I'm thinking of fishing Broad Oak Trout Lakes in Malvern some time this summer. I have never fished it before and I was wondering if anyone had been there and what they thought of it? The website looks good and has good facilities, but at 3 acres and one acre, I worry if it's a bit of a stew pond... If you have been there, can you tell me how you got on and what methods/flies are successful?

Not a stew pond at all....they fish catch and release so the fish can be wise. They also have a lower stocking policy so you do have to work for your fish. The fish are not monster double figure fish but are superb quality shashta rainbows from Bibury from what I am told (don't quot me on this)

I fished there in January.
Nice setting very pretty. The lodge is also nice and staff very friendly.

The day I fished was hard as a cold wind was blowing and I only managed one fish on a cats whisker nomad (which really is a last resort for me )

The water clarity is good but there is not much in the way of bankside vegetation as it is only a couple of years old. Not sure what insect life is there or what hatches they get so I can't comment much on that but I would bet on buzzers. It is also a single fly fishery so it fishing a buzzer you may need to fish the bung method. I may well give it another try in April so I will let you know how I get on. It definatley has potential from what I can see.

You could also try Bransford if you are in the area. I did a review on this fishery in January's TFF magazine. It has some lovely small water fishing and it very well developed. It can be a little easy sometimes though in the catch and release pool. Not sure where you are based but Watermark and Busyleaze/Lechalde in Gloucestershire are also very good small waters and Farmoor II in Oxfordshire is a very good larger water (although this time of year it tends to fish deep with boobies and sinking lines).

__________________
Tight Lines
JD

Familiarity breeds contempt - and children......

Cheers Puzzler, I was beginning to think no-one had ever fished it! Some good info there so I'll try to give it a go some time in May when hopefully some fly life will appear. Porbably give Bushyleaze a chance too. Fished Watermark last summer and a great time fishing from a moored boat using goldhead damsels on a floating line.

Broad Oak is a new fishery, although it is small the lakes are not over stocked and the fishing is challenging enough to make it interesting! I live a stones throw away and have used this fishery as my local fix and have gained some local knowledge assisted by the proprietor Chris Lee. I was there this morning along with half a dozen other anglers and started as soon as they opened at 8.00 am which I have found to be the most productive time.
Today when I arrived the fish were rising very freely sipping buzzers particularly at the southern end of Oak Tree the larger lake.
Although I am relatively new to fly fishing (about 12 months) I do prefer to use natural imitations and this mornings efforts were rewarded with two very nice 2lb rainbows taken on a #14 claret buzzer on a floating line. I left around 12.30 as did some of the other anglers who had blanked.
The facilities are very good and Charlotte makes some superb cakes which help ease the disappointment of a blank day, of which I've had my share.
In my opinon Broad Oak is well worth a vist but my advice would be to get there for 8.00am during the warmer months and check with Chris for what is working and where to start.

Tight lines

Peter

This give you an idea of the setting. The gent on the pontoon is Chris Lee the proprietor.

Peter

With all the rain over the last few days my planned trip to the Welsh rivers was put off so I settled for a trip to Broad Oaks Trout lakes.

When I got there, 8.00am, it was perfectly still with the lake surface looking like a polished mirror, the sky was very blue and the sun was bright and very warm - pospects didn't look to good.
I had seen a couple of fish rise, gentle porpoising nose and tail hardly disrurbing the surface, so I figured a buzzer on a floating line would be as good as anything.
Setting up, I decided that I'd try the "knotless nail knot" method of leader attachement I'd been shown by Frank Williams a couple of weeks earlier. The system makes for a very much neater union between leader and fly line, and helps the line tip stay afloat much longer.

Choice of tactics proved worthwhile, casting to rising fish I landed two very nice rainbows around two pounds each - a great morning!