Bury Hill Angling Club

Welcome to Bury Hill Angling Club, one of the country’s prettiest and most productive mixed coarse fisheries. Widely regarded as one of the finest coarse fisheries in the country, Bury Hill Fisheries has four lakes offering fantastic fishing for the pleasure, match and specimen angler alike. Whether you are looking for 40 lb plus carp, arm aching action from multiple catches of smaller carp, monster pike, double-figure zander, 100 lb nets of quality tench, bream and true English crucian or simply the chance of catching a huge 3lb plus roach, rudd or perch, all of this is possible at Bury Hill Fisheries. As you will see from the countless pages of catch photographs and in-depth information that follow, Bury Hill is far from your regular fishery.

Whilst day anglers will still be welcome to its lakes who simply by purchasing a day pass on arrival, we continue to move to membership, which provides a range of benefits, allowing anglers greater access to our four unique lakes, which represents an important step forward for the future of the fishery with members enjoying unrivalled sport in lovely, peaceful surroundings catching a wide range of species to specimen size.

You can now apply to join our Angling Club on a day-only or day-and-night basis, fishing in a secure environment with gated access at one of the most pleasant and popular locations in the South East of England. Please follow the link below for full membership details.

What we offer

Bury Hill Fisheries is part of a 200-year-old estate set in a beautiful, secluded valley in the heart of the Surrey Hills, An oasis of calm amid the bustle of the busy, nearby towns of Dorking and Redhill, and just 40 minutes drive from London, the lakes are tucked away along a rhododendron-lined drive on a wooded hillside that drops down to the water, leaving the outside world behind.
Famous since the 1960s, when it was frequented by some of Britain’s leading anglers, the Old Lake has matured into a wonderful pleasure fishery enhanced by the addition of three other lakes each offering a different type of fishing for a variety of fish sizes and species.

Whether you want to catch a pedigree English carp of over 40 lb, large numbers of bream and tench to specimen size, a double-figure zander, huge true crucian carp, specimen roach, rudd and perch or big pike, you’ll find it all available at Old Bury Hill’s lakes.

The four lakes totaling 20 acres offer a wide choice of fishing styles and surroundings, from intimate swims bordered by lily pads where you can float fish amid the bubbles of feeding fish, to distant casting for reel-churning runs and arm-aching battles with countless lively carp.
There’s a world of different ways of fishing to be enjoyed in magnificent surroundings and comfortable swims, all of which makes Bury Hill the favourite fishery for many of our anglers.

The Lakes and Fishing

A famous fishery since its creation in the 19th Century, Bury Hill was renowned through the 1950s for tench and pike sport, and more recently through the 60s and 70s the nation’s finest match anglers travelled hundreds of miles to line its banks to compete in regular competitions.
Nowadays, following years of careful fishery management and investment, Bury Hill has blossomed into an unrivalled all-round fishery, attracting specimen hunters, pleasure anglers and matchmen alike from far and wide. The beautiful main lake at Bury Hill, with its mysterious and overgrown jungle and magical rhododendron lined island is matched only by the prolific fishing found on the two smaller lakes situated in the lower valley, designed and created especially for pleasure and competitive fishing in the early 1990s.

Bury Hill has 4 lakes offering fantastic fishing for all species.

The Old Lake

The Old Lake one of the country’s prettiest and most productive mixed coarse fisheries.

This 200-year-old tree-lined Victorian estate lake surrounded by irises and lilies covers 12 acres and has 75 pegs. Old Bury Hill, or the ‘Old Lake’ as it is known, holds a fantastic head of specimen carp, with several 30s and plenty of doubles and 20s, and is also noted for huge catches of specimen tench and bream, and outstanding winter predator sport with numerous double-figure zander and pike.

Fishing is available from both bank and boat, the lake’s purpose-built punts giving access to the famous ‘Jungle’ area, which is noted for its huge catches of specimen tench.

Probably the oldest, prettiest and arguably most prolific commercial fishery you will have the pleasure of wetting a line in, Old Bury Hill is a tree-lined and lily-fringed 12-acre estate lake bursting with fish. Maintained as a traditional, mixed coarse fishery, the Old Lake boasts a huge head of quality carp, tench and bream, along with an abundance of roach, rudd, perch, crucian carp, chub, pike and zander, providing all-year-round fishing.

Among the specimens are carp of over 30 lb, bream of over 10 lb, tench of 9 lb, zander to 16 lb, crucian carp to 4 lb 8 oz (caught in summer 2016) with perch, roach and rudd.

The tactics adopted range from hair-rigged boilies by carp anglers to pole or feeder by match anglers, and waggler by pleasure anglers. The fishing is relatively straightforward and huge catches are a regular feature on this large, prolific lake, especially in spring and summer. A five-hour match catch of 168 lb was recorded in 2017 from the Long Bank, and John Houseman and Chris Tulley once shared a 500 lb haul from a boat, which included tench and bream to over 8 lb.

Individual hauls of 100 bream in a pleasure session have been recorded, of fish averaging 4 lb apiece, and the bream are remarkably resistant to cold weather, providing match anglers with good bags of fish even when they have had to break a hole in the ice to fish their peg.

The water recirculation regime on the Old Lake ensures plenty of bites, because the constant ‘flow’ keeps the fish moving and feeding. The deeper water off the front bank is a great place for big bags of winter ‘slabs’, with chopped worm and casters in feeders a good tactic, though ‘tea-bags’ of pellets in small PVA mesh parcels is also popular with match and pleasure anglers.

All 75 swims have large, wooden platforms, ensuring comfort and enough room for seatboxes, bait-waiters or rod pods and shelters, with plenty of room between pegs. Multiple catches of double-figure and 20 lb carp with the chance of a 30-pounder is what capable carp anglers can expect from Old Bury Hill. It’s a big carp action paradise. 

A tremendous stock of mirrors, commons, leathers and linears and even a brightly coloured koi provide plenty of variety. Mornings and evenings are incredibly productive times, and even short trips can bring multiple hauls on boilies.

In winter, predators provides access to arguably the finest day ticket specimen zander fishing on offer, with numbers of double-figure fish reported each winter. In the right conditions the action is fast and furious from bank and boat. And with pike also present, there is variety in the predator fishing, too. The pike and zander season opens on October 1 each year and continues until March 14. Lures can be used, as well as deadbaits (small chunks of fish seem to work very well for the zander), but there is a barbless single-hooks-only rule at Bury Hill, for the protection of the fish and for easier unhooking, so leave your trebles at home.

Bonds Lake

A 20-peg lake full of hard-fighting, single- and double-figure carp averaging 3-4 lb.

This ‘runs’ water provides hectic action and is a great place for ‘carp crunching’ sport with large numbers of fish.

A venue for beefy pole elastic or powerful float and feeder rods, Bonds regularly out-fishes all the other lakes due to the head of greedy carp.

Method feeders or a straight leger cast to the island or down the margins with mini pop-ups on hairs is a successful way to catch the lake’s carp, though pole anglers also catch their share on banded pellets over fishmeal groundbait.

Pleasure catches of ten or 20 carp are commonplace in the warmer months, and the top match weight is over 300 lb, making it a good venue for club bookings.

At two acres, Bonds has just 20 pegs with depths to 5 ft, and is a pretty lake surrounded by irises with a large island in the centre, Careful feeding and good bait are often all that is needed to bag up, and finesse is less important with so many fish competing for food, making the action hectic at times.

Milton Lake

Milton Lake has 30 pegs and is stocked with large numbers of tench, genuine crucian carp, roach, rudd, perch and bream, as well as a few smaller carp.

Milton Lake allows anglers to find a haven away from the tackle-busting doubles and 20-pounders that often muscle in elsewhere on the complex.

When the lake is on form, 50 crucians can be caught at a sitting, averaging over 2 lb apiece, and there have been catches of over 100 by a single angler, along with fish of over 3 lb, to just a couple of ounces under 4 lb.

In addition to the golden crucians, Milton has been developed as a specimen roach water, with fish from Bonds, which has produced them to 3 lb, being moved during netting operations to give anglers more chance to catch them without having their swim ‘crashed’ by double-figure carp.

At three acres, Milton offers 30 generously spaced pegs to tackle large shoals of tench, crucian carp, roach, rudd, perch, bream and carp. The policy to develop Milton has always been to limit both numbers and sizes of carp present, to allow anglers who enjoy sport from crucians, tench and other smaller species to find a quiet corner.

Carefully designed with anglers in mind back in 1991, Milton has been landscaped with both islands and subsurface, fish-holding areas to offer plenty of potential from all of the pegs. Thousands of lilies, reeds, irises, trees and selected shrubs have been planted to ensure the surroundings are as pleasing as the sport.

Milton’s tench reach 7 lb and there are also golden rudd, and while the crucians and carp are most active in summer, in winter Milton’s large shoals of specimen roach, rudd and perch get a look-in, and some impressive catches are made.

All methods work at Milton, from pole tackle, with its superior presentation at close quarters, up against reeds or lily pads, to waggler, feeder or bomb, for exploring further out or when conditions make float fishing tricky.

Soft hooker pellets, red or white maggots, casters, corn, worms, bread and meat are all reliable baits, and small balls of groundbait introduced on a regular basis seem to concentrate the fish. But in truth there is little that will not catch fish at Milton.

Temple Lake

Old Bury Hill’s land of the giants, Temple is an unashamed out-and-out specimen carp venue.

The result of a £350,000 investment in 2002, when a tailor-made big carp lake was constructed and stocked with pedigree English carp. Holding a staggering 90-plus 20-pounders in its four acres, the lake also has more than a dozen different 30-pounders, and at least two fish that are over 40 lb, along with hand-picked smaller stock fish to ensure a plentiful supply of specimens for the future. Growth rates have been phenomenal since stocking, up to 7 lb being gained in 12 months in some instances.

When the original stock fish were sought for Temple, pedigree was crucial, and only the finest English carp were considered. The opening of the lake was delayed by over a year until fish of the right size and unquestionable background became available. From perfect commons and linears to scattered mirrors and ghost commons, Temple’s stock flies the flag for True Brit carp angling.

Temple has been created with dozens of underwater features across all the swims, and four central islands creating natural barriers between opposing banks. Varying from 6-10 ft deep, all swims access a range of depths to cater for different and changing conditions.

Luxurious, purpose-built free-draining swims are built to take the biggest bivvies and all the latest equipment. Spaced about 30 metres apart, there are just 15 pegs, less than four per acre of water. Temple is the last word in comfort and practicality. Situated above the Old Lake, it has breathtaking views and has been carefully landscaped and planted with thousands of irises, reeds, lilies, trees and shrubs.

All-weather access paths have been installed from the boathouse to stretch around the fishery, providing easy access. A toilet and kitchenette unit close to Temple adds a further element of comfort during long sessions. Few waters can claim Temple’s impressive blend of big carp stock, exclusivity and comfort.

Temple’s carp have been documented from stocking, ensuring that both members and fishery staff know exactly what the venue contains. Each carp has been tagged with a permanent microchip that allows it to be recognised through a unique 16-digit code, as used on valuable dogs, cats and other animals. The tags are invisible and harmless, but allow staff and anglers to identify each carp with a hand-held scanner and to monitor their growth rate and capture patterns precisely. They also ensure that each carp is positively identifiable, for unrivalled fishery security. With fishing of this quality, Temple is run on a strict membership basis to help protect its big, valuable carp. An annual membership fee is paid, then a day/night ticket booked in advance of each visit.