EVENTS

Pre-Booked day tickets only

Only anglers that have emailed and booked will be allowed to fish, no arrivals otherwise.

To book a day ticket please email rocklandsmerefishery@gmail.com

2024 Prices

Day tickets £12.00
Group bookings - exclusive use £100.00/day

Rules

-All anglers to pre book via email and gain padlock code before fishing
-Early starts by arrangement only.
-Barbless/microbarbed hooks only

-No keepnets

-No braided mainlines or carp tackle, you're fishing for Crucians & Tench!

-No night fishing
-No Children under the age of 16.
-No spectators, guests or hangers on - Only anglers can access the lake.
-As this is not a typical commercial fishery, we feel that we don't have to impose the rules associated with one and trust our anglers to use... common sense!

-We pride ourselves in being a "wild" fishery and have lily pads, weed beds and overhanging trees. We do not have manicured banks or many designated "swims" just a natural, peaceful environment in which to enjoy a days fishing.

Rocklands Mere is primarily a Crucian & Tench fishery. We pride ourselves in having NO CARP PRESENT and like to think that our anglers appreciate the nature of the fishery and how it is managed to encourage these two main species to thrive.

The Old Mere

The Mere was created in the early 1940's due to peat extraction which at the time was used to heat the local houses in the village of Rockland St Peter. The Mere was then left to flood and over the years a wet woodland habitat developed. In 2001 James Harrold bought the Mere and surrounding woodland and after a lot of hard work, time and effort Rocklands Mere Fishery was born.

Being just over an acre in size and full of features, it lends itself perfectly to traditional float fishing tactics. Depths vary from 4 - 6 feet and Norfolk reed, reed mace and hornwort, not to mention the extensive lily pads provide an excellent habitat for the fish, sadly somewhat of a rarity on many waters today.

Crucian Carp

An original Rocklands Mere Crucian

Robbie Northman with a perfect example caught on an evening session

Rocklands Mere Fishery is proud to be one of only a handful of waters in the country to hold true Crucian Carp, a species which is sadly in decline, particularly in Norfolk.

Preferring the shelter of lilies, weed and bankside vegetation, most Crucians are caught on traditional light float fishing tactics fished close to the margins. Baits such as very small pellets, maggots, breadflake, sweetcorn and casters will all work, with baits such as luncheon meat or larger pellets seeming to deter the smaller roach & rudd.

Crucian Carp (Carassius carassius)

A cryptic, mainly benthic, freshwater fish, with a long dorsal fin (sans barbs), a rounded forehead and no barbels. Normally of olive golden-brown colour, the pelvic fins are pinkish with the first ray having darker (blackish) pigmentation. Found in freshwater systems, but characteristic of ponds and river backwaters.

Jim Burdett with 3 fin perfect specimens caught on waggler tactics and corn

A 2lb 5oz Crucian for Mark Brunning on traditional tactics and corn

History in Norfolk (Copp & Sayer 2009)

The region of Norfolk and northern Suffolk, but excluding the Broads (Ellis 1965), is thought to be a stronghold for C. carassius

Recent research on the distribution of C. carassius in Norfolk (Copp & Sayer 2009, Sayer et al., submitted) has revealed a species occurrence decline of around 80% between the 1970s and 2008–2009 (of 28 ponds known to have contained C. carassius in the 1970s, only five retained the species).

The threats to this species in Norfolk (and neighbouring counties) include:

Genetic contamination through hybridization with introduced varieties of common carp (Cyprinus carpio), including ‘koi’ and ‘chagoi’, which are released into open waters.
Loss of habitat due to river regulation
Changes in agricultural and landuse practices, especially the terrestrialisation of ponds.
A previous lack of recognition of C. carassius as a characteristic pond species.

Rocklands Mere Fishery Norfolk Crucians

Rocklands Mere Fishery is working closely with Dr Carl Sayer (University College London) who is responsible for the Norfolk Biodiversity Action Plan to save the species from extinction in Norfolk and to provide a habitat in which to enable Crucians to thrive. With careful management of our current pure strain of Crucians as well as re-stocking verified fish from selected sites we aim to develop a fishery which is not only a perfect habitat for this species to regenerate, but enable anglers to enjoy a somewhat forgotten way of fishing for a species sadly dismissed by many anglers today.

Crucian Carp Norfolk