hammer_jamie, I'm in the same boat (or train
) as you and do all my fishing via public transport from London.
You didn't mention where you are in London, but I'd recommend Henlow Bridge Lakes. It's 35 mins from Kings Cross and the lakes are right next to the station, literally a 2 min walk.
They've got two lakes, Jordan's is the bigger one mainly for carp. Biggest I've caught there is 14lb and biggest I've seen come out is 23lb. On a typical day you can easily catch 10 decent carp, all in excellent condition.
The other lake is Vincent's, which is their mixed/coarse lake with silvers and smaller carp, they say up to 15lb but usually around the 5 or 6lb mark. There's also some cracking perch in there (my best there 2lb 12oz, biggest I've seen come out was 4lb on the nose). Plus there's bream around 2lb, good roach of around a 1lb, tench, rudd, gudgeon, etc
Both lakes have nice swims, its usually fairly quiet and the fish are in excellent condition. Definitely recommended for a beginner. If interested PM me and I can let you know which swims are good to start in.
Some others:
Puddledock is good for beginners but it's bloody miles from the station (+30 min walk)
Jacks Lake: (as someone else mentioned) is a nice "natural" looking lake and nice surroundings. A good 15 minute walk from Cockfosters tube (not that far but boy does 15 mins seem a long time when you're lugging gear). Can be a bit tricky to find first time.
Burgess Park: down in good old sarf London, off the Old Kent Road. I haven't fished it myself, but it's got quite a good rep, lots of tench and good carp up to mid twenties.
Stanborough Lake: near Welwyn Garden City, nice lake, can be hard to fish sometimes especially in winter and a bit of a trek from the station (a good 20 - 25 mins)
Lea Valley lakes: some cracking carp waters. Most are season ticket only, but both Banjo Lake and Stock Pit are on day ticket. Banjo has lots of small carp around 5lb and biggest up to 28lb. Both lakes are close to St Margarets station
Then there's always the 'stow (i.e Walthamstow Reservoirs). These are worth a bash once you've gained some experience, but be warned can be bloody hard and are known head bangers. However there are some huge carp in there and massive bream (but you need about 4 tons of bait to hold them in your swim). Close to Tottenham Hale or Blackhorse Road stations.
