Jack's Lake, Hadley Wood, Cockfosters

We have recently formed an alliance with the Hadley Angling & Preservation society whereby our members can fish the day ticket section of Jack's Lake in North London free of charge from October 1st, 2008 providing you show your VAC membership card.

The lake is around a metre deep and provides 27 pegs in the day ticket area (the remainder being available only to Hadley members). The main species are carp to 26lb, bream to 7lb, and roach. There are also tench to 6lb, chub (4lb), pike (14lb), rudd, gudgeon and very occasional eels and barbel. Summer matches are generally won with around 50lb, but pleasure sessions can produce much higher weights of mixed fish and those targeting carp generally have multiple catches.

Directions. From the M25: Exit at junction 24 and follow signs for A111 Cockfosters. After passing Cockfosters underground station on your left, take the next right into Mount Pleasant. Continue straight on over the roundabout into Grove Road, then right at the end into Castlewood Road. Park either at the end of Castlewood or follow round into Northfield Road to park. Follow the footpath at the side of the telegraph pole into Hadley Woods, turn left, walk over a bridge and bear right. Over another bridge and up the steps to the lake. It's not as far as it sounds!

Click for map

Please keep noise to a minimum when parking and unloading, especially early in the morning. Both Castlewood Road and Northfield Road are on a bus route, don't double park - make sure you leave space for buses to pass, as cars blocking the road are quickly towed away without notice.
 

Venue Rules

NO LITTER! Please take all your rubbish home
Barbless hooks only - maximum size 6
No seeds, nuts or pulses to be used as bait e.g. tiger nuts, beans, chick peas
Sweet corn and hemp are permitted
No bloodworm & joker
No trout pellets - coarse and carp pellets are permitted
No live baits
All anglers must be in possession of a landing net
Night fishing is HAPS members only and only on the main lake
No tins or glass bottles to be taken onto the fishery
Rods with baited hooks must not be left unattended
All carp to be kept in a carp friendly keep net, all other fish to be kept in a separate net
No fish over 2lbs to be retained in keep nets
Excess bait must taken away from the fishery - do not throw unwanted bait into the lake
Membership cards must be carried and shown to bailiffs on request

Specimen

Unhooking mats must be used
Minimum 5lb breaking strain line
No loose feeding of boilies - boilies to be introduced on stringers only, maximum of six
No PVA bags

Match

All carp to be kept in a carp friendly keep net, all other fish to be kept in a separate net
Any specimen fish, or fish showing signs of distress must be weighed in and returned immediately