www.thorneyweir-mets.co.uk Carp fishing in the Colne Valley

The Secrets Out... Ever had a secret that you were dying to tell, but couldn't? Imagine bursting at the seams for a year, just holding it in. Well here it is...

When I was a kid 30 odd years ago, my dad would take me to fish lakes and rivers known as Thorney Weir. We loved the place, three lakes, a mile and a quarter of the River Colne, plus the Colnbrook River, in around 78 acres of Buckinghamshire countryside. Carp, tench and bream in the lakes, and assorted bags of carp, chub, roach, bream, barbel and dace on the rivers - always a treat on Sundays.

It became my favourite place to be. I'd spend all my time after school there, day in day out. Imagine how I felt, and I'm sure everyone else when I found out that the lease had been given to the Met Police and that day tickets were no longer available. The Met Lakes, as the fishery became known, have been out of public hands for over 30 years... until now!

On inspection Lake 2 had become completely overgrown- totally inaccessible- and most swims on all three lakes were overgrown and in need of repair. We knew that making this area clean again would be a major undertaking. Considering the potential of Thorney Weir, however, it was worth the eight months of hard work everyone put in to take it back on to the road to recovery.

Fish Potential

Over the first three months the bailiffs were spending most of their time scouting the water, up trees, spodding and baiting up, Vincent Jenkins was a regular feature at the tops of trees for around two months, I'd say. Every time I walked around the lakes and asked "Seen Vincent anywhere?" Anglers would point to the top of a tree! "Up there mate!"

Reports of large carp were beginning to filter back, creating a buzz, although no big fish had been landed; mostly between 15lb and low twenties so far. A few sightings had everyone jumping about, though! Three large carp had been seen in Lake 2. Two fish around thirty mark, and one huge fish that made the others small by comparison. Upper forty was the conclusion. We all had anticipated a slow start with the bigger fish, as they had not seen bait in any real quantity for many years. The lads had been prebaiting for weeks, but low twenties were usually the results. Then one morning around 8 o' clock I received a call notifying me that someone had banked a thirty.

When I arrived at the swim, I was greeted with huge Cheshire Cat smiles, and they were a-buzzin' when Ian Glazier took his carp out of the water. My jaw hit the floor! A beautiful 31 and three quarter lb linear, perfect skirt, perfect scales.... just perfect. It made my day. It was Ian's first night on Lake 2 - what a result!

In the short time we've been open to fish, the persistent lads that have done their homework and the time spent studying these waters has begun to produce results. We included some of the fish that have been caught, but over the months we've heard reports of huge fish being lost at the net, unstoppable carp and mind bending sightings. I feel, as I'm sure most do, that it is only a matter of time before we see large upper forties on the bank.
The Future

The decisions concerning the management of Thorney Weir, the mets, have taken many months of deliberation. The conclusion, we think would improve fishing whilst keeping the character of the original settings.

We intend to remove all the carp from Lake 1 (Thorney Weir) and Lake 3. These fish are to be introduced into Lake 2, now known as the Mets Lake (upper forties are confirmed in these Lakes), thus keeping all the original fish of the complex together. This we feel, would "rev-up" the catch rate, as well as knowing that every fish here has a UK passport!

Lake 1, Thorney Weir, will now be restocked with 350 double-figure carp (first stocking), which have been in our stock ponds for the last four and a half years. These stocks consist of mirrors from 25-27lb; a 40lb mirror (Chubber's 40, published in Carp-Talk last May); commons from 20-29lb; linear's from 20-29 and a half lb; and ghosts from 19-27lb.

Lake 3 will now become a growing on area for restocking Lake 1. This will allow us to monitor the health and growth rates of the fish, as well as helping our syndicate to become self sufficient in restocking quality fish.