sweethope

I have heard a rumour that Sweethope is reopening on 1st of April

how appropriate

appetiser wrote:how appropriate

Now I thought that but it came from a reliable source

Hi Ian, hope you are right its a really nice spot and Ive had some good days there. Do you know who is going to run it ?

think its a water sports company , kayaks , windsurfing etc ,

So its not opening as a fishery ?

Sweethope Loughs in Northumberland is reopening on the 1st April. May I wish Tony and Linda Beck the very best of luck with their new venture.
Day ticket water fly fishing for Trout only boat, bank, wading. Ticket prices will be reduced for first five weeks until realistic stock take can be done and word has spread of reopening.
It is going to be in the Chronicle so keep an eye open.

Info sourced from Lucy Bowden

Excellent, one brilliant fishery on it's day...always loved sweethope although i think it was never really stocked to it's potential in years gone by....good luck to Tony and Linda Beck, I really hope they make a roaring success of it...be good to see a true fishery back on its feet I'll certainly be having a look up when return home..

Hi There,

Well I really do wish the new owners/managers success.

The North East does need a good Boat Fishery and I have spent many, many days on Sweethope in good times and bad.

However if that press release is definitive then I genuinely have my doubts.

A Stock Take!

Just assume that Old Age, Cormorants, Otters, Starvation, Disease and Poachers have reduced the fish numbers to zero and just start from scratch.

Really stock it up and open with a bang.

With regard to getting the word out perhaps they have never heard of Forums, E-Mails, Texts, Phones, Tackle Shops and Magazines.

And of course anglers never chat amongst themselves.......... :-)

I would be more than happy to put a poster up in my shop and hand out a leaflet.

If they e-mail it up I will even print it off myself!

Please do not take this the wrong way.

I wish them real success both as an Angler and Fly-Fishing Club Secretary as well as a Tackle Shop Owner.

Sweethope has been a great fishery in the past and hopefully will be again in the future.

I genuinely hope the new management has a great year.

Best Regards

robbie

Lets hope its true and good luck to Tony and Linda. If they can get it right it could maybee get back to the good old days with full car parks and having to book up before you travel. Only problem is the recession, could be a bad time to start this venture only time will tell. I will certainly be giving it a try. Like Robbie said I would assume that there was no fish left in the lakes and give it a big stocking to get the opening days off to a good start and word of mouth will soon get around if its fishing good or not. Don't stock it and you will get bad reports from the start. Mixed water sport venue? will sit on the fence on this one and wait and see how it pans out. We might even get some boat competitions on Sweethope again instaid of having to travel hundreds of miles to the south.

have to give this ago never fished it

Hi There,

This may be of interest.

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Best Regards

robbie

Thats really good. I have never fished there so looking forward to getting a chance. Nice link robbie

Shipman wrote:Lets hope its true and good luck to Tony and Linda. If they can get it right it could maybee get back to the good old days with full car parks and having to book up before you travel. Only problem is the recession, could be a bad time to start this venture only time will tell. I will certainly be giving it a try. Like Robbie said I would assume that there was no fish left in the lakes and give it a big stocking to get the opening days off to a good start and word of mouth will soon get around if its fishing good or not. Don't stock it and you will get bad reports from the start. Mixed water sport venue? will sit on the fence on this one and wait and see how it pans out. We might even get some boat competitions on Sweethope again instaid of having to travel hundreds of miles to the south.

yeah i agree about the baot competitions. Would be great to get some experince doing some proper boat comps.

Sweethope was a magical place to fish in its day. I hope this doesn't change.
One thing the new people could change would be the mad starting times. It seemed a bit mental to have people sit in the car park and wait until the fishing times.
I hope it works
Daz

ive never fished the place. Will be interested in seeing how the first couple of weeks go.

Darren

Hi all,
just registered on here - what a revelation, i have indeed never heard of forums, emails or any of this new technology stuff!

I am Linda Beck and its me, my husband Tony, and another two staff members (Chris Slack, Dave Hipwell) who are taking over Sweethope.

YES, we are assuming that there will be no fish to start with, so a full stock is pre-ordered and on route. The weather conditions have made access to Sweethope tricky over the last few weeks, so that we have postponed the opening to April 13th, when it will be well stocked with browns, blue and rainbows. All 20 boats will be ready for a season of boat fishing and a boat competition is on the cards! (Possibly May 6th is what we are currently talking about.)
We are hoping that Lucy will be doing some of the junior coaching too, so plans are rolling to get the younger Northumbrians into fly fishing again.
I have got a poster ready to be put up and we will be travelling around with this after Easter to all the major tackle shops etc, so that we can really start spreading the word.
If you haveany questions or suggestions, please get in touch.

We have put some information on the website that Robbie Bell quoted, and we are putting new content on all the time, so please keep checking. There is also a section on how we intend to manage the watersports side with the fishing, but please be assured that there wont be random surfers or sailors allowed on sweethope. It will be only session based activities run by our staff on designated days in designated areas (more info online).
Get in touch if you have any good ideas or would like to have an input with regards to session times, rules, competitions etc. We would love to hear from you!

Tight lines to all,
Linda

would be nice to fish sweethope as never fished it before

Hello Linda,

Welcome to the site.

Really looking forward to the opening of Sweethope, we used to fish it a lot before the closure a couple of seasons ago. Please keep us informed on how the fishing is going on the fishery threads, as it is handy to know what has been catching and what tactics have been working.

All the best of luck and I hope your new venture is a success.

Thanks Rob! Will keep y'all informed! I am very, very excited, especially as the season has already begun and we are just holding back at Sweethope to get everything JUST RIGHT before we open!

Hello Linda, and welcome to the site

I can see a site day happening at Sweethope this year, last time I was there managed from the bank maybe a Site day on the boats ? I think that will be a camera day for me if I am allowed to without fishing.

Very pleased the place is reopening .
Fc was on a boat with me there once boy was it a fun time
.

Oh and by my self I ran aground 3 times in the Gail force winds ,

Hi Linda,

Welcome to the site, brilliant news that sweethope is opening again, I really wish you and Tony all the best success for the future, will deffo be making a few visits in the near future.

Ant

Topcat wrote:Very pleased the place is reopening .
Fc was on a boat with me there once boy was it a fun time
.

Oh and by my self I ran aground 3 times in the Gail force winds ,

HA HA HA I remember that you couldnt handle the boat after I got out I know you love boat fishing in the wind preferably gale force winds

Hi Linda

Good luck with the new venture. It's great news that Sweethope is back on the map. I'll be along when things warm up.
Do you have both lakes?

Daz