The Old Lake

Westcott UK

Gallery image of The Old Lake, Westcott UK
Gallery image of The Old Lake, Westcott UK
Gallery image of The Old Lake, Westcott UK
Gallery image of The Old Lake, Westcott UK
Gallery image of The Old Lake, Westcott UK
Size of lake icon

SIZE

12 acres

Number of swims icon

SWIMS

75

Number of anglers icon

ANGLERS

-

Carp stock level icon

STOCK

Good

Carp weight up-to icon

CARP

30lb +

Lake difficulty icon

DIFFICULTY

3/5

Lake map available icon

LAKE MAP

Yes

Night fishing allowed icon

NIGHT FISHING

No

The Old Lake

This 200-year-old tree-lined Victorian estate lake surrounded by irises and lilies covers 12 acres and has 75 pegs. Old Bury Hill, or the ‘Old Lake’ as it is known, holds a fantastic head of specimen carp, with several 30s and plenty of doubles and 20s, and is also noted for huge catches of specimen tench and bream, and outstanding winter predator sport with numerous double-figure zander and pike.

Fishing is available from both bank and boat, the lake’s purpose-built punts giving access to the famous ‘Jungle’ area, which is noted for its huge catches of specimen tench.

Probably the oldest, prettiest and arguably most prolific commercial fishery you will have the pleasure of wetting a line in, Old Bury Hill is a tree-lined and lily-fringed 12-acre estate lake bursting with fish. Maintained as a traditional, mixed coarse fishery, the Old Lake boasts a huge head of quality carp, tench and bream, along with an abundance of roach, rudd, perch, crucian carp, chub, pike and zander, providing all-year-round fishing.

Among the specimens are carp of over 30 lb, bream of over 10 lb, tench of 9 lb, zander to 16 lb, crucian carp to 4 lb 8 oz (caught in summer 2016) with perch, roach and rudd.

The tactics adopted range from hair-rigged boilies by carp anglers to pole or feeder by match anglers, and waggler by pleasure anglers. The fishing is relatively straightforward and huge catches are a regular feature on this large, prolific lake, especially in spring and summer. A five-hour match catch of 168 lb was recorded in 2017 from the Long Bank, and John Houseman and Chris Tulley once shared a 500 lb haul from a boat, which included tench and bream to over 8 lb.

Individual hauls of 100 bream in a pleasure session have been recorded, of fish averaging 4 lb apiece, and the bream are remarkably resistant to cold weather, providing match anglers with good bags of fish even when they have had to break a hole in the ice to fish their peg.

The water recirculation regime on the Old Lake ensures plenty of bites, because the constant ‘flow’ keeps the fish moving and feeding. The deeper water off the front bank is a great place for big bags of winter ‘slabs’, with chopped worm and casters in feeders a good tactic, though ‘tea-bags’ of pellets in small PVA mesh parcels is also popular with match and pleasure anglers.

All 75 swims have large, wooden platforms, ensuring comfort and enough room for seatboxes, bait-waiters or rod pods and shelters, with plenty of room between pegs. Multiple catches of double-figure and 20 lb carp with the chance of a 30-pounder is what capable carp anglers can expect from Old Bury Hill. It’s a big carp action paradise. 

A tremendous stock of mirrors, commons, leathers and linears and even a brightly coloured koi provide plenty of variety. Mornings and evenings are incredibly productive times, and even short trips can bring multiple hauls on boilies.

In winter, predators provides access to arguably the finest day ticket specimen zander fishing on offer, with numbers of double-figure fish reported each winter. In the right conditions the action is fast and furious from bank and boat. And with pike also present, there is variety in the predator fishing, too. The pike and zander season opens on October 1 each year and continues until March 14. Lures can be used, as well as deadbaits (small chunks of fish seem to work very well for the zander), but there is a barbless single-hooks-only rule at Bury Hill, for the protection of the fish and for easier unhooking, so leave your trebles at home.

Facilities

  • Bait Available
  • Tackle Hire
  • Expert Guide
  • Bait Boats
  • Rowing Boats
  • Lockbox
  • Disabled Access
  • Yes
  • -
  • Yes
  • -
  • Yes
  • -
  • Yes
  • Toilets
  • Food
  • Showers
  • Hot Water
  • BBQ
  • Car Parking
  • Dogs Allowed
  • Yes
  • -
  • -
  • -
  • No
  • Yes
  • Yes

Specifications

Use:

Type:

Size:

Swims

Max Anglers:

Stock:

Carp Weight:

Difficulty:

Night Fishing:

Fishing

Day Ticket Water

12 acres

75

-

Good

30lb +

3/5

No

Rules

• There is no access to the fishery before the arrival of the bailiff, please refer to the fishery’s opening and closing times • There is no fishing outside of the permitted times – there is strictly no night fishing • Access is only permitted to the public areas, please do not climb gates or trespass • Fish only from the platforms provided, please do not fish between swims • All nets must be dipped before starting to fish, dip tanks are located at each lake • All fish must be returned to the water immediately, do not use keepnets or sacks to retain fish • Anyone found killing fish and/or removing fish will be prosecuted • When returning fish to the water, you must use a sling, zipped unhooking mat or landing net regardless of the distance being carried • Use only barbless hooks – barbed hooks are strictly banned • All forms of fixed lead are banned – all leads must be free running • Rods are not to be left unattended at any time or for any reason • Please be considerate when using buzzers; please turn the sound down as noise travels • Mobile telephone ringing tone volumes should also be kept to minimum and ideally turned on to vibrate • You must be in possession of an unhooking mat for all forms of fishing, we sell general mats and specimen mats when carp and predator fishing in the shop • All fish being photographed must be held over an unhooking mat at all times – photographs should be taken kneeling down under no circumstances should you hold fish standing up • Fish must be weighed using a sling, zipped unhooking mat or landing net. • Particle baits are banned with the exception of sweet corn, hemp & carp pellet, the use of cat and dog food is not allowed • Take all litter, discarded line and unused bait home or place in the waste bins provided by the boathouse and in the car park. • Do not cut or otherwise damage bank-side vegetation • Do not disturb wildlife please advise a member of staff as soon as possible should any wildlife become hurt or injured, hooked or entangled with line, or if line becomes snagged on trees or bushes or on any underwater snag during your visit in order that this can be immediately removed • We do allow dogs onto the fishery, however they must be kept on a lead at all times, you must clean up after them and they must not be noisey • Do not light any fires and do not burn the grass when using any form of cooking equipment • The use of BBQ’s is strictly banned • Strictly no picnics • Toilets are available close to the lake; please use them • Alcohol is not to be brought onto the fishery • Catch reports and photographs of any notable fish caught would be appreciated for our website and notice board

  • Description
    The Old Lake
    This 200-year-old tree-lined Victorian estate lake surrounded by irises and lilies covers 12 acres and has 75 pegs. Old Bury Hill, or the ‘Old Lake’ as it is known, holds a fantastic head of specimen carp, with several 30s and plenty of doubles and 20s, and is also noted for huge catches of specimen tench and bream, and outstanding winter predator sport with numerous double-figure zander and pike.
    
    Fishing is available from both bank and boat, the lake’s purpose-built punts giving access to the famous ‘Jungle’ area, which is noted for its huge catches of specimen tench.
    
    Probably the oldest, prettiest and arguably most prolific commercial fishery you will have the pleasure of wetting a line in, Old Bury Hill is a tree-lined and lily-fringed 12-acre estate lake bursting with fish. Maintained as a traditional, mixed coarse fishery, the Old Lake boasts a huge head of quality carp, tench and bream, along with an abundance of roach, rudd, perch, crucian carp, chub, pike and zander, providing all-year-round fishing.
    
    Among the specimens are carp of over 30 lb, bream of over 10 lb, tench of 9 lb, zander to 16 lb, crucian carp to 4 lb 8 oz (caught in summer 2016) with perch, roach and rudd.
    
    The tactics adopted range from hair-rigged boilies by carp anglers to pole or feeder by match anglers, and waggler by pleasure anglers. The fishing is relatively straightforward and huge catches are a regular feature on this large, prolific lake, especially in spring and summer. A five-hour match catch of 168 lb was recorded in 2017 from the Long Bank, and John Houseman and Chris Tulley once shared a 500 lb haul from a boat, which included tench and bream to over 8 lb.
    
    Individual hauls of 100 bream in a pleasure session have been recorded, of fish averaging 4 lb apiece, and the bream are remarkably resistant to cold weather, providing match anglers with good bags of fish even when they have had to break a hole in the ice to fish their peg.
    
    The water recirculation regime on the Old Lake ensures plenty of bites, because the constant ‘flow’ keeps the fish moving and feeding. The deeper water off the front bank is a great place for big bags of winter ‘slabs’, with chopped worm and casters in feeders a good tactic, though ‘tea-bags’ of pellets in small PVA mesh parcels is also popular with match and pleasure anglers.
    
    All 75 swims have large, wooden platforms, ensuring comfort and enough room for seatboxes, bait-waiters or rod pods and shelters, with plenty of room between pegs. Multiple catches of double-figure and 20 lb carp with the chance of a 30-pounder is what capable carp anglers can expect from Old Bury Hill. It’s a big carp action paradise. 

A tremendous stock of mirrors, commons, leathers and linears and even a brightly coloured koi provide plenty of variety. Mornings and evenings are incredibly productive times, and even short trips can bring multiple hauls on boilies.
    
    In winter, predators provides access to arguably the finest day ticket specimen zander fishing on offer, with numbers of double-figure fish reported each winter. In the right conditions the action is fast and furious from bank and boat. And with pike also present, there is variety in the predator fishing, too. The pike and zander season opens on October 1 each year and continues until March 14. Lures can be used, as well as deadbaits (small chunks of fish seem to work very well for the zander), but there is a barbless single-hooks-only rule at Bury Hill, for the protection of the fish and for easier unhooking, so leave your trebles at home.
  • Facilities
    • Bait Available
    • Tackle Hire
    • Expert Guide
    • Bait Boats
    • Rowing Boats
    • Lockbox
    • Disabled Access
    • Yes
    • -
    • Yes
    • -
    • Yes
    • -
    • Yes
    • Toilets
    • Food
    • Showers
    • Hot Water
    • BBQ
    • Car Parking
    • Dogs Allowed
    • Yes
    • -
    • -
    • -
    • No
    • Yes
    • Yes
  • Specifications

    Use:

    Type:

    Size:

    Swims

    Max Anglers:

    Stock:

    Carp Weight:

    Difficulty:

    Night Fishing:

    Fishing

    Day Ticket Water

    12 acres

    75

    -

    Good

    30lb

    3/5

    No

  • Rules
    • There is no access to the fishery before the arrival of the bailiff, please refer to the fishery’s opening and closing times
    • There is no fishing outside of the permitted times – there is strictly no night fishing
    • Access is only permitted to the public areas, please do not climb gates or trespass
    • Fish only from the platforms provided, please do not fish between swims
    • All nets must be dipped before starting to fish, dip tanks are located at each lake
    • All fish must be returned to the water immediately, do not use keepnets or sacks to retain fish
    • Anyone found killing fish and/or removing fish will be prosecuted
    • When returning fish to the water, you must use a sling, zipped unhooking mat or landing net regardless of the distance being carried
    • Use only barbless hooks – barbed hooks are strictly banned
    • All forms of fixed lead are banned – all leads must be free running
    • Rods are not to be left unattended at any time or for any reason
    • Please be considerate when using buzzers; please turn the sound down as noise travels
    • Mobile telephone ringing tone volumes should also be kept to minimum and ideally turned on to vibrate
    • You must be in possession of an unhooking mat for all forms of fishing, we sell general mats and specimen mats when carp and predator fishing in the shop
    • All fish being photographed must be held over an unhooking mat at all times – photographs should be taken kneeling down under no circumstances should you hold fish standing up
    • Fish must be weighed using a sling, zipped unhooking mat or landing net.
    • Particle baits are banned with the exception of sweet corn, hemp & carp pellet, the use of cat and dog food is not allowed
    • Take all litter, discarded line and unused bait home or place in the waste bins provided by the boathouse and in the car park.
    • Do not cut or otherwise damage bank-side vegetation
    • Do not disturb wildlife please advise a member of staff as soon as possible should any wildlife become hurt or injured, hooked or entangled with line, or if line becomes snagged on trees or bushes or on any underwater snag during your visit in order that this can be immediately removed
    • We do allow dogs onto the fishery, however they must be kept on a lead at all times, you must clean up after them and they must not be noisey
    • Do not light any fires and do not burn the grass when using any form of cooking equipment
    • The use of BBQ’s is strictly banned
    • Strictly no picnics
    • Toilets are available close to the lake; please use them
    • Alcohol is not to be brought onto the fishery
    • Catch reports and photographs of any notable fish caught would be appreciated for our website and notice board
  • Lake Map

    Advice for fishing in UK can be found HERE.

    Map of The Old Lake, Westcott UK
  • Lake Video
  • Location

    Advice for fishing in UK can be found HERE.

    GPS:
    Lat 51.221263885498
    Lon -0.352434992790

  • Contact

    ADDRESS

    Bury Hill Fisheries, The Boathouse, Old Bury Hill, Westcott, Nr Dorking, Surrey, RH4 3JU

    PHONE

    (01306) 877540

    EMAIL

    info@buryhillfisheries.com

    WEBSITE

    Website

    SOCIAL FEEDS

  • Live Weather

Lake Map

Map of The Old Lake, Westcott UK

Lake Video

Location

Advice for fishing in UK can be found HERE.

GPS: Lat 51.221263885498, Lon -0.352434992790

Contact

Bury Hill Fisheries, The Boathouse, Old Bury Hill, Westcott, Nr Dorking, Surrey, RH4 3JU

(01306) 877540

info@buryhillfisheries.com

Website

Live Weather