I was once very lucky to have had a mate who owned a tackle shop "The Rod Rest" in Heywood who was ex military and as the lodge is accessed via M.O.D. land (in fact the land also has the assault course that featured on the 1980's tv game show The Krypton Factor), he managed to secure the rights to fish this beautiful, ancient mill pond that was dammed a very long time ago. My mate Paul then created a sort of syndicate of a very small number of anglers who were chosen through the tackle shop ensuring a like minded set of responsible anglers, however unlike a lot off syndicate waters it was far less exclusive and Paul had a more flexible, easy going approach with the application process which gave people a chance to experience what was and is a water akin to the now almost mythical, forgotten, unspoilt, secret lake that were once a reality. Long before the commercial fishery when the only time anyone mentioned "F1" was in reference to motor racing and barbel lived in rivers and pellets were things we fired out of airguns! It's a long while now since the angling rights were sadly lost to us although I'm guessing at the time of this thread starting it was probably still running. The fact that you saw very little sign of anyone fishing there was solely due to the careful, conservation minded attitudes of all the anglers that were privileged enough to be members. Indeed the care and protection of the lake and its natural, wild surroundings was everything, "Leave no trace" is a phrase that I feel suits the place best. So just like a surfer who finishes a session carving up the waves leaving no trace of his ever being there, on looking back before leaving it had to look exactly the same as it did before arriving. This concept, whilst sounding a little alien to some should actually be second nature to all anglers certainly at a natural and special place like Simons Lodge but I would love to see the same phenomenon at all venues one day. Well one can dream I suppose and Simons Lodge is very much the kind of place that we have all dreamed of finding at some point. Oh, and the fishing was pretty good too!
