Makins Fishery

04/09/2026

It wasn’t a great start to the day weather wise, but turned out to be a great day for fishing! 🎣

01/09/2026

An update on lake 1 🎣🎣🎣
We’re really pleased with how the introduction of the booking app is going! We expected a few teething issues but we’re working hard to resolve these. Going forwards, we now need all anglers to book on the app to avoid any issues.
Just download the app, sign up and you’re ready to book.
It’s worth noting that the app charges a booking fee but if you subscribe monthly, you can book an unlimited number of times without paying the booking fee.

30/08/2026

It was a quiet one due to the weather but look at those weights!!!!! 💪🏻🙌🏻👏🏻🎣

28/08/2026

This little man came fishing for the first time the other day. With a little help from Shane and Leo, he smashed it, and caught his first fish! He came again today too. 🎣🥰😍

27/08/2026

Edit: now full 😊🎣🎣🎣 Sunday Open 🎣🎣🎣

We’re running a mini open this Sunday on Avon. Currently 3 spaces left. If there’s more interest, we’ll use another lake 😊
Comment below to book on…

26/08/2026

*An Update from Makins Fisheries*

We’d like to thank Laura and James for all their hard work and dedication to Makins Fisheries over the years. The whole team wishes them well in all their future endeavours.

We’d like to reassure all our visitors, guests and friends that the site is not changing ownership. Phillip Callington remains fully committed to ensuring a smooth and successful transition of leadership at the site.

Many of you will already know Matt, who is a long-standing member of the team at Makins Fisheries. Matt will be taking over the day-to-day management of the site, with support from new members, Isobelle and Evie, who are both dedicated to providing a welcoming experience for everyone who visits us.

Over the coming weeks, you may notice a few new faces around the site during the handover. However, nothing else is changing; the fisheries, the site and our commitment to our visitors remain the same.

Our new management team is committed to maintaining the high standards and positive experience that our guests know and enjoy.

If you have any questions or queries during this transition, please don’t hesitate to contact our team. We’ll be very happy to help.

Thank you, as always, for your continued support and understanding.

The Makins Fisheries Team 🎣

26/08/2026

EDIT: A huge thank you to you all for your lovely words of support ❤️❤️❤️
A heartfelt farewell to Makins ❤️😢 (warning- very long post incoming)

After a lot of thought, many conversations, and sitting on this decision for quite some time, we have made the incredibly difficult decision to come out of Makins Fishery.

This hasn’t been an easy decision. But ultimately, our family has to come first.

Over time, the hours have taken their toll. We’ve worked 70–80 hour weeks, often barely seeing each other and missing out on precious time with our children. There have been such low times- crying from sheer exhaustion, slicing my hand open and fainting in the shop, working through food poisoning because there was nobody else to step in, getting stuck in the mud on a cold rainy day and battling cormorants!!! There have been late-night call-outs, jumping in the car and driving 40 minutes because there was a problem on site, late-night phone calls (even Christmas and birthdays weren’t safe!), endless messages and an ever-growing list of things that simply couldn’t wait until morning. And finally, losing our beautiful girl, Talulah 🐶 💔

But amongst all those lows, there have been some incredible highs.

We have worked tirelessly to bring about much-needed change, and we are so incredibly proud of the venue Makins has become. We’ve tidied up pretty much the whole site (no mean feat with over 60 acres!), netted lakes, moved stock to see it fishing better than ever! We’ve watched it become busier, with people coming back through the gates, and it is now doing the best it has done in a very long time. We even managed to get Makins’ original sponsor, Preston, back on board — something we are incredibly proud of. We’ve learnt so much and for that we are grateful.

But for us, the biggest achievement has been the people.

We have met some truly wonderful people along the way — people who started as customers, colleagues and acquaintances and who we now know will be friends for life.

And then there is our incredible team.

We genuinely could not be prouder of the people who have worked alongside us. None of it would have been possible without them. They have become so much more than a team; they have become our family. Their loyalty, hard work and support never went unnoticed, and it was always appreciated more than we could ever put into words. We will forever be grateful for everything they have done and for standing alongside us through the highs, the lows, the chaos and everything in between. ❤️

We came into Makins surrounded by plenty of speculation and rumour, and we knew we had a lot to prove. We are so glad that we were able to do exactly that.

All we ever wanted was for Makins to thrive — and now, knowing that it is in such a good place, we feel that it is time for us to step away.

It is time for our family.

It is time for us to have time together as a couple. Time to see our children grow up rather than constantly being at work. And time to put our energy into growing our other business — something that is ours, something we can build together, and something that allows us to have a little more balance in our lives.

So, although this is goodbye from us, Makins will continue.

It will be business as usual, and the fishery will carry on as normal. The only difference is that we won’t be there.

We are eternally grateful to every single person who has supported us during our time at Makins. Whether you fished the venue, visited the shop, worked alongside us, supported us from afar, gave us encouragement when things were tough, or simply stopped for a chat — thank you.

Thank you for believing in us.

Thank you for giving us the opportunity.

Thank you for being part of our journey.

We leave feeling incredibly proud of what we have achieved and, more importantly, proud that we can walk away knowing that we gave it everything we have and more.

We would love nothing more than to see it continue to grow from here.

It’s time for us to go — and whilst there will undoubtedly be a huge amount of emotion in saying goodbye, there is also a lot of happiness knowing that we have done what we set out to do.

Thank you, Makins. ❤️

Here’s to the memories, the madness, the friendships, the laughs, the tears, the 70-hour weeks, the muddy boots, the late nights — and everything in between.

We’ll never forget it. ❤️

Much love,
James, Laura & Family

25/08/2026

Notice…. ☕️ ☕️ Our cafe will be open this bank holiday Monday for breakfast until 10am 😊 🍴 😋

24/08/2026

Lake 1 is now live for booking on Go Catch!
Thanks for being patient… apologies to those who thought I was crazy on all those walks around the lake with a clip board looking all official 😂
There is a QR code in the office which will take you to the app. You just need to download the app.

https://www.gocatch.fish

There are a few changes to note.
Swims can be pre booked to make sure you get the one you want ☺️
The number of swims has been reduced to 28 to give anglers more space to fish.
Time slots are now in place. Day tickets will be 7am-6pm, night tickets 7pm-7am, 24 hours will run 7pm -7pm or 7am-7am
Half day tickets and concessionary tickets are no longer available.
Anglers buying a day ticket will no longer include Lake 1-this is now a separate ticket.

We will allow a grace period of 2 weeks, where we can book anglers on but this can only be done in person, NOT by phone.
Thanks for your support and bearing with me whilst this was set up! ☺️

Catch is not just another booking platform. We are here to make a positive difference to how people fish, making it easier for both Anglers and Fisheries alike.