Brief description of fishery:
Three very different waters all fed by the same stream. The closest water to the car park is a classic weedy Tench water and has a veryi nteresting array of spits and bays. It can be very weedy and contains a very good head of Tench of all sizes but up to around 6lb, Roach to 1lb, Bream to7lb+, Perch to 3lb+, Rudd to 1lb, the odd Crucian Carp and a very low stock of Carp but they can be found to around 25lb.
Each season sees big bags of Tench landed with individual fish ranging from a few ounces to just in excess of 6lb. The Bream and Carp and especially the Crucian Carp can be much more elusive but good bags of Rudd, Roach and Perch can be caught too along with the odd decent Eel which can be troublesome in the weedy water.
We would suggest taking a rake in the summer months, but those that fish it regularly will know where you can fish without needing the aid of a rake, so some watercraft or local knowledge may be required by the newbie.
The smaller, very shallow, reedy and weedy central pond holds Carp to low doubles for those that like to stalk their prey, and some silver fish including small Tench.
The furthest lake from the car park holds Bream to 7lb, Roach, Rudd and a good head of Carp to around 20lb along with the odd Big Ide and Perch to 3lb+. for those that don’t mind the fairly long walk from the carpark.
Incidentally the Ide were only originally stocked into the first lake but no longer exist in there, it seems they died out a few years ago. However the lakes can flood together and those that remain in the top lake must have made their way up there under flood conditions and still managed to thrive.
The club try to concentrate the Carp to the top lake by moving them from the near lake back up to the top to try and keep them from taking over a precious classic Tench water where the Tench breed very successfully. This is hard to achieve however due to the fact that the waters often flood together.
Future plans include ideas to prevent easy fish movement between the lakes in times of flooding.
The Near lake was subject to a very early stocking of Barbel when fish farms first tried to develop a strain that could thrive in a stillwater. Nobody ever caught one.
A handful of attempts at stocking Crucian Carp over the years have also proven to have had limited success, with only the odd one coming out here or there.
We are going to attempt a Crucian stocking this winter to complement those that the EA gifted us in June 2022, along with some Skimmer Bream. These are scheduled to go in this winter (2023)
Recent Stockings include…
400x small Crucian Carp (June 2022)
Open April 1 to September 30
Closed October 1 to January 31
Open February 1 to March 31
Dusk to dawn
Strictly no night fishing on any of the three waters
Address
Heybridge
Off Chigborough Road, Heybridge CM9 4RB
Map reference                   878/086
What3Words Entrance location    samplers.bagels.vast
Access & Parking
Take the B1026 from Maldon / Heybridge towards Goldhanger via Goldhanger Road. After approx. 1 mile turn left into Chigborough Road. After half a mile find the MAS sign posted gate on the right. This is the ONLY water you WILL REQUIRE a KEY for. ACCESS IS STRICTLY THROUGH THIS GATE ONLY – NO OTHER ACCESS ROUTE TO BE USED.
Species
- Bream
- Crucian Carp
- Common Carp
- Eel
- Ide
- Mirror Carp
- Perch
- Roach
- Rudd
- Tench