Fishing

Olton Mere is a 32 acre water surrounded by 5 acres of beautiful woodland.The mere was dug out by hand in the 1790s. It was then “puddled” with clay and trampled down by navvies’ boots to make it watertight. Its purpose at that time was solely as a top up reservoir for the Grand Union Canal. It is still used for that purpose today, with up to 1 meter being taken off during the summer months. Olton Mere is primarily used as a sailing club with regular sailing on Wednesday evenings and every Sunday. Responsible anglers are welcomed. Olton Mere is a conservation area and is a haven for wildlife.

The Mere has an average depth of 11 ft. along its centre line North to South. The deepest area is to the left hand side of the main dam-wall, past the overflow and around the main extraction pipe, where it reaches a depth of 16ft 8in.

Fish Stocks

Roach to 2lb+
Bream to 8lb+
Carp, Common and Mirror, to 32lb
Pike to 22lb, and possibly larger
Tench to 5lb+
Perch to 3lb+

Roach, tench and perch take a variety of baits – maggots, casters, worms, paste, bread, sweetcorn, luncheon meat and cat food.

Carp are extensively caught on hair rigged boilies, using rod pods, optonics, etc., especially at night, or can be caught by float fishing. Baits include boilies, luncheon meat, bread, paste.

Pike can be caught on a variety of dead baits – sprats, sardines, mackerel, roach, bream and smelt. Livebaiting is allowed from 1^st October to April, but only with bait fish caught at Olton Mere, to prevent the spread of disease.

Facilities for anglers at Olton Mere

Good safe car parking
Fisherman’s lodge with tea and coffee making facilities
Entrance to main gate and fishing lodge by key fob at any time
Fisherman’s toilet
Custom built fishing pegs
Good transport links
Accessible pathway all round Mere

Cost of angling membership £140 per year

Environment Agency Coarse Fishing License required.

No Day Tickets.

Members only, apart from 5 guests per member per year at a cost of £5 per day.

Rules

Barbless hooks must be used at all times, except when pike fishing where 2 trebles are allowed with only 1 barb per hook
Good landing net required with extended handle for general angling
For Carp or Pike fishing a minimum of 10lb line must be used, with a large landing net, an unhooking mat and long handled forceps
Fish to be returned to the water as soon as possible
No match fishing
Bivvies are allowed for night fishing
No fires, loud radios or excessive noise
No litter and no discarded line
Children under the age of 12 must wear lifejackets and be supervised at all times.