Keiran had a cracking time!

Keiran Gillam kindly left this post on our facebook wall


"Another fantastic visit to Lonsdale. Cracking accommodation and fantastic lakes. Managed over 21 carp to high doubles. Also had 4 pike to upper doubles. See you next year"
You can find us on facebook by clicking the badge on the right hand side or at this link -


http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lonsdale-Park/299800091751

To return home click: www.lonsdalepark.co.uk

10 ideas to keep the kids entertained and outdoors!

So I know alot of my city friends can't tell one tree from another, or some basic birds.
But I read some really frightening statistics from the National Trust today:

Did you know less than 10% of British kids now play outside in a natural space, compared to over 50% a generation ago?
And 3 times as many kids are taken to hospital because they fell out of bed, rather than a tree!
This phenomenon is becoming known as 'nature deficit disorder'

So I thought I could write a post, for all the families that come and stay with us, to share a few ideas of things the kids can do (that aren't fishing) that will get them interested in nature.

1) Go for a picnic – easy and fun, anyone can do this. Take an ID book and find out what plants your sitting on!

2) Miniature boats

Try to make the best boat you can out of sticks you find on the ground, leaves and grass only! Float them out and see who’s goes the furthest

3) Nature’s Treasure’s Hunt

Save a few old egg boxes.

On the computer (or by hand) show a picture for an object with it’s name to fit into the egg spot in the tray. Good ideas would be things like acorns, birch leaves, wood pidgeon feathers etc. You could get seasonal with this and think about blackberries, or bits of broken duck egg shell for example. You can adapt this to your own little hunter’s abilities and ages, maybe only include the names of the objects, or get more challenging with plant species, and bird feathers.

On the top of the egg box, glue down a the printed strip of paper.

Off you go!

4) Find and keep some footprints

Bring along some plaster of paris, an empty takeaway box, and cut some circles from old pop bottles.

Mix the plaster of paris ready into the take away box and stick the lid on.

See if you can find any footprints, look out for great big heron prints, duck, or little hedgehog, and rabbit prints.

When you find some clear any sticks or leaves gently off the top of them,  push the plastic circle into the ground around them, and then pour the plaster of paris over the print. Wander off or wait for 20 minutes and come back to see if the plaster of paris has dried and you can collect the cast of the foot print.

Clean any dirt off the cast with an old soft toothbrush.

You might need to get a book on tracks if you're not used to looking for them!

5) Pooters

Use old jam jars to make your own pooters to check out some insects.

You’ll need 2 bits of plastic tubing, a jam jar, some muslin, some electric tape, and some blue tack.

Make two holes in the jam jar lid big enough to push the plastic tubing into.

On the end of one of the pieces of plastic tubing that will be inside the jar, tape the muslin across the bottom of the tube. (This is the tube you want to suck on so maybe mark the other end using electric tape too) Leave the ends of both bits of tubes a bit short off the bottom of the jar so bugs have space to drop down.

Squish blue tack around the plastic tubing and holes in the lid to make a nice seal.

Put the lid on the jam jar.

Find a bug small enough to fit in your tubing, and gently cover it with the unmarked plastic tube end. Suck on the taped plastic tube and you’ll hoover the bug up the other tube into the jar, so you can have a proper look! Use an ID guide to figure out what you've caught!

6) Make your own Whistle

Suitable only for kids safe whittling!

The best instructions for this are at: http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Willow-Whistle

7) Catch a spider’s web

You’ll need some silver spray paint left over from xmas, a piece of black card and a piece of spare card (maybe from a cereal box).

Find a pretty spiders web that will fit onto your card. Make sure a spider isn’t on it!

Then hold the spare piece of card on one side of the web, to shield any plants or things behind it. Then gently mist the spray paint over the web.

Whilst the paint is still wet, remove the spare card, and place the black card behind the web, move it gently and evenly towards the web until it touches it, and keep it moving to transfer the web to your card.

You might like to try covering the caught web with acrylic spray glue to preserve it if you want to keep it. Spiders webs are very strong for their size, but can be quite delicate too so be careful with it!

8) Hunt for a nearby geocache!

If you don’t know what this is, google it and get the iphone / smart phone app!

9) Make a grass trumpet

10) Go for a walk at night – how are things different? What things can you hear? The night isn’t scary, you’ll probably be able to hear our Tawny Owls talking to each other… Try cupping your hands together or whistling in a low pitch to call back to them!

Sorry it's not angling related - but I hope the families out there take some inspiration from it!

Emma

PS: Top tip - you can get some really good ID guides and nature related apps for your phone! 

I recommend TreeId, Chirp!+, FSC Wildlife Guides and StarWalk.

To return to our home page click: www.lonsdalepark.co.uk

An email from Lisa Kevin and John

"Hello There,

I would just like to say thank you very much for all your help, I cannot believe how much I enjoyed myself when we came for the week, beautiful surroundings, the fishing and the cottage was very lovely, I am planning to come again next year, and I am so looking forward to it. I cannot describe how much I enjoyed myself and how relaxing it was. Again I cannot wait until next year.

Kind Regards

Lisa

Came august 4th - 11th with kevin and john lonsdale"

Emails like this make our day! Thankyou Lisa! 

We look forwards to seeing you all again soon!

To return to our home page click: www.lonsdalepark.co.uk

Tea, Cake and a Kingfisher... The Colonel's diary continues

The first essentials for my visit to the Willow Pool, at Lonsdale Park, were a wide brim straw hat and a tube of Puiz Buin factor 30 day long sun cream. It was going to be a scorcher. And about time too. The prolonged spell of wet weather was dampening all hopes of summer and causing me to suffer from mildew !!!!!! Still, not the best fishing weather, blazing sun, but an opportunity for my old bones to be warmed and for my Golden Scale Club (GSC), mandatory sun hat to give Paul a darned good laugh.

No omens, in the form of flitting Goldfinches along the access track hedgerows, this time. In fact, not a single bird crossed my path as I approached. Very unusual. But Willow Pool has never let me down before, and I’m sure it won’t today either.

I pulled in quietly behind Paul and Val’s beautiful family home, to behold a mirror surfaced Willow. A creak of the backdoor as I alighted and there was a smiling Val with a basketful of washing to go on the line. We exchanged greetings and discussed the merits of drying washing outside. Well, I am a ‘21^st century man’ now, having been schooled by my sons!! Val carried on with her laundry and I scooped up my tackle from the car together with my trusty ‘Suredale’ and net, which Paul had kindly retrieved from his tackle room for me. He was away somewhere in the Park, grafting as usual. He’ll be back for his breakfast soon though. We’ll catch up then.

I’d decided the time had come to cast a line for one of Paul’s hard fighting Carp, so I’d brought with me my favourite rod for that purpose, ‘The Bishop’, one of Edward Barder’s finest creations. Although, they’re all pretty fine in my book. I was intending to christen my recently acquired ‘Merlin’, but, knowing that the 40+ Walter was around, I wasn’t keen to be ‘undergunned’, so The Bishop it must be if that magnificent creature was to personally meet the old ‘Colonel’. I believe we’d had a very brief encounter at the beginning of the season in 2011, when he made his point rather emphatically, by flat-rodding my 2lb TC Hexagraph as he buried himself, unstoppably, in the opposite bank reedbed, at which point, the hook link failed. A real Moby Dick moment…….I’ve had a permanent limp ever since!!!!

I assembled the Bishop but didn’t cast out immediately. The lovely Em had appeared with a steaming mug of tea. She knows well the GSC priority for a good cuppa. She also had a little surprise gift, a delightful duck quill float, made by her own fair hand and from a feather from one of the Park’s own residents. Perfect size for gudgeon fishing. I thanked her kindly and also offered hearty, belated congratulations upon her graduation as a vet. Her youthful enthusiasm restores my faith in the future of the human species and gladdens my heart.

With my tea mug drained, Em returned to the house and I sat poolside, absorbing the atmosphere and allowing the pool to accept my presence before I broke it’s surface with a baited hook. I regard this as important. An angler cannot expect to just barge into a swim and fish, expecting the water to give up it’s precious residents without so much as a ‘by your leave’. No, a few moments showing respect to the place you’ve been lucky to visit goes a long way in my book. And today that respect was rewarded in an instant.

My quiet world of thought was interrupted by a regular ‘plop’ followed by a lightly splashing flutter, coming from just the other side of a protruding reed bed to my left, out of my view. Then I heard that most evocative of angling sounds. ‘Tsssseeeeeeeek’; the soft, single note, whistle/squeak that heralds a flash of aquamarine and orange, rapidly flapped wings and black dart beak. Kingfisher!!!!! Barely a foot off the surface, he hove into view, a rod length out. Straight, left to right direction, then banking left, he swept in an arc around the full perimeter of the bay and back to his perch behind the reedbed again. But he didn’t stop. ‘Tsssseeeeeeeek’, and he was off again. Same flight path, same one foot off the pool surface. At least a dozen laps; probably a ‘bakers dozen’, come to think of it. Each fly past announced by that beautiful ‘Tsssseeeeeeeek’. What an absolute treat………the omen was good.

I cast out ‘The Bishop’, baited with on of Paul’s malt chocolate boilie thingeys, which he’d very kindly given me. He and Em had been using them on the pool to good effect for both the Carp and the Roach. Next, the float rod baited with my customary flake, following a handful of bread mash with crumbled choc boilie, just to give ‘em a taster. The float had barely stood to attention before it tilted and sailed away, in confident fashion. The line was tightening to the rod tip, cleaving through the surface, as I struck…..and missed!!!!! How on earth does that happen? So confident a bite, meets with nothing but thin air on the strike. One of the delicious mysteries of our intriguing pastime, eh??

I soon got into my stride though. The Roach played ball, and a dozen had soon come to say ‘hello’, been saluted in the net by the old Colonel, then returned gently to Willow Pool, most untouched by the hand of this temporary bankside visitor. The sun reached it’s meridian and I welcomed the wide brim of the GSC summer headwear. The Bishop remained undisturbed, while the Aspindale wand saw all the action, until I set her to one side while consuming a delicious Cumbrian pastie for lunch. Cumbrian pasty???? ‘Cornish’, in reality, but our mad, mad world dictates it must be called Cumbrian…….as if my taste buds can tell the difference.

The break for repast gave me the opportunity to consider using a broken up choc boilie for the Roach, following advice which accompanied my lunchtime cuppa, furnished by the ever-beaming Paul who had returned from his toils in the Park. This I did, and, by Crikey, it worked. A hard jagging Redfin, tugged and darted to my eager net. And largest of the day too; 1lb 4ozs of fin perfect Roach.

Full belly, cloudless blue above and insects buzzing in unison, the post luncheon haze crept upon me. That wonderful drifting feeling is one of the great pleasures in life and what better place to experience it than by a quiet, still pool, rod at hand. A pulse of energising adrenalin pushed back the curtains shrouding reality, as the red tipped float dithered fractionally. My sixth sense registered the barely perceptible movement and readiness swept me back from the brink. Bristling now, I watched the crimson stick begin to swing, lift and waver it’s hypnotic dance. Nothing quick or predictable like my beloved Roach, this was the languid, almost ponderous, playing of something quite a bit bigger. And on the finely tackled float rod, not the heavily armed Bishop. Uh oh!! Here we go. Sure enough the red tip lifted way up, revealing the black and white bars below, tilted, wavered, circled a bit, then purposefully arrowed, diagonally downwards, heading for the earth’s core. Oh dear, oh dear!! Four pound main line, two hooklink, size 12 barbless, the segment of choc boilie had attracted the fish it was designed for…..a ruddy Carp.

The Bishop would have handled the culprit in very short order but the seriously underpowered Suredale took a heck of a lot longer. To the extent my frail shoulder muscles were singing the same tune as the main line, fighting for all it was worth to get the creature’s head pointing in a skywards direction rather than doggedly nosing to the lake bed, sending up clouds of silt. The dorsal twanging frequently against the taut line did nothing to reduce my anxiety either. Neither did the occasional glimpses of a ghostly shape seemingly doing whatever it wanted beneath the surface. However, as long as I didn’t tug too hard, I found I could keep some measure of control, in encouraging my friend to swim around in ever decreasing circles, very similar to that delightful little Kingfisher a few hours ago, come to think of it. A few thwarted attempts to nose dive into the reeds and my ghostly mate eventually put his snout up to enjoy ‘fresh air’, and he wallowed neatly into my net………..but only just!!

Putting the rod in it’s rest, I bent forward to gently lift the net, which was straining from a task way outside it’s design parameters. At that very moment, from nowhere, a sharp gust of wind approached from behind. It caught the brim of my straw hat, lifted it clean off my head, depositing it unceremoniously into the pool, beside the carp resting in my net. Poor creature must have thought ‘ I’ve just given him the fight of my life, and all he can do is chuck his hat at me. Gratitude!!’. I wafted the net a little to encourage the hat to beach itself, for retrieval later, and carried my prize to the unhooking mat.

As you know, attaching numbers to my quarry isn’t of high importance to me, but this little critter weighed in, surprisingly, at a mere 5lbs 8ozs. However, it’s fight was that of a twelve pounder, at least, and that’s what counts with me. It was all muscle and really didn’t want to sit still for it’s portrait with me; although I had let it rest up in the margins for a while to get some of it’s strength back, I must say.

After the swim had calmed down and the silt plume settled, I returned to fishing for Roach……….with flake, crust and corn !!! Less risk of nerve fraying battles with Carp, who should know better. The Bishop remained untroubled, my hat dried out and I enjoyed a delicious slice of Emma’s Nan’s iced sponge cake with my afternoon tea. A traditional Golden Scale Club day’s fishing……….perfect.

‘The Colonel’   9^th August 2012

If you'd like to fish our sister site, with 2 lakes (The Willows and The Secret Pool) exclusive to their very own "Secret Cottage" please see: www.thesecretfishingcottage.co.uk

To return to our home page click: www.lonsdalepark.co.uk

Some lovely photo's from Trevor and Sheila

Trevor and Sheila dropped us a line this week after their recent stay with us to a share a few photo's.  

"Consistently good fishing all week, with some early morning tench every day (up to 6lb) and regular carp."

It's always nice to know guests have enjoyed themselves, and as the pair have holidayed each year have seen me grow up from being about 8 years old (now 23) we must be doing something right!

Thankyou for the lovely email and photo's - we'll see you again soon!

To return home click: www.lonsdalepark.co.uk

Lonsdale Baits come Personally Recommended!

I'm sure by now you’ve noticed our rules amendment for 2012, we now require that any processed baits are those approved and stocked in our shop or bought onsite.

And new for 2012, Lonsdale has worked with a local bait manufacturer to develop a range of baits (boillies, pellets, particles etc) that we can be sure are nutritionally sound for the fish, rapid break down for water quality, and are irresistible! We’ve managed to do all this and make them cheaper than leading brands too! (prices can be found on the bait list at our Downloads page)

In fact to see just how irresistable they are, and why Dad and I can personally recommend them whole heartedly watch my short video below:

It's not the first time Dad and I have caught simultaneously using them, but is the first time I had the presence of mind to shoot a quick video to show it!

(Dad's Mirror was about 20lbs, and was caught on our sister site http://www.thesecretfishingcottage.co.uk/ But the fish in the main park love them just as much!)

Don't forget the rest of this week's news too:

We're offering a fantastic last minute availability special offer for the week starting the 11th of August:

2 bedroomed lakeside Cottage - was £740 now £600

3 bedroomed lakeside Cottage - was £850 now £700

2 bedroomed Lonsdale Caravan - was £660 now £525 (includes gas and electric)

Fishing on any lake is included in our prices - we don't charge for rods or lakes or night fishing!
(alot of sites do)

To book call us on 01228 562655, or 07770825896

or email: lonspark@aol.com

AND OUR BEST EVER COMPETITION!

 Come and stay with us anytime between the 1st of November 2012 and the 28th of Feburary 2013, and you could catch yourself a free 3 day break!

All you have to do is fish between the hours of 8am to 8pm, and catch anyone of our:

Pike 20lb+

Carp 20lb+

Roach 2lb 4oz+

Perch 3lb+

Chub 4lb+

or Tench 5lb+

 The first angler to land our mystery fish - "the Golden Carp" wins a week in the 3 bedroomed lakeside lodge for 2 adults and 2 children, during the main season subject to availability. 

You can find out more about the Lodge at http://www.lonsdalepark.co.uk/lodges.htm

Details of our mystery "Golden Carp" will be given on guests arrival!

We will adjudicate the competition, so all anglers wishing to enter the challenge need do is phone Paul on his mobile once they land the fish and we will attend to verify.

Qualifying anglers will not only have caught a lovely specimen but also a free 3 day break!

(we think this is going to be a widely uptaken and successfully completed challenge so in order to be able to run it for all guests, the breaks will be organised at our discretion

Won holidays will not include electric where accomodation is metered.)

To return home click: www.lonsdalepark.co.uk

Catch yourself a Free Holiday!

Hello All!

It's been an exciting morning here at Lonsdale! 

We've had a team meeting and thrown some idea's about for the upcoming autumn and winter, and not to mention Christmas!

(I know many of you will be rolling your eyes and moaning that it's August, but its only 139 days away, and for businesses that is soon!)

Anyway we've decided to run a rather special competition!

Come and stay with us anytime between the 1st of November 2012 and the 28th of Feburary 2013, and you could catch yourself a free 3 day break!

All you have to do is fish between the hours of 8am to 8pm, and catch anyone of our:

Pike 20lb+

Carp 20lb+

Roach 2lb 4oz+

Perch 3lb+

or Tench 5lb+

The first angler to land our mystery fish - "the Golden Carp" wins a week in the 3 bedroomed lakeside lodge for 2 adults and 2 children, during the main season subject to availability. 

You can find out more about the Lodge at http://www.lonsdalepark.co.uk/lodges.htm

Details of our mystery "Golden Carp" will be given on guests arrival!

We will adjudicate the competition, so all anglers wishing to enter the challenge need do is phone Paul on his mobile once they land the fish and we will attend to verify.

Qualifying anglers will not only have caught a lovely specimen but also a free 3 day break!

(we think this is going to be a widely uptaken and successfully completed challenge so in order to be able to run it for all guests, the breaks will be organised at our discretion

Won holidays will not include electric where accomodation is metered.)

To return to our home page click: www.lonsdalepark.co.uk

STOP PRESS! Last Minute Availability Special Offer August 11th

We're offering a fantastic last minute availability special offer for the week starting the 11th of August:

2 bedroomed lakeside Cottage - was £740 now £600

3 bedroomed lakeside Cottage - was £850 now £700

2 bedroomed Lonsdale Caravan - was £660 now £525 (includes gas and electric)

Fishing on any lake is included in our prices - we don't charge for rods or lakes or night fishing!
(alot of sites do)

To book call us on 01228 562655, or 07770825896

or email: lonspark@aol.com

To return to our home page click here: www.lonsdalepark.co.uk

A Note from Neil Roberts and Family

Hi Paul,Val and Emma

Just to let you know, Heather eventually did catch that carp she was after, a 5lb common on Deer lake on a pole(great fun to do).

Thanks for the tip to fish the Arches lake, Nathan and I caught some lovely Tench, 4 each average 4-5lb and a beautiful Roach weighing exactly 2lb, well over 50lb of fish in total.

We all had a great week again and considering the weather some good fishing too.

Even Steph had a good time just relaxing.

Congratulations Emma on your graduation !!

See you all again in October.

Thanks again  

Neil. Nathan, Heather and Stephanie.

Thanks for the email and the photo's guys (and well done Heather!)

We're looking forwards to seeing you again soon!

PS Quite taken by your camo buffs! Might have to find one in time for autumn...

To return home click: www.lonsdalepark.co.uk

New Shots of the Arches

Hi All,

Just a quick note today, I finally got around to taking some new shots of the Arches for the website:

You can see the rest, as well as all of our photo's over on our flickr page: 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lonsdaleparkfishing/sets/

If you're on flickr yourself you can join our group and share your own shots at:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/1977386@N23/

To return home click: www.lonsdalepark.co.uk