"...Wheres the best peg?..."

Badger Lake

At one-and-a-half acres and with 27 staged pegs, Badger Lake is the biggest of the three Oham Lakes' waters.

With a peninsula, two islands, a large sunken island and several ledges, it has plenty of features to fish to... and plenty to fish for. Under the wooden bridge there is also a narrow channel which leads to a smaller pool called the 'deep hole' where depths drop to 10 feet in places but where they average between seven and eight feet.

The main Badger Lake, however, is much shallower with the top end around and between the islands varying between two and four feet. Much of the remainder of the water is between five and six feet in depth although it shallows dramatically in the centre where a maximum of two feet of water can be found on the top of the sunken island and about a foot on a couple of ledges run parallel with the peninsula in the main body of the lake. There is also a shelf about two feet deep just out from Peg 2 as you come onto the water.

Like our other ponds waters, Badger is stocked with a variety of coarse fish including common, mirror, grass, leather, koi and crucian carp; bream, roach, rudd and tench; and even chub and barbel. There are also a few eels to over 4lbs, although these rarely show.

The carp are obviously the biggest fish with both commons and mirrors running to 30lbs, the grass carp and leathers to 10lbs and the koi to about 5lbs. The crucians, which average between 2lbs and 3lbs, include several very attractive fan-tails crucians.
For those interested in the silver fish, all our ponds are very well stoked with bream run to about 8lbs and a lot of fish in the 2lbs.

When fishing Badger there is no need to fish at a distance because the water is renowned for its margin fishing, particularly near to the banks of reeds which fringe the water at various points.

Mallard Lake

The first water you see on the right hand side as you come into Oham Lakes, Mallard Lake is about three-quarters of an acre in size and holds 20 well-spaced staged pegs. Situated right next to the car park, tackle shop and cafe and having an even bank it is an ideal water for disabled anglers.

Unlike Badger, Mallard Lake has a shelf about 18 inches below the surface which runs out from the bank for about three feet before dropping to a flat bottom where about 4ft 6ins can be found all over. There is just one small island near the entrance end of the lake and several banks of reeds which provide cover for anglers.

Although the size of fish in Mallard are not as large as those in Badger, much the same species are present. Because there is little over 10lbs, this makes Mallard a more popular water with general pleasure anglers who do not want to fish heavy and risk hooking into one of the bigger carp.

Although the fish are smaller, Mallard it well stocked and a great water for less experienced anglers who will catch well. Because it is shallow with a flat bottom, Mallard is an easy water to fish and once again you don't have to go far out to get stuck into a decent net of fish.

The Puddle

If you want to catch a lot of fish quickly or go somewhere where the children or inexperienced anglers can have a good time - head for The Puddle, the half-acre doughnut shaped water at the far end of our site.

A nice, easy shallow water with about 18 inches around the sides and three feet half-way to the island, The Puddle doesn't have any formal pegs, so you can fish where you want.

Designed to be a nice, easy water to fish it is absolutely stuffed with small carp to 8oz and silver fish. There are tench to about 2lbs. There are also a few surprises - not least of which is a 17lb mirror carp and a lot of nice barbel up to 2lbs.

Add in a healthy head of golden rudd and roach to about 1lb and you have a delightful little 'fish a chuck' water. An added benefit of The Puddle is that it is situated right next to the caravan and camping side so parents can keep an eye on their youngsters when they are not actually fishing with them.