Phoebe’s Fishery is a small quarter acre pond on Brookfield Farm, in Old Dalby, which is close to Melton Mowbray. The pond is not visible from the road, you have to drive through the farm, you pass a house on your right hand side and then eventually you will reach a small parking area. If you look down the hill you will see the water.
Fishing wise, the pond is rammed full of fish. No matter what the weather, you should be in for a decent days fishing. The pond is an oval shape and there is a feature island which is just off to one side. Methods wise, it is a bit of a blank canvas, most methods should work. Adjusting your feed to the time of year is sensible, in colder weather feel your way into the session, don’t go in with too much bait at the start and blow your peg. Make sure you fish with positive baits on the hook, as you risk the chance of being plagued by small fish all day. Baits like maggots will catch anything that swims, but switching to larger pellets or corn will be more selective and help pick out the larger fish.
This would be a perfect venue to bring a youngster or beginner, they would be able to experience catching fish on a wide range of techniques. If conditions allow, fishing with a waggler could offer a fun days fishing different to what you’d do at most other fisheries.
The margins are an area which you shouldn’t ignore – even in winter. You will see the fish when they arrive, their tails or backs will be out of the water. During the summer it is hard to get your pole rig in the water due to the numbers of fish that arrive in the margin, you need to take care here as foul hooking fish could be a problem. Reducing the feed should attract fewer fish into your swim, but your catch rate should stay the same or improve.
