Alex’s Aston Dream

When Sheffield match star Alex Mitchell acquired one of the city’s top venues, local anglers knew it was surely a match made in heaven. Tom Scholey met up with Alex for a lesson in feeder fishing, and a chat about what lies in store for Aston Ponds.

Any angler who can earn their place in the star studded Barnsley Blacks line up at the tender age of just 21 clearly has a natural aptitude for angling, and a real understanding of what it takes to be successful.Twin this with an ambition to put something back into the sport, and create a venue that will give Sheffield anglers super fishing on their doorstep, and you come close to understanding what Alex Mitchell has in store for Aston Ponds.

We caught up with Alex on the venue’s newly renovated Lilly Pond, where he was taking a few stockies fishing groundbait feeder up to the pads. “Conditions aren’t ideal for this kind of fishing really, but I’m getting the odd smaller carp and hopefully a few better fish will move over the line later on in the day,” he said, as he slipped the net under a small carp.

Fishing a medium sized Drennan Gripmesh Feeder, Alex was chucking about 30 yards to the edge of some lilly pads, and as soon as his tip hit the water he was getting indications, as fish hit the feeder as it fell through the water. “There are a lot of small fish in here, that like to peck at the feeder, but when a proper fish picks the bait up there is no need to strike however, as they pull the tip around really positively. Just pick the rod up and wind in.”

In terms of hooks, Alex was using a Maver Katana size 14, which he matched to an 18 inch 0.16 Maver Genesis bottom. He put three red maggots on this, taking care to thread one of them up the shank of the hook. “It is worth doing this, as that way you are always sure there is something there, no matter how many small fish you get pecking at your bait” he explained.With a steady stream of stockies now coming to Alex’s net, conversation turned to how he had come to acquire the fishery. “Owning a fishery has always been a dream of mine, as it is for a lot of anglers, and I’ve got to say despite it being quite tough at times, I really couldn’t ask for a better job. From being a young lad I have eaten lived and breathed the sport, so working within it suits me down to the ground. Towards the back end of last year, I heard rumours that Pete was selling up, and as I was due to be fishing a match that day at Barlborough, one of Pete’s other venue’s, I asked him, and he confirmed it was up for sale. I decided pretty much there and then that it was what I wanted to do, and after a bit of thought, I put an offer in.

“It took a few months for all the appropriate documentation to be sorted with solicitors etc, but we pretty much had control over the fishery from February time, although legally we didn’t own it until June. We managed to use those few months to sort out the Lilly pond however, and it is now probably the best lake on the complex. I am even going to give my child a middle name after the lake when she arrives, such is my level of pride at what we have achieved” he told us.

Lilly Proves Popular

Alex’s changes to the Lilly pond are proving popular with anglers as well, especially disabled people who find the specially made bigger platforms easier to fish from. There is a gravelled path all the way around the lake, making access easy, with the banks all pleasantly landscaped with plants and shrubs. “To me, the perfect commercial combines good accessibility while keeping a fairly natural appearance. Hopefully this is what we have here, with the bank side shrubs and lilies in the water giving the natural look, and the improvements on the bank side making it accessible to all” said Alex, as another small carp came over the net.

It is not just the Lilly Pond that Alex is improving however, he has already begun work on some of his other lakes. “We have recently reduced the level of the Split Ponds to around 4 ½ feet, as previously we found that there were a lot of fish hanging midwater, and anglers were finding them difficult to catch. We hope that by altering the level in this way the fish will feed more on the bottom, making them easier for anglers to catch.

In the longer term, we have plans for the Little Split, we would like to turn it in to a snake type lake by running an island down the middle of it, thus giving every angler a feature to fish to” he added.

Plans are also in place for another lake, that most anglers who visit the site don’t even know about. “At the moment it is all silted up and full of weed, but eventually we would like to turn it in to a specimen lake” he said.

New Cafe?

In addition to this, we would eventually like to build a café, and perhaps even a licensed bar, somewhere to do the draw and then have a pint at the end of the match. In short, I would like to create a top class commercial fishery on the doorstep of Sheffield anglers. It strikes me at the moment, we just don’t have this.”

Alex’s vision is also shared by his wife Sarah, who is working as hard as Alex to improve the fishery. On the day Fishing 4 Fun visited the site, she was only six days off the due date of her first child, and was very proudly showing me the 50 yard length of fence that she had creosoted the previous day! That’s what we call commitment!

All in all, one can see that the hard work Alex and Sarah are putting in is paying off by thebest indicator of them all- the number of anglers on the bank. On the two occasions we have been on the venue recently it has had upwards of 50 anglers on it- and that is just midweek! All in all, the future is looking very bright for Aston Ponds.