A former gravel pit where extraction stopped in 2000, each peg on the new Quarry Specimen Carp Lake has its own individual fishing hut, complete with staging onto the bank, which is large enough for anglers' beds.

An unhooking mat, landing net and weigh sling are supplied with each cabin.

Costing £35 for two rods per person for 24 hours, the new water is deepest close to the railway bridge where up to eight feet of water can be found just three rod lengths out before dropping to a maximum of 12 feet along the spine of the lake.

Whilst the banks are shallow between Pegs 7 to 11, they shelve steeper along the railway bank feom Pegs 1 to 7.

Although much of the bottom is gravel and sand with some silt, there is a large open bed of gravel out from Pegs 16 to 18.

In summer there is also a weed bed out from Pegs 14 and 15 which tends to hold a lot of fish.

As yet there are no known 'hot spots'.

Because the water can become quite weedy in summer with silkweed, most anglers tend to use solid pva bags or pva foam around the bait.

Another alternative is to use chod rigs and to lead about to find clearer spots, of which there are plenty.

In calm weather when the surface is like glass, floating baits do well, particularly with anglers targeting fish in their swims or luring them to the surface with free offerings of dog biscuits or bread crust.

At other times the faithful old maggot also does the trick, with a maggot clip loaded with 15 to 20 wriggling baits on a medium sized clip on a D-ring taking plenty of fish in the right conditions.

The current lake record stands at 49lb 5oz for common carp and 48lb 4oz for mirrors.

There are between 50 and 60 fish over 30lbs including known 40lb fish with the average size now around the 30lb mark.

Because of the size of the fish in the Quarry Specimen Carp Lake, anglers must use at least 15lb line and a minimum Size 10 hook, although most anglers use anything between a Size 4 and a Size 10.

A multitude of different baits work on the Quarry, but Baden Hall stipulates that only freezer baits must be used and not shelf life boilies.

It also pays to talk to the staff in Reception to find out which baits are working well.

Access to the new water is between 12pm and 2pm and anglers must be ready to depart by noon the following day as this is a 'lock-in' water.

The Quarry Lake is one of three of Baden Hall's specimen lakes and has 18 single pegs.

The fishery supplies cradle weight slings and landing nets which are kept in containers situated on the pegs on all three of the specimen lakes.

There is also an age restriction policy of 18 years to fish all three of the specimen lakes plus a strict ruling of no dogs, visitors or companions being allowed.

Bookings must be made leaving a non - refundable deposit to be paid in advance to secure swims.

Bait can also be purchased from Baden Hall's fully stocked tackle and bait shop located in Reception.

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