Dobsons is a large lake on the Widmead complex named after John Dobson who was the club chairman at the time Widmead was turned into fisheries. It is a water which offers a wide range of different swims on the 50 pegs around its 6 acres of water. The western end is quite narrow and shallow, but as you move away from the car park the water gets deeper and wider, with depths of over 4m (12 feet) near the east bank. The lake has a smooth bed and the main feature is the island. The water is usually turbid in the summer and is generally weed free.
In recent years it has been stocked with large bream and some tench, which can produce large bags if you happen to drop on the shoal when it is feeding. There are also some carp and other species present to enable mixed bags to be caught.
There is a large car park which serves all the Widmead lakes at the western end of the lake, and there is some other parking in Muddy Lane if you wish to approach over the railway foot crossing. There is no toilet provided because the site is a SSSI.
Pallett's Pool is a small lake located squeezed between the canal and the river at Hambridge, with only 10 pegs. It was acquired in the late 1990's, being the former settling pond from the nearby gravel washing plant, and named after the club president Steve Pallett. As a result it is quite shallow at the eastern end, but very deep at the western end.
The stock is a mixture of carp, tench, and thousands of small rudd. It is a quiet, away-from-it-all water. It has its own car park for a few cars only, accessed over the canal swing-bridge. Take care driving over here because the steep gradient causes some cars to bottom out, alternative parking is at Bellwood.
Some of the pegs have been raised because of occasional flooding from the adjacent river.
Warwick's Water is the smallest of all the clubs lakes, and is part of Rawling's Retreat. It only has 10 pegs around its approximately square banks. It is named after Bob Warwick, one of our long serving committee officers, who has a bench placed there in his honour.
The fish stock was drained, removed and replaced with crucian carp in the summer of 2016. However is it providing excellent roach fishing too. Tench will be added in 2018.
Willows is the largest of the three lakes in the Rawlings Retreat complex. It has 35 pegs - of which 3 are wheelchair platforms - on its 2.5 acres, and is approximately triangular in shape. It is a shallow lake, mostly under 2m (6 feet) in depth. It is well stocked with carp, bream, tench and roach, with the occasional crucian. Many of the carp grow to double figures, making it a popular venue. As part of the Fishery Management plan, every few years the larger carp are re-located to other NAA lakes and replaced with smaller stock.
The water was dredged some years ago to increase depth and create what became known as "Ayling Island" in honour of the club chairman at the time. Because of the high density of carp stock, the water is almost completely weed free but quite turbid. There is usually some growth of "cabbages" and lilies in summer on the west bank. It responds well to method feeder and pop-up boilies for the carp. If you want to waggler fish for the carp you will have success but on the lighter tackle you may lose fish.
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