Here's our lake and swim map, plus tactics guide, to Monument One at Rob Hales' RH Fisheries in Shropshire...
RH Fisheries, The Monument, Lamledge Lane, Shifnal, Shropshire, TF11 8SD | Web: www.rhfisheries.com | Tel: 01952 463141
We say...
Dug in 2002 with at least one underwater feature in each of the 15 swims, Monument One is a very modern carp fishery with an impressive stock.
There are currently about 80 thirties and two forties present, backed up by a huge head of twenties in a total of 400 carp.
The original underwater features that we have marked on the map above were considerably smoothed down in 2014 to allow easier netting and to spread the fish about, so certain spots are definitely more subtle than they once were. Check the gallery below for photos from the work.
Fishery manager Alex Lister says...
"In the winter the fish do tend to hold up around pegs six, seven, eight and nine, but the fish do move around a lot. They have been fished for for years and angling pressure does dictate where they go. If there are lots of lines in the water at one end, you will often see them showing at the other.
"I'd say seven and eight are good winter swims, and 15 is a good spring spot, but we've had some remarkable hits from swim two in winter and that's normally associated with warmer weather, so the fish do move around. Swim two has got some great margins in the corner.
"The depth is pretty much uniform, 6ft/6.5ft/7ft throughout. It's a clay-based bottom but you find two types of it. There's the smooth, soft stuff and the rock-hard areas that have been polished clean by the carp. They can be as hard as concrete, so it's worth feeling your lead down for these.
"There's a 2ft-deep marginal shelf all the way round that drops down a rod length out, and the fish do like to patrol that channel. Pegs seven, two, one and 10 have good margin form, and you can also catch fish down the edge in swim five.
"You have to use our bait here, though anglers can use their own hookbaits. The B Caramel wafters that we sell do very well, as do most yellow wafters.
"When the fish are on the feed you can't put enough in, but the anglers that do well on here can gauge what the fish want. Morning is key bite time and I do advise anglers to keep their rods in for as long as possible in the morning rather than casting out as soon as they wake up."
1 of 8The venue's biggest common at 39lb
2 of 843lb
3 of 835lb
4 of 8The humps before they were flattened
5 of 8Digging up the peg 13 feature
6 of 8The flattened peg 6 feature. Peg 13 in distance
7 of 8Fishery manager Alex on one of the humps
8 of 8The monument that gives the lake its name
PRICES AND FACILITIES
£60 for 36 hours (March 1 to November 30)
£40 for 36 hours (December 1 to February 28/9)
Longer sessions can be booked but swim must be rested overnight every 36 hours
Sessions begin at 6.30am (7am in winter) and end at 8pm on the second day (dusk in winter)
On-site bait shop
Toilets and shower
Food delivery available
Fishery protected by CCTV
RULES
Maximum of two rods
Anglers must use fishery bait, but can bring their own hookbaits
Barbed and micro-barbed hook preferred
No zig rigs
Spombs must have floats attached
Maggots and worms can only be used between November 1 and end of February
12lb minimum line
Nets, slings and mats supplied by the fishery
No boats, no braided mainlines, no bent-hook rigs
Plastic leaders banned, leadcore and tubing allowed
All thirties must be reported immediately