Hi Lee,
I've been a member of Tonbridge for a few years and the waters are very good value for your ?35 membership.
They own several lakes and ponds:
Barden Lake (in Haysden Park) is the main focus for the carp boys and has fish to over 40lb. It is quite pressured in the summer but there is a good head of carp present. Also some good tench and bream and some very large pike. Boilies seem favourite for the carp - most cast to the islands but a few good-sized fish have come out of the margins. Pellets with feeder for the tench and bream and deadbaits in the margins for the pike.
The Ballast Pit used to be the main carp lake for the club but, when it seemed likely that the club would lose it, the bigger fish were removed to Barden Lake. However, there are still some good tench and bream left. As of this year, the club has purchased the pit and are deciding on how it will be re-stocked.
Haysden Lake on the other side of the A21 (also used by the local sailing club) provides easy sport for bream and silvers. Fishing is only allowed from part of bank and the rest is a nature reserve - the carp have a reputation for hanging out in the no fishing section.
Longfield lake is a short walk along from Haysden Lake and has a reputation for big hauls of bream and tench.
There are a couple of ponds: Fish Hall Lakes (small head of carp to mid-doubles and some tench to around 5lb) - these Lakes get choked by weed in the summer and also contain a very large head of small silvers and a lot of jack pike both of which can be a nuisance. Pippins farm is one that I have not yet fished but is supposed to have been stocked with tench, rudd and crucians.
I spend most of my time on the club's rivers. It has fishing rights to long stretches of the Medway in and around Tonbridge and a stretch of the Eden. This season I've had carp to 14lb, tench to 5lb, chub to 5lb, bream to 7lb, roach to 1.5lb and perch to 1lb from the Medway. There are also some very large pike in the river and the bailiff has told me of the occasional small barbel. Fishing can be difficult at times, particularly in bright weather, so you do have to work at things - club matches, when there is a lot of bankside disturbance, are often won with only about 10lb. However, my best haul of bream and tench was around 40lb in about 3 hours - so when they are ready to feed they really go for it.
All in all, and as I said earlier, its great to get all of this for only ?35. I only go to a commercial for "therapy" if I've had a few tough sessions in a row, otherwise its the Tonbridge waters all the time.
