2018 Round-Up
The start of 2018 saw a very long winter with ice and snow in March and then flooding throughout April!
The ice covering Match Lake 1 in March 2018. | The Team erecting a temporary fish fence during the Flooding on the Traditional Lake in April 2018 |
Many Anglers still braved the snow and managed to catch during the cold conditions!
OPEN DAY
In the Summer of 2018 we held our first Open Day in June, involving a wider range of Companies and we're planning something different again this year. Over 200 people visited throughout the day with over 45 anglers fishing 24 hours on the Big Lake and Traditional Lake! NASH, Gardner, Bait-Tech & Ridgemonkey all attended with their stands and there was bankside cooking by Simon Bishop on behalf of Ridgemonkey and Dave Levy and Dave Lane from the TV show “Carp Wars” mingled
with the anglers.
Budding Anglers with the Gaby Fish Pillows | Marley and Justin Legan during the Open Day Social  |
The Ridgemonkey stand | The NASH display  |
WINTER WEEKENDER AND NEXT GENERATION MATCHES
Due to the success of the Next Generation Adult & Junior Carp Match in 2017, we held two in 2018 including our 1st Winter Weekender in December with Nash & Navitas! We combined the second Next Generation, Adult & Junior 24 hour Carp match with a Big Lake Winter Social.
36 keen anglers received amazing NASH goodie bags and drink and burger vouchers compliments of SWP. They fished 24 hours, took part in a quiz & mingled at the Bait & Rig clinics and Burger Van! READ MORE HERE!
The 1st Next Generation Match Draw. | Callum Dealey who came 2nd place, with one of his catches during the 1st Next Generation Match in August  |
Some of the Anglers at the Winter Weekender in the shop. They all joined in with quizzes and lucky dips for charity, although the weather was too wet for the Casting Competition this time around! | Marley collecting his prize at the 2nd Next Generation Match in December  |
INFORMATION
The new APP for Suffolk Water Park now has nearly 6,000 downloads and anglers can browse the Named Fish Gallery, receive news updates, tips & advice and collect loyalty reward points from fishing. New features include a Maps section, Zig Tips from Nash & all the swim pictures for the Big Lake are now in the Swim Guide.
We have now also introduced a Bankside Handbook magazine, of which we are already on our Second Edition. It not only tells anglers all about the park, the lakes and facilities but it also holds catch reports, tips, news, maps and rules. Its a one stop shop for information and the 3rd edition should be out later in 2019! DOWNLOAD A COPY!
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FAMILY FISHING DAY
The Family Fishing event introduced over 100 new anglers to fishing in September and the Angling Trust and Bait-Tech's Hayley Goldsmith have already planned three more with us in 2019!
Volunteers help attendees at the Family Fishing event in 2018, where budding anglers have a go at fishing at this free event funded by the Angling Trust. Three more are to be held this year in April, June & July 2019! |  |
ARTHURS BURGER VAN
Arthurs Burger Van joined us again last year on Saturdays during the Summer and at various events. Sadly they can't be with us at their regular slot but hopefully they will visit us at planned events throughout 2019. Below: Arthurs Burger Van at the Family Fishing Event 2018.  | BELOW: Arthurs Burger Van at the Open Day in June 2018.   |
PEG 31
Peg 31 had a fabulous upgrade where the swim was dug into the grass, lowering the swim to create more shelter. This peg is bookable in advance and is really popular with anglers as it is next to the Café and close to the toilets with parking off the road a few metres from the swim. READ MORE HERE!
Peg 31 after being re-chipped Jan 2019 | Peg 31 after works in 2018  |
CATCH RESULTS
Match Lake 1 also saw a Carp Swim upgrade in 2018 with 4 new woodchipped swims under the trees, their platforms ripped out and which are now very popular and bookable! This lake has seen some decent sized Carp, making it a great runs water!
Alan Kidd with a 21lb Mirror from Match Lake 1 in September 2018. | Mark Roden with a 20lb+ from Match Lake 1 in 2018 |
There’s been lots of beautiful Carp out this year, especially on the Traditional Lake which has grown in popularity of late,
especially for overnight fishing as the reduction in swims has given anglers more water and is perfect for those wanting
a bend in the rod.
The Big Fish Lake has produced well this year, with many named fish gracing the bank along with some new up and coming 30’s. Quite a few Carp over 30lb were banked in April 2018 with Tom Wood having a haul of 12 Carp including Meg's Lin at 33lb! The elusive Carrot was landed by Danny Williamson at 28lb on 6th November, along with a 31lb 9oz Common in the same evening.
Stefan Offord caught one of the up & coming 30's "SCRATCH", which achieved its highest weight to date at 35lb in October and this is also his PB!  | Henry Heath at only 10 years of age landed a whopper, "3 Scale" at 34lb 12oz in August, beating his PB. After going on the munch for 2 months, Daren Cocker. banked "3 Scale" at 36lb 1oz.  |
Similarly the Match results were great including high weights such as a bag of 80lb of Silvers in October and a mixed bag of 160lb being victorious after an Open Match in August 2018. The Canal fished well last year, despite being low on water in late 2018. John Dale reported a mixed bag of 69lb 8oz with many Tench in June 2018. (Pictured right) |  |
Jacobs Creek continues to produce and we are taking bookings for 2019. We will be updating and revamping Jacobs ready for Summer so keep an eye on our website news pages! | BELOW: Carl Spurling at his session in June 2018 |
FISHING CLUB
The Fishing Club was successful again in 2018 and was fully booked each week. Professional Tutor, James Anderson is continuing the Fishing Club for 2019 and we hope that budding anglers old and new will join us again! READ MORE HERE!
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OTHER NEWS
Franco's Barbers also joined us in 2018, opening up in the small hut between the Shop and the Café. Gianni is currently
there part time but hopes to have a more permanent position in 2019!
Suffolk Water Park always supports the environment and has a strict no litter policy and in line with this we joined the ANLRS (Anglers National Line Recycling Scheme) where anglers can deposit their old line in the bins in the shop and we send it off to the NLRS for them to recycle to make new things such as traffic cones, sunglasses and even swimwear! We're even offering anglers 10% off a new spool of line with each old spool they donate.
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Last year also saw the introduction of a new biosecurity dipping procedure to ensure fish safety at the park.
All anglers have been totally cooperative in this process and have shown great support for the new measures.
The Otter fence was finished in April 2018 to further protect the fish at the Park.
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IN THE SHOP...
The Navitas clothing range has increased with plenty more new products coming in 2019! The new Ladies' Sherpa Fleece and fresh designs for T-Shirts this year will add to the recent arrivals of the range of Socks and Children's clothing! NASH has also expanded their Terminal Tackle range with the new Tungsten tackle, Dot Spods and Bobbins, with more coming in 2019!
Becky Sharman joined the team last winter and we hope she works more days this year when business picks up again in the Spring, as she has fitted in a treat over the last few months!
