After the blank at the Welland on 1 December I thought I might try some roach fishing at Fields End with the off-chance of a winter carp. However, when I arrived at Fields End they were concreting the approach road and the lakes were closed.

Stuck for what to do, I remembered that there was a venue called Decoy Lakes somewhere near Whittlesley, so I set off to try to find it.

After one false routing I eventually arrived around 09.00. A very friendly lady explained the set up there. They have a number of lakes, and I opted for a horseshoe shaped one that seemed to have been created by building a spit head into a high-banked pool, thus providing fishing stations in what otherwise would have been a virtually unfishable lake.

It was a lovely December day. There was a bit of a breeze, but the lake was sheltered.

I started fishing in the bay immediately on the left as you walked onto the spit. It seemed a good location but the bites I was getting on corn and luncheon meat were all missed. I suspected smaller fish. Fish were splashing on the other side of the spit so I went over there and fished the bay at that end of the horseshoe. Again I missed bites but eventually hooked and landed a very small mirror carp. I subsequently hooked a couple of better feeling fish but the hook-hold was lost after a few seconds on each occasion. I don't think either was particularly big.

Another chap had been fishing a bit further down the spit and when I left I asked him how he had done. He said he had had about 20lb of fish, including tench and carp. He was using a pole with expandable pellet hook bait and my impression was that Decoy caters predominantly for the match angler.

Before leaving I had a look at a couple of the other lakes on site. The 'Beastie' lake (their original lake) looked inviting in places, but the close proximity of the fishing platforms gave me the feeling that this again was a match oriented lake. I'm not sure I would like the 'crowds' in summer.

The match bias and the fact that they do not allow bread at all, or any floating bait other than what's on the hook, really makes decoy an unattractive venue for my preferences. I'm not sure at this stage whether I shall return.