Brayton Park Luxury Lodges: Wild Carp Fishing – Hot Tubs & Stunning Views

We mainly booked these lodges as we were looking for a luxury lodge with a hot tub in the North Lakes for a holiday, the carp fishing was just a bonus extra. I struggled to find out much information on the lakes and the fish before we went other than the carp we were around 10lb and there were a couple of bigger ones.

During the first week in a Wordsworth lodge, we (me and my children) fished the lake for 4 half-day sessions around what else we were doing during the trip. Here is one of the 4 double takes we had!

There is one lodge that is right on the lake with its own private peg. This was not the lodge we had booked so you have to take your gear to the bottom end of the lake as fishing is only from the tree-covered bank of the lake. This was a bit of a pain!

Whilst there I got chatting with 2 of the 3 members that fish the lake and found out a lot of information. I put it in bullet points here for easy reading!

• The lake is 7 acres and was dug out by monks at a monastery around the 14th-16 century. At the first peg, you get to, slightly to the right there are still steps in the water from that time (You can’t see them but can feel them with a lead).
• The carp are on average 6-8lb, they are all wild commons that have bred in the lake. There is a couple in the 13lb – 14lb range.
• There is a big lily bed that comes up in the summer making the first peg almost unfishable. I went in the spring and you could see it starting to come up.
• The lake is very shallow in parts and some areas, even out in the middle, are around 2-3 feet deep. On the warm spring days, we could see the carp basking in these shallow areas and catching well from them.
• The only fish in the lake are common carp and crucians, apart from an occasional natural hybrid there are no other fish or coarse fish at all.
• In our best session, we had 11 carp in just under 3 hours from 2 rods. That morning they were going for it on one of the shallow spots!

What you need to take

Here’s a guide to what I took and would take again

• Bank sticks or a pod are fine. (If you are in the lakeside lodge then you’ll need a pod as it’s a decked peg).
• Solid bags with 14mm wafters worked well for me, another visitor was doing well on corn and a method feeder.
• I just used bags and no extra freebies as I was fishing at 12ish wraps with no spod. If you are there when it’s warmer I think boilies and a throwing stick would work well for bating up. 
• Shorter rods if you have them. I fished with 12-foot carp rods, with all the trees a 9-foot or 10-foot rod or swing tip would be better.
• A decent side padded unhooking mat, I’m not sure if the fish are caught that often as even after letting them tire before landing they were still feisty on the mat!
• Usual tackle for that size fish.

The Lawson Lodge – Private Peg

Here is the peg from the lakeside lodge –

I spent a week at the Lawson Lodge in May and had a great week catching carp. The peg above is massive and the outdoor space was amazing. The hot tub overlooks the peg and the lake and you can see carp jumping all day. 

We fished quite a lot during our stay, mainly in the mornings and evenings. Over the week we managed to catch 86 carp with numerous double takes. They were all the standard Brayton Park wild carp, long and lean and between 6 and 8lb. 

I fished with PVA bags which worked perfectly.

If you are planning to fish during your stay the Lawson Lodge is highly recommend. 

The course is a 9-hole 2,323-yard course that looks well-kept. At the time of writing it is £10 for 9 holes or £15 for unlimited rounds. 

The payment was made via an honesty box in the car park. Food and drink were available to all residents and non-residents in the clubhouse. 

Brayton Park is well-ranked in our golf lodge break guide. It is perfect for a luxury break for a casual golfer. 

There is a dress code that you would expect with no tracksuits, football shirts etc allowed. You are expected to wear a shirt on the course but the code seems quite relaxed. 

The on-site restaurant is in the golf clubhouse where you get your keys. They have a good choice of locally sourced food and we found it to be very nice.

They also have a separate menu for in-lodge dining that you can ring up and order to your lodge. It is best to pre-order as it can be busy at times.