Holly Farm Lakes. Holly Farm Lakes is situated on the very edge of Upton Fen in South Walsham, Norfolk. It has two lakes. Lake one is the match lake, consisting of the majority carp between 2/3lb up to high teens. The second lake is basically a lake for absolutely everything you can think of, the carp are to around 18lb.  Although I don’t fish this lake too much any more, it’s the lake that I loved as a teenager, and it really has a place in my heart. I spent more days at this fishery growing up than any other combined. I’ll go through this fishery and how it’s changed through the years to what it is today.

Back when I was a teenager, gaining my fishing experience and learning how to use a pole was at this venue. This is where I’d participate in matches as well as compete against my friends. We were local specialists and knew the place like the back of our hand. This was basically home to us.

I would say this lake up until around 2014 was a venue where you’d be unlucky to not hit 200lbs in a day, even more, so pleasure fishing.

They had a small but decent little shop on site that was mostly open and sold all the essential things you’ll need in a day as well as snacks, they don’t open this any more, or not when I’ve been.

Lake one, Bait tech jelly pellets 6mm were a game changer and nobody fished with them apart from us, it seemed. You’d catch a fish every cast within 5 seconds max. You could catch fish at your feet with very little effort. Surface fishing here was on another level, I didn’t see anybody else fishing like this, but you’d catch probably ten doubles in a day. My biggest out of the first lake was 15lb.

The second lake was like a damn fish pond. You’d catch golden tench and goldfish on the surface, it was bonkers but it was a laugh and I loved this place. Surface fishing again in lake two was an incredible sport, a dozen doubles a day easily. Any peg with reeds in both lakes was a must for surface fishing, although you could catch them anywhere. My biggest on the second lake was 16lb.

Fast-forward to today, it’s nowhere near as stocked as it once was. Speaking to the current bailiff, he explained that a fair few years prior, the lake had a serious virus that wiped out the majority of the fish stocks. Although the first lake had been restocked in recent years by around 300lb, I don’t think it’s ever going to be the fishery it once was. But you can still have a fairly decent session.

If you fancied giving it a go, I found you can still get good sport surface fishing in the second lake to any peg with lily pads. I don’t think the fish get as big or as many any more. Most fish are around the 2lb mark in lake two. Using bread just off the margin works well, as spam in the margin works well. 200lbs a day of old is more like 30-50lbs now. I haven’t fished here in the winter for a number of years, so I couldn’t give any advice on this one.

If you’ve fished this lake in the past, you’ll know why this is one of people’s favourite fishing lake

Lake Size: Around 2 acres each
Lake Record: Around 20lbs but now, 15lbs
Stock: Carp, Bream, Tench, Roach, Rudd
On-Site: Toilets and small shop
Contact: 01603 270220
Website: Here!
Address: Upton Road, Norwich, NR13 6EQ

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