Haywards Farm Lake first opened in March 2000 and management transferred to the Sportfish team in May 2016, whereupon we took on the ambitious brief to create one of the finest small, stillwater trout fisheries in the country.

The canvas for the creation is the 11-acre Haywards Farm Lake, a spring-fed, crystal clear water boasting abundant wildlife and insect life and featuring landscaping that affords both excellent access and unimpeded casting. Not by any means a featureless ‘bowl’ Haywards Farm Lake has character in the form of bays, reed-fringed margins and promontories and the depths vary from 3 to 15ft offering a range of fishing opportunities.

The lake is open throughout the year and aerators have been installed to mix and oxygenate the fishery throughout the summer months.

Fish stock

The regular stocking is a mix of high quality, hard-fighting, full-finned rainbows with a high proportion of superb brown trout, a number of blue trout are regularly introduced too. In early 2023 we also released a number of spartic trout into Haywards Lake. The fish currently average over 3lb in weight but there are plenty in the 5 to 9lb bracket with the occasional specimen that will really test your tackle. The current lake record brown trout is 15lb and the best rainbow stands at 13lb 15oz.

Facilities and projects

There is ample free parking and the onsite lodge offers a lounge, a small but well-equipped kitchen area and both male and female toilets.

Picnic and barbecue facilities are also available.