery. My first impression was that things had changed somewhat since my first visit many years earlier. The bankside vegetation had matured, with marsh grass along the margins and odd iris beds. The grass had grown lush underfoot and was now neatly mowed. A small copse had sprung up about halfway along the car park bank and beyond that some reeds. On the opposite bank, dense Willows populated reasonably heavily instantly drawing the eye to potential fish holding areas. The Willows also extended along the dam wall nearest the gate. A reed bed in the corner also seemed an obvious fish holding area. Although there was now some vegetation here and there, the lakes position means it is still very exposed to the elements. Not to mention the fact that the lake lies in the shadow of Brighstone Down, and because of this, during certain weather patterns, the Down can cause tremendous downpours of rain as the clouds pass over the top! This is exactly what happened during our first visit and we were caught in a rain/hail/thunder storm with mini tornado's! We wondered what on earth was going on and what a place this was if this happened with any regularity! It certainly makes for a dramatic backdrop though.
I don't recall why, but we ended up fishing the far end of the lake near the wooden seat. Probably we saw some fish movement which helped our decision, but either way that was where we fished. To cut a long story short, we caught fish without any trouble at all. In my experience it is often a case of you either click with a water or you don't, and After four years of fishing Thorncross I can definitely say that we clicked with it. That's not to say we have never had to work at it, because at times we have. We've had the odd few blanks but have always come back strong on the back of any, determined not to let the moody Thorncross fish get the better of us! Anyway, fishing to the gaps in the overhanging bushes on the opposite bank I think we caught seven fish between us that first session. Four to me and three to my friend. We weren't doing anything special. simply casting our regular rigs and baits into the gaps between the trees and following this up with a few boilies catapulted across. Later that day Francis came to visit to see how we were getting on and was seemingly very surprised with our result.
To be honest we were in two minds as to whether we really wanted to return to the lake for future visits, if it was this easy would it really offer the challenge we were looking for? The other thing was most of the fish were only low or scraper doubles. I think one of mine was maybe about fifteen pounds, (terrible memory these days!) but all the fish were nice and clean and in excellent condition which we felt was the only thing going for them at the time. Rumour was the lake held the odd twenty pounder but I am always sceptical until I catch said specimens myself. It was only the fact that we really didn't have much else to do at the time that made us decide to have a few more goes. It turned out to be a pivotal decision in our angling for the next few winters.
It's funny how things change. From that initial visit and not really being sure if it was for us, we went to wanting to be there every weekend. Thorncross grew on us and even got under our skin at times. The lake holds several appealing factors. It's Isolation being one, being is situated in a lovely spot, out in the middle of the countryside, barely any noise interference, apart from the odd Barry Sheen wannabe hurting along the military road behind on a Sunday afternoon it is a really quiet place. Surrounded by fields and an unfettered view of Brighstone Down. On a bright, sunny, day it's the best place in the world, watching the Para Gliders launch off the Down, the Buzzards circling overhead, the Kingfishers buzzing up and down the far bank, Kestrels and Sparrow hawks hunting and even a Red Kite gliding low over the fields opposite. Thorncross has a way of enchanting you, with it's abundance of widlife such as the aforementioned birds of prey or foxes wandering along the bank, Stoats, Rabbits, Voles all scurrying about their business, Finches, Tits, Goldcrests, Tree creepers, wrens and Warblers, the Little Grebe that is often there. Beware the Coots though! These black menaces can drive you mad if they latch onto your bait! Even after eating every last free offering they will constantly and stubbornly continue to pick up the hookbait setting off your bite alarm every five minutes and making your heart jump! Do not despair though because on numerous occasions, after suffering endless pick ups from the dastardly things I have had takes from the fish! I don't believe the Coots activity bothers the fish and indeed you can use it to your advantage if you watch them closely, they will give the fishes position away and if you see a Coot leaving the area of your bait after persistently picking it up, this is often a sign that the Carp are about and a take is imminent!
At the opposite end of the scale, when the weather is inclement Thorncross can be the worst place to be as the wind howls through the valley, and the rain pours down and you have to hold on to your brolly to prevent it being ripped out of the ground! We even fished once as it started to snow, and caught fish! Truthfully though, this all adds to it's charm and as long as you have a decent day shelter most of the time you can get comfortable.
Thorncross looking serene and Beautiful
Autumnal session
Whatever it was that drew us in about the lake, we have found ourselves fishing it for the last few autumns and winters. We have got to know the lake and it's inhabitants pretty intimately. The fish are moody, some of the moodiest I have come across in over 30 years angling. They have their preferences food wise and there is no doubt that they are very keyed into the natural food chain in the lake. Whether it be digging for bloodworm in the soft clay silt bed at the bottom of the lake, or chasing fly hatches up through the water column or hunting Dragonfly and damsel larvae and we have even seen them fry feeding in the margins. Thrashing their tails hard in the edges to stun them before mopping the disoriented and injured fry up. The Thorncross fish are keyed into very small food items. I think in the early stages when the fish were first introduced into the lake they had to rely heavily on the natural food as introduced supplement from anglers was few and far between and unreliable. We have found that the smaller the boilie the better. Ten or Twelve millimetre boilies seem more effective than larger offerings. We realised this quite early on in our fishing thankfully, after testing different sizes side by side, it was always the smaller baits that went and the larger one's were left untouched. No doubt they could prossibly be weaned onto larger sizes with some prebaiting though, we never attempted to, as we prefer smaller baits anyway. Most of the year the water is quite coloured, mostly due to the fish activity but no doubt at times daphnia and algae play there part as the lake is so rich in light and oxygen. In the winter however the lake can clear right off, not quite to tap water clarity, but smaller baits work in the anglers favour during the colder months and allow you to fine everything down. I believe the Thorncross fish are very aware of end tackle, particularly at this time of year, so matching the lake bed colour is important, especially if certain areas of the margin spots get 'cleaned off' I believe the tackle can stand out like a sore thumb on smoothly polished areas. Often moving the hookbait slightly away from these areas can get the takes coming again.
The most obvious places to present a hookbait are to the far margin willow bushes. The fish do spend an awful lot of time tucked up under the branches tight to the bank, but even so, tempting them to pick up the hookbait can still be difficult. The temptation is to fish as tight to the branches as you can, and whilst this will get you pick up's, strategic baiting can help to draw them slightly away. Always fish with clutches screwed up as tight as they will go and baitrunner mechanisms disengaged so the fish cannot take a millimetre of line! Sit as close to your rods as possible and be constantly alert for bites. Once you get a take keep the pressure on to steer them away from the snags. Most of the time they seem to kite along the front and away from the bushes, but initially they can try and get in under them, especially if fishing directly across to your spots which at least one rod may be if you are using three rods. Better to fish at a slight angle to your spot which seems to encourage them to kite away from danger rather than dive straight into it. I use Fluorocarbon mainline most of the time and with it's limited stretch I have found it ideal for Thorncross. The underwater topography also has a huge bearing on where to fish here. As I mentioned earlier it was originally desiginated as an irrigation reservoir, so it was dug for depth to hold as much water as possible. If you ask Francis to show you his pictures you will see what I mean. Basically the bottom of the lake is flat and uninterrupted throughout its length with no discernible features. There is a slight depth variation between either end of the lake of about half a metre, but that's it. The bottom is also soft and silty. Introducing any amount of bait in this soft, puffy, clay/silt will result in the fish going into a frenzy, but it is very difficult to get them to pick up a bait here, plus it ends up colouring the whole lake up heavily, such is the nature of the lake bed. It is possible to present at the bottom of the steep slopes where the lake bed and bottom of the slope meet. We have had fish from here as the bottom is slightly firmer, however it can still be hit and miss. For these reasons I think, most anglers tend to fish directly opposite to the far margin. and to the Willows. The margins here are pretty firm and of course the fish frequent the bushes for cover and no doubt they know that at times they will find introduced food here.
As time went on and we fished the lake more and more we began to establish certain feeding patterns however, the more we, and other anglers fished, the inhabitants seemed to feel the pressure, and the feeding times have changed. Initially we would have a chance of a few fish from when we arrived, normally about 8 o clock in the morning, to 11.30am, then we would experience a lull for a couple of hours and then from about 1.30 pm to 3.30 we would catch again. This went on like clockwork for the first couple of years but this last couple of winters we have regularly had pick ups within minutes, even seconds of putting the baits out first thing! Such has been the regularity, I got into the habit of tackling one rod up as quickly as possible and getting it out straight away, and numerous times have had fish before I have even got the second rod out, occasionally I have not even got the bobbin on the first rod and the line has been pulled out of my fingers! Then We would experience a huge gap and things would go quiet from about 10.30am until 2.30pm whereupon we would have another little flurry of activity before leaving at 4pm. It was obvious to us what was happening. The majority of the fish were clearly feeding under the cover of darkness, probably pre-dawn and dusk and just into dark. Please bare in mind these are winter feeding patterns and only our experiences. Although I have done limited fishing here during the warmer months the feeding periods should be extended during the spring and summer months.
Stock wise, after several winters, we have had very few recaptures. I estimate I alone have caught an average of 50-60 fish a winter from Thorncross, and bar a handful of recognisable fish I would say recaptures have been limited. My estimation is that Thorncross contains around 150+ fish ranging from 10lb to 27lb. The average size currently, is probably around 15lb. The average size of fish has definitely increased over the last few years. Last winter I had a fair few upper double and Twenty pound plus fish to 23lb+. This winter I have had a good amount of upper doubles but only a handful of Twenty pound plus fish up to 24lb+ This is mainly because we started late, not until December and haven't actually been able to fish much due to Lockdown and weather conditions. When we first started, the average size was around 12-13lb, a Twenty pounder was a rarity and seemed to be reserved only for the handful of Simmo's that were left. Exactly how many fish are in Thorncross is difficult to say, I estimate 150+ simply judging by the numbers of fish caught, both mine and others, and the regularity with which they are caught. I could be way out of course, but I don't think so. The fish have always spawned very successfully and I know there are young fish coming through all the time. There are fish of various shapes and strains, The majority are AJS fish, a handful of Simmo's left from when it was a stock pond and there are definitely some hybrids of both from spawnings. When we first started fishing Thorncross, a large proportion of the fish we caught were Mirrors with the odd common. This winter I have had a large number of Commons, smaller fish of low to mid doubles which have clearly been spawned and are coming through. I think the bait I have been using has been partly responsible for singling out the Common's, being more attractive to them however, we never caught them as smaller fish, so the bait definitely has had an influence.
In my mind, for a day only fishery there are plenty of fish to go at. Yes, they may not be as big as some other fisheries but the bonus is that there are some really nice looking fish. It isn't always about size. There are a variety of scales patterns, some lightly scaled mirrors, some almost naked, some heavily and some almost fully scaled. Then there are the Commons, Long fish, short deep bodied fish, the truth is you never quite know what is on the end of your line and each one is a surprise. I dislike fisheries where the fish are all from the same stocking, they tend to be peas in a pod, but Thorncross has liquorice allsorts! The great thing is they all fight hard. Incredibly so. The deep water allows them plenty of room to get up a head of steam and and the fight can be thrilling. Add in that the lake is highly oxygenated as it hardly ever is free of a wind and they have plenty of tackle testing energy! During the winter when the water is clearer the fish tend to darken off in colour and they look absolutely stunning!
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