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Southfield Resevoirs - Cowick

These Reservoirs are only separated by a strip of land about 8 feet wide, but both are joined to the nearby Aire & Calder Canal. Although massive, they are only shallow – around 3 to 4 feet.
The lakes are also used by the local sailing club which means they can become a little busy at weekends, especially in summer. The good news is that they are stuffed with Bream. Bags over 50lb are not uncommon.
Roach, Perch and Pike also show too – in fact good bags of Roach can be had on some days. The banks are rocky, so a platform is a good idea.
Please be aware that from 1st December 2020 the gate at Southfield Reservoir will be secured with a key operated padlock.
Keys can be obtained from the CRT On line shop.
We ask that these keys are purchased as the cheap internet ones tend not to work or damage the padlock. Combination locks are no longer viable due to the amount that were stolen or damaged.

METHODS

An out and out Bream attack is the best ploy. Follow the wind. The Bream will move towards the shores of windward bags, sheltered by the more coloured water, looking for food disturbed by the wind.
Traditional Brown Crumb / Brasem groundbaits work, but recently some anglers have been successful with fishmeal based groundbaits.
Squatts, Casters, Pellet, Maggot and Worm will all work if the Bream find you.

Try to fish at distance – if you can manage 60 yards it can be an advantage over those that can only fish at 40 yards. Start by putting in about 6 large feeder’s worth of groundbait out using a line clip.
Fish a smaller open ended feeder over the top and wait! Sometimes the fish just won’t arrive, but usually they will. If you can manage to not not loose any the shoal should remain feeding with confidence.
It’s then up to you whether to use a larger feeder to try and hold the shoal. Roach can sometimes be caught at 10 metres plus using light rigs and loose fed caster or pinkie.

RIGS

For the Bream, a fixed paternoster rig with a lightweight open ended or plastic mesh feeder is the obvious choice.

To get there by Sat Nav, use post code DN14 9AB.
Southfield Res is locked with a Canal & Rivers Trust padlock, you can purchase a key for £7 from the Canal & Rivers Trust Online Shop.