Location:
Lakeside, Bielby, Nr Pocklington, York. YO42 4JP
Telephone: 01759 318100 www.lakesidewebsite.com
All purpose built pegs.
After 4.00pm £4.50 Purchased on the bank.
No Juveniles
Every now and again you come across a fishery that’s virtually on your doorstep, Lakeside coarse Fishery at Bielby, nr Pocklington, 12 miles south of York is one of those.
I had seen the signs for Lakeside on the Hull/York road many times but never gave it a second thought until last week when Stu and I received an invitation to come along and try it out.
The fishery boasts a large head of mixed fish including some big bream up to 10.5 lbs and carp up to 27lbs so with the car loaded up to the roof with tackle and a variety of baits, off we went.
The 6 acre lake is set within a caravan park and is an extended gravel pit having been excavated some 7 years ago by the present owner, Richard.
They say first impressions count and as we drove down the gravel driveway into the car park the lake came into view and those impressions were Wow!
Neatly manicured grass, established plants and trees and not a piece of litter to be seen surround the lake.
Take a look at the photo on the top-right of a typical peg and also the one below which was taken stood on the top of a banking for an overall view
There are two small islands but not within casting distance unless you choose to use heavy feeders or weights but the bottom is full of features with many shelves and gravely areas within easy reach. Take a bit of time before you start and plumb your swim and you’ll find them.
Stu and I chose our pegs as this was to be a bit more than a day’s fishing. I was armed to the hilt with my ‘noddy’ gear whilst Stu came prepared with a barrow load of carping tackle – The Noddy vs The Carper
!!There was a fair wind blowing the length of the lake and we could hear the calling ’Fish into the wind, fish into the wind . It was a bit like the woman in Poltergeist telling Carol Anne to go into the light lol.
There are few rules on this fishery other than barbless hooks, no boilies, groundbait in moderation and surprisingly keepnets can be used but must be emptied after 6 hours.
I managed to find where a shelf was sloping away at 9mtrs in 7ft of water and set up a rig with a long stemmed float and 4 inches overdepth to try and present a static bait as by now the wind had increased and the waves were starting to resemble the North Sea.
To my right, a willow was over hanging into the water where there was 4ft of water. I set up a lighter rig for use here later.
There medium sized balls of groundbait laced with chopped worm, sweetcorn and micro-pellets was cupped out and allowed to do it’s stuff
whilst I sorted the rest of my gear out.Meanwhile Stu had set up his rods with big pit reels and method feeders; he was aiming for the islands. The first feeder splashed down into the mouth of the channel between the two islands, the second about 10ft short of the largest island. Hookbaits were worm and corn on one rig and an expander pellet on the other and it wasn’t long before the buzzer on the worm rod was twitching as something showed an interest.
That something was a Common Carp around 5lb which slipped the hook just as it was about to be netted – he can’t have wanted that one
Out went my rig with half a worm on a size 14 to 4lb line straight through.There was a fair bit of drift and the waves were reaching six inches high at times but with the aid of a rest I managed to keep the pole steady’ish and tucked the tip under the water to try and aid presentation.
My 4inches over depth looked to be too short so this was extended to 10 inches with the bulk of my shot placed 2 inches above this. It worked, the float dipped and slid away and a cracking Ide of about 1.5lb came reluctantly to the net.
The wind was definitely against us but this didn’t spoil the fishing too much and I steadily caught Ide and Chub up to 2.5lb for the next 4 hours,
Stu meanwhile was being plagued the Ide and Chub which he loosely referred to as ‘nuisance fish’ 
but he still managed to grin when landing them.
The next couple of hours were quiet as bites dropped off so I put out another 3 medium balls of groundbait and switched rigs to fish alongside the willow.
Here with maggot I took roach after roach albeit some were on the small side
And which became rather overshadowed by an 8lb Common that Stu landed.
Back to the other line and first drop in resulted in this cracking 1lb 2oz Crucian Carp, a new PB for me
A while later and the wind dropped off and the conditions were now a lot better so I shallowed up to fish just off the bottom. Bite indication was also improved and the Tench started to come out to play, feeding on worm, castor and sweetcorn. Pellet didn’t seem to do much good but they might not have been ready for it on this venue. But then again some friends popped in to pay a visit and they liked them
A few more fish were landed between us and Stu managed a new personal best Tench, tipping the scales at 5lb
And a few more Carp plus a ‘real’ Bream
Noddy vs Carper ?? For shear numbers of fish it had to be me with the pole but for quality alas the Carper won
Lakeside Coarse Fishery can be found here www.lakesidewebsite.com or telephone 01759 318100.
Day tickets are £7.00 for two rods, £6.00 for one and £4.00 after 4.00pm.
There are toilets onsite and a full time warden, Terry, who is more than happy to assist if needed. Access is good to all pegs and caravan pitches with electric hook-ups and showering facilities are available for a modest fee.
On a final note, only one Bream showed which isn’t suprising given the conditions but they are there in numbers and up to 10.5lb+ as this photo shows’ part of a 200lb+ morning session !!
Some may recognise Simon in the photo of the nearby Paradise Leisure Fishery (www.paradiseleisure.com) , who referred us onto Richard for the invite – ugly bugga ‘int he 
lol
Thanks Simon for the referral, Richard and Terry for a great day, Stu for the company, me mam for having me, the missus for letting me go……….lol
Dave