Sumners Ponds Fishery and Campsite

On June 8, 2026, we checked into the Iris Lodge at Sumner's Ponds and found it to be an amazing accommodation. Well thought out, spacious and a lovely welcome package on the kitchen counter. I am a disabled pensioner and the whole purpose of coming here was fishing without having to walk anywhere, here you could fish off the patio. This was great as I can't walk very far. All seemed fine until we started fishing. After four hours of sitting there with two rods each, neither of us had a single bite, despite trying different methods. We thought this might be just as it was the first day or maybe the evenings weren't good for fishing, so the following morning we started at 6:30 am and carried on fishing with two rods each for another five hours and again not a single bite. During these two sessions we observed approximately 10 other fisherman on the lake and they too did not catch any fish on the first day and only one fish was caught between all of them on the second day. I previously contacted the Sumners bailiffs on two separate occasions a couple of days before our arrival to get an update on the fishing and asked them how good it was at the moment. I should've been suspicious at the time because I didn't get a straight answer from either, all I was told was there is some carp and bream in the lake. We packed up after one day as I was only there for the fishing and nothing was happening. I should've looked for the reviews for this place, before I booked. After this disaster I did look at reviews and could not find anyone saying they caught lots of fish in Sumner's lake but there was many that said the fishing was disappointing with many people not catching any at all. I don't believe there is many fish in this lake at all for the size of it. It was a lot of money to lose for a pensioner so please check all the reviews before thinking of booking this place. I am happy for anyone to contact me for any more information.

3 weeks ago · via Google

A beautiful place and hard to fault. The queues can be long at the cafe during busy times, but overall a lovely place to take the family. Also enjoyed taking the dog to the doggy woods which was nice and cool.

2 months ago · via Google

The rally field was great, slightly sloping but with bedchairs it was no trouble. We had a whole half of the field to ourselves so it was lovely and peaceful. The showers and toilets were fine, not the best but definitely not the worst and nice and clean. The rest of the site felt very crowded, pods, shepherds huts, lodges and pitches crammed into every available space. The bar was the biggest low point. £7.50 for a beer, refused to pay that and walked to the local pub The Queens Head which was cheaper and has a great beer garden and even had some live music, definitely worth a look. The food at Sumners was much better and more reasonable price wise, although still on the pricey side. Can’t fault the staff. Now, the fishing….. I had an evenings fishing on Ribbon Lake which is stuffed with slivers and the odd carp/barbel. No issues, pretty much had the place to myself. On the Sunday I got up early and bagged myself a peg on the small farm pond near reception, nice and shady. Unfortunately all the swims are so poorly laid out that everyone ends up casting in front of everyone else. At around 9am the lake was full. Maxed out and kids everywhere (which want the issue). Two old boys fishing off the boards with two rods each and bite alarms (no need at all), where casting wherever they wanted. One of their casts landed 5 foot from the platform I was sat on! Education dispensed and we all carried on enjoying our day. I had a couple of young lads next to me who were beginners so I gladly helped them out and showed them how to unhook fish safely and use a disgorger. Very nice lads and we had great fun comparing catches! The fishing was superb with bream and skimmers every cast and plenty of carp too. Although it was organised chaos at times, in organised mainly, it was still good fun and it was great to see so many kids catching and enjoying fishing. I paid for my ticket at 9am when the young chap came round, but nobody collected any ticket money after that so most of the anglers had a free days fishing!

a month ago · via Google

Had a wonderful trip to Sumners Ponds, We arrived a couple hours early and thought we'd try our luck at checking in. Luckily our pod was ready for us so we was able to check in and get our pod set up immediately. We had Pod 3 on Farm Pond. It was clean, spacious, heated and surprisingly private. There are 2 chairs there however we did bring our own. There is LED lights around the pod entrance which make for beautiful ambiance and an over head lamp. Toilets and showers are easily accessible and were very quite during our stay. The site itself is very quiet and well maintained. Lots of ducks and wildlife to keep you entertained. We went as a pair and felt that was enough room, pods say they sleep 4 but I would say that would be quite a tight fit. There are family pods which are bigger if youre going as a bigger group. We had breakfast at the cafe which was absolutely delicious. The meat from the farm is extremely fresh and yummy. All the staff were so friendly and nothing was a bother. Even remembering us. There is a £50 deposit that you pay on arrival which we didnt see on the website so just something to be aware of, this was paid back to us with no issues however. Lovely trip overall.

4 months ago · via Google