Eggs

... oh, and Stonar lake. 88 and 89

Banned from C&DAA left me either looking forward to the occasional long haul trip to Yateley (a two hour drive) ... we had no other local or semi local Carp lakes back then apart from this old gravel pit which had been stocked with tiny Carp in the middle 1980's. These fish were still very small, but I was desperate. The lake being only 7 miles from my front door meant that I could cadge a lift off my dad or even get into a taxi. Taxi fares were quite reasonable at the time. 

I started fishing on Stonar in ??? but only because it would be the only local lake that I had access to. Stonar, famous in these parts for it's Industrial Estate, seen as you pass by headed for Sandwich in Kent,(spelt and pronounced as Snadwich) where it is 'sandwiched hee hee?' between the river Stour and the main road. 

The lake is ??? acres, the water is very deep (50 feet?) in parts and brackish. Any surrounding habitat is sparse, a few pine along the road bank and some overgrown thickets ?? and brambles along the south bank plus the odd bramble along the more open east, or river bank. There are a few reed beds but only in the shallow edges. The water being slightly salty is full of small shrimps and whatnot (whatever they are) the salt seeps in through the gravel banks from the tidal river. The deeper water does attract a few scarce winter bird species and across the years I've seen all three species of Diver, all five Grebe species and some decent diving Ducks including Scaup, Smew and Goosander. On one occasion a Little Auk, a species that breeds very high up in the Arctic circle, even overwintered. By the early 1990's, after I'd hung up my Carp roads, I became a very serious birder. I used to pop in and wander around the lake many times every winter, especially after really cold weather (which moves Ducks/Geese etc from frozen mainland Europe head to the UK as to the warmth of the gulf stream) 

The latter day Stonar had a large security fence put around it in the more recent years making viewing the lake very difficult (over the fence) locked gates C&DAA etc. 

Stonar was rumoured to hold some some large Eels and Bream, the Bream into double figures? I'd now assume the size of these Bream were erroneous or exaggerated but who really knows? If they were there it would appear that the fished had gone AWOL by the 1980's anyhow. There were many silver fish, as in Roach and Rudd, some medium sized Bream, also Perch as well I think? Not that I fished for anything other than the Carp myself. 

At some point on the middle 1980's the a decent head of very pretty little tiny Carp were introduced. These had no pull on me until I found myself stranded after having no more access to C&DAA etc etc but in ??? I decided to have a little try, more out of boredom than anything. I was soon to find out that the Carp were all very small, only into low double figures (by 1990?) but it was quite good fun, it was close to home, and it fished during the winter months too. I pretty much only ever fished during the winter there I think? 

I had the lake pretty much to myself as I recall it? That said I only really fished there during the winter months as I recall? I fished the road bank, almost certainly due to that particular part of the lake was the only part that had any habitat (I put up with the road noise from twenty feet behind me) 

Very snaggy, I caught one rather awesome looking little 5lb mirror and lost a few more and some end tackle due to the rather horrendous snags which I later found proliferated the entire lake. Or at least every swim that I tried anyhow? 

In time (how long?) I eventually found a spot that I fished most times after finding a shallower area of the lake. Even then if you cast to far from the bank there was still plenty of water out there.