I’ve long believed that many anglers – carp anglers in particular – take their sport far too seriously.
Fishing is, after all, a hobby – not a job. Well, for most of us, anyway.
Which is why we created Rum Bridge Fisheries.
A true labour-of-love, we’ve spent the last six months or so reclaiming the former Clare Fisheries from the wilderness; creating (we hope) an attractive and accessible environment where anglers of all ages, interests and abilities can actually *enjoy* their angling – whether they’re float-fishing for crucians and silvers, feeder-fishing for bream and tench, or bolt-rigging for big carp.
By the time we open, in Spring 2019, the fishery’s three intimate (OK – small) ponds will feature 40 well-maintained swims, all just a short hop from the car park. And they’ll boast an extensive stock of fish too – including carp from 5lbs-35lbs and tench from 4lbs-8lbs, as well as silvers, bream, perch and, naturally, those stunning crucians for which the fishery was once highly regarded.
We’re also clearing two smaller ‘beginner ponds’; venues for the regular (free) coaching days, taster sessions, and Fishing For Schools events that we’ve run at other fisheries, to attract newcomers into the sport.
Central to that goal – encouraging beginner anglers, and in particular children and women, to ‘give fishing a go’ – are the twin tenets: comfort and (forgive the pun) convenience.
Dotted around the complex, you’ll find compostable ‘eco’ toilets, wooden picnic benches and free-to-use firepits.
Anglers booking our ‘specimen’ carp lake will have access to flush toilets, showers, and a dedicated ‘field kitchen’ with hot and cold running water.
And they’ll also enjoy a complimentary breakfast at weekends, and a free takeaway delivery service – designed to make long stay carping an altogether more civilised affair.
An onsite Tackle Trailer will offer leading brand terminal tackle, bait and other essentials – plus a range of hot and cold drinks and snacks – seven days a week
And of course the nearby market town of Clare is home to a wealth of shops, cafes, pubs and restaurants too – enabling you to wind in for a few hours, and enjoy a relaxing lunch, dinner or drinks at the local hostelries, confident that your kit will be waiting for you when you return, thanks to regular bailiff patrols and monitored CCTV.
At which point, ‘hardcore carpers’ will doubtless be shaking their heads in disgust – dismissing the fishery as all-too-easy; unworthy of their time.
And that’s fine. Indeed, it’s the great joy of angling: it’s a pastime to be enjoyed on your own terms. But. Visitors expecting to ‘rock up and catch’ may actually be disappointed.
Although the Moat and Road Lakes will both be heavily stocked – offering the best possible chance of a bend in the rod, all year round, from carp to mid-20s – the Back Lake will be an altogether different proposition, populated by a modest stock of far larger, wilier fish, from 20lbs to (currently) 33lbs – and ultimately, we hope, to 40lbs plus.
And as anyone who’s fished the likes of Ashlea Pool and others of its diminutive ilk will attest: small is seldom a byword for simple.
Indeed, our carp have learned a thing or two in their – in some cases – 40-odd years patrolling the deep, dark depths of the Burwell Brick Pit (with nary an on-demand feeder in sight).
That said, and however tough the fishing gets, we hope a trip to Rum Bridge will never prove a chore – whether you’re booking the entire site for an exclusive weekend social (phone for details); running an ‘open’ or club match (ditto); chasing your first 30lb carp… or simply chilling out, with a few hours’ pleasure fishing,
With the emphasis, always, on ‘pleasure’.
