Is the first lake you come to on entering the Famous Five Lake complex.
Poplars Lake is predominantly a carp lake of approx 2 acres and can, on occasions almost function as a runs water carp lake.
This lake, as with the other lakes on the complex, is clay based with areas of silt and exposed gravel. There are not known to be any snags within the lake but redundant root systems and undercuts in the banks do exist. There are no areas of weed and to date there have been no episodes of algal growth. At the top end of the lake are areas of well established water lilies
The lake contains carp, grass carp, bighead and koi, sturgeon, catfish, pike, zander, black bass and roach.
Carp are know to reach 43lbs with an average weight of approx 28lbs with numerous 30s. Successive nettings and stock management of the carp should mean that there are very few carp below 20lbs in the lake. There are known to be 3 grass carp within the lake up to approx 28lbs. In addition, there are grass carp, a showpiece black sturgeon pike, zander and roach. With most of the carp being a Czech/Hungarian strain they are prone to put on weight at a reasonable rate.
There are wels-catfish present but these are in limited numbers thought to be at a maximum of approx 35lbs. Over time their numbers will be further reduced with the ultimate aim of removing all cats from this lake.
The zander are currently young (about 3/4 years old) but seem to be growing well within the lake.
New fish stock 2025
November 2025 saw the introduction of a new predator into Poplars Lake in the form of some black bass
And in December 2025 there were four additional carp introduced in the form of bighead carp (37lb13oz), common carp at 32lb9oz, a mirror at 30lb3oz and a stunning koi at 11lb
The next round of new stock is scheduled for December 2025
The next scheduled netting is in the early winter of 2026
Going back to our beginning this lake on entry in 2022 this provided us with the very greatest of challenges. At least a third of the water surface area was lost to fallen trees in-lake growth. The water quality was appalling and it was a miracle that the stock had survived. Roll forward into 2025 and the margins around the lake are now fully defined, not a tree in the lake and the water quality is back where it should be. This lake will surely soon be the showcase lake for The Famous Five. As with the other lakes the balance has been radically altered within the lake with an aggressive de-catting program.
The first restocking program in November 2023 saw 16 virgin carp and 2 grass carp introduced into the lake as well as 4 carp being re-homed from the neighbouring Birch Lake.
Short session/weekend fishing with our local anglers generally yields 12 to 15 carp in a 24 hour session and a week long session can yield over 50 carp out! The three short years we have had at this lake have totally transformed the environment!
Accommodation
In the closed season of 2024/5 we removed the previous mobile home and replaced it with a much better mobile home, decked the front of the caravan and built a short pontoon out on the lake. This is now the much loved ‘home swim’ on Poplars.
