Hunters Lake is one of the Crosshands Angling Club waters that I've read quite a bit about. The main draw is that it's a mixed fishery i.e. it contains something other than carp! According to the club website there's a good head of tench in the larger of the two lakes which is excellent news as I've been itching to catch a tench since coming back from Australia.
There are two lakes at Hunters, a small stock pond (which apparently has a good head of crucian carp) and a larger lake of around 2 acres. Both lakes were looking pretty bleak today which isn't surprising as we're at the tail end of winter. But I always think it's worth checking venues out in all seasons as you can sometimes get a different view of a water and it's features, especially when the margin cover has died back.
I did a couple of laps of the lake and spotted some likely looking swims. There's a largeish island on the pub side of the lake which is an obvious feature and I've a feeling that the margins and channel will be a good spot to try. Apart from the margins there's a lot of open water to go at and come summer the lily pads will definitely hold fish.
I also bumped into another angler who like me had come down to the lake for a look around. He introduced himself as Peter and as a long-term member of the club who'd fished Hunters for the last 15 years or so he had lots of info about the lake. He'd had tench, double figure carp and good size perch over the years and even told me a tale of a 19lb pike he'd caught on sweet corn! Whether or not the pike is still in the lake is unknown but it would be amazing to catch it if it is.
As it's a bit of a unpredictable drive from Bristol of around 30 minutes I'm not sure it will work for my school day sessions but come spring I'll definitely be heading over at the weekend with a pint of maggots and a feeder rod to try and bank some tench. And maybe a bag of prawns for those perch...
How many weeks is it until spring?!