Billingford Lakes, Norfolk
Mark Murdoch visits a fishery on the up that one of the sport’s most famous figures used to frequent
DOZENS of angling programmes have graced our TV screens down the years, and there is little doubt that John Wilson’s creations were among the best of the lot.
The legendary figure toured the globe to show the masses just how exciting our sport can be, with his hit Go Fishingshow running for over 15 years.
Anglers and non-anglers alike warmed to John instantly, drawn in by his distinctive chuckle and likeable personality.
During his many programmes John wowed viewers with catches that most could only dream of, whether that was taming giant golden mahseer from the mighty Cauvery River in India or battling hard fighting vundu catfish from Zimbabwe’s Lake Kariba.
While his on-screen antics were what helped boost the profile of angling, when he wasn’t staring down the lens of a camera he would go pleasure fishing on his own terms, and among the venues he often liked to visit was a complex on the outskirts of Norwich.
Norfolk’s Billingford Lakes, which was less than 10 miles from John’s own doorstep, was a major attraction for anglers in the 1980s and early 1990s, with the large, deep gravel pits providing a real challenge for big-fish hunters like Wilson. Specimen bream, tench and carp were all on the agenda, and the complex helped countless anglers achieve personal bests during that period.
John enjoyed many sessions at Billingford, where he would simply indulge his love of fishing in a relaxed environment without the pressure of having to produce the goods for TV.
But like so many venues from back then, it failed to keep up with the changing demands of anglers, and as the commercial fishery boom kicked in, visitors started to look elsewhere. It remained open, providing those that stayed loyal with the same quality sport, but angler numbers flatlined.
That’s all changing now, however, following a sizeable recent investment in the complex, with bold plans being laid out to bring back the masses.
Major revamp
Billingford currently has seven lakes open, with each of them offering a slightly different challenge.
Most of them boast depths ranging from 8ft to
