Fishing

Welcome to Billingford Lakes & Country Park our gates are open for fishing from 7am -7pm, allowing you to fish on a day ticket (valid 7am-7pm), 24-hour ticket (runs from your arrival time) or a season ticket.

Finding a Peg

When you arrive at the lakes to fish, you can drive straight through to the lakes and find a suitable peg, we have over 100 pegs onsite and you can park beside all swims but we ask you do not block the road ways around the lakes. Non-fisherman coming to walk round the lakes with a view to fish must park in the main car park. We charge £5 for non-fisherman which will be refunded at your first fishing visit with us. Our gates are closed overnight between 7pm-7am but 24 hour ticket holders are allowed to remain fishing onsite.

Payment

Our bailiff will come and see you during your visit to collect your money. It is cash only on the bank or you can pay by card at our Lakeside Café (open 7days, 8am-4pm) but you must show the bailiff your receipt when he visits your peg. There is a charge of £5 per spectator with fisherman and juniors (under 16) are half price.

Lakeside Café

Give us a call 01362 788 111, place your order and collect your food and drink from the Lakeside Cafe. The Lakeside Café (Catering Bus) is onsite and open 8am- 4pm daily serving breakfast, burgers, loaded fries, cakes and hot/cold/acholic drinks.

Facilities

We have toilet and shower facilities onsite (please see the bailiff to access the shower facilities)

 

We hope you enjoy your fishing experience with us, if you have any further questions please give us a call, 01362 788 111.

 

Fishing Lakes

The main carp lakes are Lake 2 Billingford Lake, Lake 7 Great Lake, Lake 10 John Wilson Lake, Lake 11 Cygnet Lake but there are carp in all the lakes onsite. Most of the carp have never been caught, providing a real challenge for the keen angler. There is a prolific head of Common and Mirror Carp in the 20lb – 30lb bracket, with several 35lb+ specimens in these lakes. Our main course fishing lake is Lake 6, the Basil Todd Lake.  Species include Roach, Perch, Eels, Pike, Tench, Bream and carp up to 8lb-10lb. The fishing lakes each have shallow marginal shelves with depths of 8ft -12ft of water out from the bank to a 30-yard cast. All our Lakes are available to book for competitions just give us a call or send an email.

Click each lake on the map for more lake information

Fishing Lakes

Click on a lake to find out more information.

Fishing Lakes
Lake 2 Lake 1 Lake 3 Lake 4 Lake 5 Lake 6 Lake 7 Lake 8 Lake 9 Lake 10 Lake 11 River Wensum

Lake 2

Billingford Lake

This mature lake of approximately 7.5 acres has a great head of large carp with a lake record of 40lb+ There are 17 swims on the lake all full with features including an island, weed beds, gravel bars, Lillie patches, reed lined bays and much more. It is one of the easier carp lakes on the complex where you are never too far from a bite, however it can be hard on its days. This lake is often overlooked for its coarse fish, with some specimen Roach and Rudd to be had if you can find them. There are also many pike that go over the 20lb barrier, making it the ideal lake for the all-round specimen angler.

Lake 1

Kingfisher Pond 

This is one of our stock ponds that we have around the site. These ponds are very important to us as a fishery helping us to breed on and grow the future fish that supply our lakes. We ask you to not fish these ponds as it helps them grow at a faster rate. 

Lake 3

Teal Pond

This is one of our stock ponds that we have around the site. These ponds are very important to us as a fishery helping us to breed on and grow the future fish that supply our lakes. We ask you to not fish these ponds as it helps them grow at a faster rate.

Lake 4

Grebe Pond

This small starting lake is perfect for children or beginners at learning the basics. It is a heavily stocked pond full of Roach, Rudd, and a few Golden Rudd, making it good to also practice your identification of species. Fishing with light tackle and small baits will see you catching all day.

Lake 5

Osprey Pond

This pond is currently under maintenance for the foreseeable future.

Lake 6

Basil Todd

Lake This lovely 6-acre mixed coarse lake is the perfect place to come if you want to catch a lot of different species. This lake has fairly shallow margins heading to a steep shelf dropping down to 8ft with depths of 12ft out in the middle. In this lake you can catch Roach, Rudd, Bream, Tench, Carp, Perch and Crucian Carp there are many different fish to target. With Tench to over 10lb being caught from here and Perch to over 3lb there are some real specimen fish worth targeting. This lake can also be hired out for matches by getting in touch via our email or number.

Lake 7

The Great Lake.

This is the most popular lake on the complex with the complex’s largest residents in with carp to mid-30s and possibly bigger, the stock of fish is around the 250-300 mark depending on how many fish have come through the ranks, hatching in the lakes. The average size of the fish on here makes the lake very popular with most of the carp coming out around the 20lbs, you know that the fish you catch will be a nice one. There is a nice mix of strains of carp in this lake, from scaly mirrors, to near leather looking ones, big scaled commons and black and white koi there’s lots to try and aim for in this lake. The bottom of this lake is fairly weedy, however there are many clear spots in amongst the weed that can be found with a little bit of work with a marker rod. As well as the impressive carp that can be found in this lake there is some monster pike that are lurking in the deeps and are not to be forgotten about, giving you something to try for in the colder months when the carp fishing gets tough, we also had a complex record Tench out of this lake at 11lb8oz.

Lake 8

Heron Pond

This little pond is alongside the river making it perfect for looking at the wildlife going past, because it is so near to the river it may be liable to flooding there is sometimes a surprise or two lurking in there. With reports of big chub being caught at over 6lb and perch to over 3lb it can be a good lake to come and try for a couple of hours on a cold winter’s day.

Lake 9

Bittern Pond

This Pond has a high stocking of Tench and Crucian Carp, with depths of 5/6ft in most places and a small amount of weed, it’s great for anglers wanting to float fish or coarse fish in general. With 5 swims on the lake each swim has plenty of water to fish to and a mix of lily pads and overhanging trees to target these elusive species.

Lake 10

John Wilson Lake

This is a stunning little lake at an acre big with all the features you could want snaggy margins, lilies, weed beds and small golden gravel spots, giving you lots of stalking opportunities. The lake is one of the hardest on the complex with only around 25 fish in it and all of them being old wise carp it can be tricky at times. The fish are all dark and old, with the majority of them being scaly mirrors, each fish from there is special. The John Wilson Lake is available to book out exclusively via the bailiff Kevin on 07580139543.  The lake has four swims available.  If the lake is not booked out privately, it is available to fish on a day ticket

Lake 11

Cygnet Lake/ the sand pit

This 5-acre lake is surrounded with sand, giving it the old name, many people know it by, the sandpit. There is a good amount of carp that can be found in the lake with them ranging up to low 30s. As well as this there is a large stock of specimen Tench in the lake with many being caught to just under 10lbs, it’s not rare for anglers to have 10-15 Tench in a day out of there. Also, there a few big perch that can be found in there around 3-4lbs which are rarely fished for, but are worth targeting. There are 11 swims on this lake with shallow snaggy bays and deep open water at over 30ft there is something for everyone.

River Wensum

The river is one of the most overlooked parts of the complex, however there is some incredible fishing to be had. Its mainly a shallow fast flowing river however has a few slower deeper holes that can be productive in the colder months. There is a big selection of fish to be found in the river, consisting with Minnows, Roach, Perch, Pike, Chub and Trout. There are some large river roach that can be found in shoals which often can be found under trees in deeper areas, the big chub like to sit in the shallow water when the suns out giving people the opportunity to try and free line for them, however they are very spooky and will quickly find cover if they feel pressured. The perch often hang around cover but will happily come out for a feed in the open to ambush, and the pike will normally sit in the weed waiting for their prey to come past them before attacking. At over a mile long there are plenty of spots to try and fish from and to, with overhangs often playing a big part.

Tickets

Day or 24hr tickets are payable to one of our wardens on the lake side.
Season/Winter tickets can be purchased by downloading the membership form and passing to one of our wardens.

 To fish at Billingford Lakes you will require a valid UK rod licence from the Environment Agency. If you need one, here is the link.

Fishery Rules

Please be kind enough to observe the following rules:- Please note Day Fishing Tickets are valid from 7am until 7pm.

1. You must have a valid rod license.
2. All anglers must have a purpose-made weigh sling and unhooking mat, and a landing net suitable for specimen fish.
3. NO keep nets. All fish to be returned quickly after weighing and photography.
4. Three rods per person.
5. NO nuts to be used either as hook baits or loose feed.
6. All juniors under 16 must be accompanied by an adult at all times.
7. NO “Beach caster” style fishing and no Spinning rigs are allowed.
8. Braid not to be used as a main line.
9. Rods must not be left unattended. All anglers to remain with their rods. For any absence, lines must be withdrawn from the water and bait removed.

10. Barbed and Barbless hooks are permitted.

PLEASE LEAVE NO LITTER AND KEEP NOISE TO A MINIMUM – RESPECT ALL WILDLIFE

THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION.

Click here to view our specific rules for Pike Fishing

Tuition

Tuition is available from one of our wardens on site.  This is ideal for someone new to the sport or wanting advice on how to best fish the lakes at Billingford.  Louis would be happy to spend a half day providing tuition and then allowing you to spend the remainder of the day fishing.  £35 a day or £50 including equipment hire.  Please call (01362) 788111 for more details or to book.

Book our match lake

The Basil Todd lake is perfect for the match style angler who would be looking to book the lake or compete in a club match, or general coarse angler who wants to come down for the day or just even a few hours to catch some fish. With a stock of numerous different species, the stock is a mix of mainly Roach, Rudd, Mirror and Common Carp, however there are some large shoals of Bream, Tench, Crucian carp that can provide great sport when found as well as the odd large Perch.

The lake has a ranging depth around with around 4 ft being found close in off the platforms before getting to the slight shelf where it drops to 7-8ft there are some deeper spots out in the middle of the lake with an average of 10-12ft where often the Bream can be found, however don’t neglect the margins in the warmer months as fish love to get in close. The lake has 26 “jetty” platforms, 5 of which are double.

All landing nets, unhooking mats and keep nets must be dry prior to being used on the lake, this reduces the chances of disease spreading from other sites.

Match Lake Rules 

  • All hooks should be barbless with a maximum hook size of 8
  • 2 rods max
  • Do not leave unattended rods in the water
  • Unhooking mats must be used to protect the fish
  • Any particle to be used must be prepared correctly
  • Fish from the stages/swims provided
  • No night fishing 7am-7pm
  • No damaging the platforms intentionally
  • No fires around the lake
  • All rubbish must be put in the bins at the top of the site, anyone found littering will be asked to leave

To book the whole lake for matches please call (01362) 788111. The rules of this lake are slightly different to the carp lakes to accommodate the fish that are in there making sure that the health and wellbeing of the fish is the main priority, as well as keeping all the anglers safe.