North, South and Long Pond Syndicates Catch Reports 2019

It’s been a while since my last report…

I’ve been working away a lot over the last few months, so, lack of time and a couple of health issues just hasn’t allowed the opportunity for me to get on the key board and bash out an update, until now.

But what a wet few months it’s been;

Copious amounts of rain fell throughout much of September, October and November causing water levels to rise across all three Lakes, the worst affected being the North Lake due to land drainage issues on the field behind the Back Bay.

Carp in particular seem to like ‘stable’ conditions and varying levels and coloured water makes the fishing somewhat difficult and unpredictable to say the least…

That said some nice fish still visited the bank, Members catching included:

Scott Mc with a lovely 22lb 8oz mirror, Kev with a bonny 17lb 6oz linear and Ian with a welcome 23lb 8oz hard scrapping mirror, why some pull so much harder than others I’ve no idea, but it’s great sport when they do!

John nabbed a lovely brace fishing an area most don’t give a second glance at and was rewarded with mirrors of 17lb 2oz and 26lb 4oz for his efforts, well done that man.

Justin managed mirrors of 13lb, 17lb 6oz and a storming big lump of a fish and NEW LAKE RECORD in the shape of a 33lb 2oz carp, massive congratulations to you Justin, I know it’s been an ambition for you to bag that one, get in!!

All the best for the Festive Season to everyone, Steve

Just reward for Justin 33lb 2oz

A similar story to the North Lake in terms of fishing conditions, not quite as much water but the super saturated ground surrounding the Lake kept the water level high but most of the swims were still fishable the majority of the time.

The fishing has been on the difficult side of tricky…

Only Lee and Les banked a mirror each at 14lb and 15lb respectively, so well done to you both.

To be honest Chris and I are trying to figure out why it’s been such hard going, and in fairness it has been!

We stocked an additional 74 carp to 16lb into the venue in 2018 bringing the stock level up to 164 fish or around 47 carp per acre, you would have though loads more carp would get caught, well during the 2018 season only 21 more fish were caught than in 2017…

This year we’ve introduced an additional 11 carp to 14lb 10oz bringing the total up to 175 carp or 50 per acre and only 34 more fish were caught than in 2017; you would have thought that introducing 85 more carp into any venue would have increased the amount of fish getting caught significantly, not so on the South Lake so it seems…

That said the fish are growing well and are all at their best weights with one in five captures for the year being 20lb+.

The fish have been feeding in and under the reedmace beds in the pads swim and whatever is in there is to there liking, they’ve stripped an entire area back to the bank more than 10 metres deep and three times as wide this year alone, they are also opening up big holes in a bay that was solid mare’s tail and reedmace….

Numerous bouts of stop/start spawning activity throughout May, June and July undoubtedly had a considerable impact on the fishing and feeding behaviour of the carp…

Add the fry feeding that’s been witnessed, an abundance of phytoplankton and zooplankton to the mix and you start to get an insight into how the lakes ecosystem is working.

This level of tricky fishing isn’t sustainable going forward; the biomass of the Lake is increasing, the availability of ‘natural food’ will diminish and catches will inevitably increase, we also intend to stock more carp throughout the coming year to accelerate the process and I’m hopeful we’ll see some cracking fish coming out at good weights and in good numbers in 2020.

Between us Chris and I have been involved in fishery management for well in excess of 60 years and we are nowt if not honest, hence our honest appraisal of the last few weeks fishing!

I’ll close with a paragraph from our Home Page:

“We want to get to know you and for you to get to know and trust us, which is why we intend to be upfront, open and honest with you from the off, no stories just straight talking, and the facts and truth!”

Son of Two Tone 14lb

The Long Lake is an interesting water to fish to say the least…

The swims are well spaced and there doesn’t seem to be a pattern as to which area the carp favour on any given day never mind week or year!

Basically it’s; location, location, location get it wrong and your chance is gone for the session, especially if you only do one overnight session a week.

To try to offer some insight into the water it is our specimen venue, and during September only 7 nights were fished by two Members, no fish were caught, but such are the joys of fishing…

A similar number of nights were angled in October and November.

I guess there are two ways to look at it some would think 7 nights fished by two Members and no fish caught is hard going, well personally I think not, I think great, exclusive, unpressured, seven swims to choose from and loads of availability, I suppose it depends if you’re a glass half full or half empty sort of person!

Anyway, they are in there and it’s your job as an angler to figure out the how, where and why’s of the game, lol!

As indeed Gary did when he landed a 27lb 4oz belter in late October, well done that man you earned your reward!

There’s normally one or two carp caught over the Christmas period so hopefully we’ll see a ‘cracker’ or two visit the bank…

Purely Belter 27lb 4oz

The fishing on the North Lake slowed down a touch from last month, and the fish could be seen feeding and fizzing up on naturals in every Bay of the Lake, but they were difficult to tempt to feed on bait.

I suspect that a lot of ‘fry feeding’ has been going on as well, by that I don’t mean the fry are feeding… I mean the carp are feeding on the fry, we all know how much carp love fishmeal, well when there are thousands of baby carp from three different spawning’s (May, June, July) at three different stages of development that’s a lot of free swimming fish meal for the carp to feast on!

The carp aren’t the only ones enjoying the free swimming fish meal feast, the Dab Chicks and ‘Blue Jewels’ (Kingfishers) are enjoying this annual bounty as well, the venues were named Kingfisher Lakes for a reason, and it isn’t unusual to see several Blue Jewels darting around on all the Lakes, lovely, anyway I digress back to the fishing.

Amongst those getting wet nets this month were:

Bryan with a brace of mirrors a home grown @ 11lb and a 14lber, his best for the month was a lovely very dark 18lber a nice reward for all his hard work!

Mike Dow had a couple of mid doubles to 14lb, Garry L banked a well spawned out 22lb 9oz mirror a good result given the carp were predominately feeding on naturals.

Father and Son team Michael and Ryan both hand a few chances, Ryan netted mirrors of 12lb 10oz, 12lb 14oz, 14lb and 15lb, Michael weighed in with a brace of mirrors @ 17lb and 18lb 10oz, well done to you both.

Ian sneaked a couple out banking mirrors of 15lb 10oz and 18lb 10oz.

Justin continued his run of success from July with a quad trick of carp a home grown 10lb 4oz mirror was followed up with fish of 17lb 8oz, 19lb 4oz and 24lb 6oz, good fishing once again!

Scott Mc did a quick overnighter and had one chance he made sure it was a goodun though and a cracking 25lb mirror visited his unhooking mat, very nice and a good result!

Carry on carping and all that….

25lb overnight success

Amongst those Members weighing in this month were;

Nigel with a bonny 16lb 2oz mirror, Scott C with doubles to 14lb+, Kev with a nice 15lb 10oz mirror, Mike Dow with a 14lb 8oz mirror, Michael D with a brace of doubles to 18lb 12oz, Dave P with a brace @ 15lb and 21lb and Bryan L who captured mirrors of 18lb 2oz, 19lb 4oz and 23lb 9oz.

Notable captures this month included;

New Member Mark with his first from the North Lake in the shape of a 28lb mirror, canny going for your first carp from a venue that, nice result!

Justin is full on into his carping at the moment!!

Starting on the 5th he managed a 19lb mirror, on the 12th he banked 7 carp including four low doubles to 14lb along with a hat trick of mirrors @ 19lb 4oz, 23lb 4oz and 27lb, on the 18th he weighed in another three a low double a 17lber and a 28lb 2oz lump… Returning on the 21st another 6 fish graced his net mostly doubles to 16lb but topped off a low twenty a 20lb 4oz.

Some fantastic carping you’ve been enjoying Justin well done that man.

Not far behind in the capture stakes was Lee W who managed a quad trick of carp @ 15lb 2oz, 16lb 8oz, 26lb and 26lb 10oz, some good angling going on there!

A couple of weeks later Lee managed a low double and a belter of a mirror @ 30lb on the nose equalling his PB congratulations Lee!

Lee’s post spawn 30lb mirror

I suspect approx. half the carp in the North Lake spawned during May, the remainder had another couple of attempts at spawning throughout June.

Hopefully they’ll have got it over and done with for the year now!

Getting wet nets and slings this month were;

The ever-consistent Justin, amongst his better hits he caught a low double and three sixteen pounders to 16lb 8oz, three home grown carp to 12lb 2oz backed up with an 18lber and a 19lb 4oz mirror and a quad trick of carp at 14lb 2oz, 20lb 2oz, 20lb 4oz and 25lb 4oz, result!

Neil D made a welcome return to the Syndicate and promptly proved he hadn’t lost his touch by netting a mid-double and a spawned out 27lb 14oz mirror, he followed this up a couple of days later with a brace @ 15lb 8oz and 15lb 10oz, nice going for sure!

Ash managed fish of 13lb 10oz, 16lb 10oz 18lb 6oz, 19lb 4oz, 19lb 6oz and 23lb 8oz during the month, great fun.

Amongst other Members weighing in were; Lee H with fish to 19lb 4oz, Les S with a brace to 15lb 2oz, Mark with a brace @ 15lb 5oz and 18lb, Anthony with four low doubles, Tommy with three doubles to 18lb 6oz, Mike D with a brace of mirrors, Gary L with a 27lb 3oz mirror, and last but not least new Member Kev with a brace at 13lb 2oz and 22lb 4oz, the twenty being a new PB, congratulations to you!

Welcome Back Mirror 27lb 14oz

I missed a few fish that were caught towards the end of April off last month’s Catch Report including;

Bryan’s lovely 20lb 6oz mirror, Tommy’s 19lb 4oz mirror, Dave’s hat trick of carp with doubles of 13lb, 17lb and a bonny 20lb 8oz mirror gracing his net, and last but by no means least Big Paul who chipped in with a hat trick of mirrors to 22lb 14oz, good going chaps!

May saw some cracking fish being caught and most Members had a chance or two during their sessions, amongst the more notable captures were;

Dave with a brace of mirrors to 20lb 12oz, Ash who scored a hat trick when he banked a low double, a mid double and an upper double @ 19lb 10oz, other Members catching decent doubles included Scott Mc, Brian W, Michael and Ryan who all banked fish up to 17lb.

A nice little hit happened for Ian having fished a couple of nights on the Long Lake he hadn’t managed to persuade the Long Lake carp to visit the bank so he moved onto the North Lake for the last night of his session to try and avoid a blank. It was a good call as he caught six in short order including home grown carp of 10lb 2oz, 11lb 2oz and 13lb, followed soon after by fish of 16lb, 16lb 4oz and 19lb 8oz, a great way to avoid a blank I’m sure you’ll agree…

Neil B managed a hat trick landing a little home grown of 9lb 7oz before netting a couple of larger specimens @ 16lb 10oz and another new twenty for the venue in the shape of a 21lb 4oz fully scaled, incidentally this fish was stocked at 2lb in November 2013, five summers later and its made 21lb+ that’s an average growth rate of 3lb 13oz per summer, canny going for a carp living this far north!

The unstoppable Justin continued hauling;

On three separate visits he netted fish of 12lb 8oz, and a new twenty pound plus common for the water @ 21lb 6oz, next trip and he helped himself to a low double and a brace of twenties @ 20lb and 23lb 2oz, his last visit of the month was his most successful when he caught six carp; a brace of low doubles, a brace of mid doubles @ 15lb 2oz and 16lb 4oz and another brace of twenties @ 20lb 12oz and 23lb 6oz, good going that man, well done!

After struggling to get bank side this year Mark made his fist 24-hour session to the North Lake count he weighed in fish of 13lb 6oz, 17lb, 18lb and a stunning 21lber, a welcome return for sure!

Until next time be lucky, or better still be skilful…

Mark’s North Lake Stunner

April, sunshine but pretty much no showers saw the water temperature lift into double figures and it was game on…

Paul who ended March with a nice mirror, started April with something twice the size in the shape of a cracking common @ 28lb 4oz, a lovely fish, and a great result, congratulations, the Lake Record Common is returned to you!

Cracking Common 28lb 4oz

Neil B nabbed his first of the year when a 20lb 6oz mirror graced his net, not a bad way to open your Syndicate account Neil!

Mike landed a fine brace of mirrors @ 15lb and 20lb 12oz, cracking result you had there, I’m sure that’s another new 20lb+ for the venue, you can name her ‘Perseverance’ if you wish…

Justin banked his first twenty of the month on the 12th when a 24lb 8oz mirror hit the spreader block, he followed this result up a week later with a “canny haul” that included fish of; 14lb x 2, 14lb 2oz, 15lb, 17lb x 2, 17lb 4oz, 17lb 8oz, 18lb 6oz, 21lb 2oz and 21lb 10oz, yeeha!

Certainly, beats sitting at home in front of the telly Justin, very well done, it was worth moving and changing swims.

Also getting amongst them during April were: Ryan with a lovely 19lber landed during a short spell of feeding activity, Bryan with a fine 20lb 6oz mirror and last but not least Gary who weighed in with a low double and a belting 25lb 14oz mirror.

Some good angling their lads and more than a sprinkling of new 20lb+ carp putting an appearance in as well, great stuff.

I really must find time to go through my photo records, by my reckoning that’s at least a dozen new twenties out across all the Lakes this month alone…

Justin’s 24lb 8oz mirror game on…

At the start of the month the carp were tightly grouped up in several locations and not moving too far from where they’d been holding up through the winter months, they’d started to show a bit more regularly though and a few Members who noted the increasing activity had a dabble for them.

Feeding spells when they occurred were very brief and you had to be in the right place at the right time to capitalise when the carp did have a little munch…

Bailiff Scott managed to be in the right place at the right time on a few occasions, he started the month with a hat-trick of carp a little home grown at 8lb along with doubles of 14lb 8oz and 19lb 6oz.

He returned a week later to bag an 18lb 6oz common and followed that up on his next visit with another home grown and mirrors of 21lb and 21lb 14oz, at least one of which is another new 20lb+ fish for the venue, good angling in some cold and challenging conditions, well done that man.

Other Members catching included Justin with a 15lber, Paul who managed a nice mid double for his efforts and Gary who chipped in with three mirrors to 18lb 3oz.

Well done to all who had a bash, that magic ingredient “sunshine” will see the carp start to wake up and move around a lot more in the coming weeks.

Gary’s 18lb 3oz mirror

2018 was a busy year for us at Kingfisher;

We tackled a host of jobs around the Lakes and we’ll be continuing with the works required to keep improving and developing our venues going forward throughout this year.

We stocked 30 C3 carp into the Stock Pond in October 2018 they averaged nearly 7lb (C3’s normally average around 5lb), so a good year class of fish to grow on being almost 40% larger than normal, we’ll be growing these on over the next few years to get them to a good size before stocking them out.

The North Lake produced several new 20lb+ fish last year and also two different thirty-pound carp a 30lb mirror in April and a post spawn 30lb 8oz mirror in August.

Right Joe’s New North Lake Twenty 21lb

A little more Syndicate history was made when a Member caught four twenties to 24lb 12oz during his session, the first time 4 twenties had been captured by the same angler during the same session.

The carp are growing well in all the Lakes and Chris and I think 2019 has the potential to be a cracking year!

The first Carp of 2019 was caught by Bryan on 21st January when the Lake was still more than half frozen over a lovely mid double mirror graced his net, Joe fishing a day or two later landed a 17lb 2oz mirror both meritorious captures I’m sure you agree!

Joe returned on 8th February and followed up his previous result with a 21lb mirror, a great result!

Even more pleasing was the fact his capture is a new twenty for the North Lake, it was stocked @ 5lb in February 2014, it’ll be interesting to see how the other 5lbers stocked then have progressed…

Closing the month was Richard with a bonny low double, his first of the year.

Well done to those of you who preserved or are persevering through the colder months, this far north any fish caught between December and February is a great result and any fish caught in January even more so!

Keep at them!

We have a few eels and chub and occasionally a few sticklebacks and minnows are seen in our venues, but having no other species of fish present the fry flourish and much like the North Lake a degree of fry feeding occurs.

This year is the first time we’ve seen three different sizes of fry in the Lake, no doubt from at least three different spawning’s, and is the first time this preoccupation with fry has occurred in the venue.

With no perch, bream, tench or roach to keep fry numbers down it’s no wonder the fishing gets a bit trickier in the late summer months, other waters share a limited food source with lots of species, with our Lakes being carp only waters the carp don’t have to share the grub they have pick of the crop of the naturals, which is great for growth rates and also great for Members who prefer not to be unhooking bream at 3am…

Managing to persuade the fish to attend photography lessons this month were:

Neil C with a hat trick of fish an 11lb 12oz common and mirrors of 13lb 8oz and 15lb 4oz put a smile on his face, all were caught during the storms and torrential rain that accompanied his session, wet but fun…

Peter kept his run of quick overnighters going he caught, a low double and mirrors of 15lb and 15lb 4oz, Dan also fishing quick overnighters had a couple a 12lb 13oz mirror followed by a cracking scaley one @ 20lb 9oz, good going men, it’s frustrating having to leave before the morning feeding spell ends so well deserved fish in my opinion!

Tom had a couple, one on each of his recent overnight visits his first going 19lb 12oz and his second being the two tone mirror at a spawned out weight of 24lb 12oz, steady away and all that!

Alister brought a Guest on who managed to stalk a lovely linear a well-proportioned male fish of 17lb 8oz graced his net, returning a few days later Alister managed a hat trick of stalked carp banking a low double along with a 13lber and a 15lb 13oz mirror, a few hours in the right place etc. producing his result…

Michael D also netted a hat trick of fish mirrors of a brace of low doubles @ 11lb 9oz and 12lb 4oz (23lb 13oz total) was followed by a lump of almost the same weight as the previous brace when he landed a 23lb 12oz mirror, nice!

Until next month be lucky…

A nice one from the South

Not many Members fished the South Lake during July the fish were still to have a proper go at spawning, the stop start spawning activities of June continued and the fishing was tricky.

Some of the carp eventually started spawning on the 13th July and those that didn’t join in then were fully engaged in spawning when the temperature reached 30oc+ at the end of the month, not before time to be honest…

Anyhow a few fish were banked for the month including capture by;
Peter who had a brace of doubles to 15lb 8oz, returning a couple of weeks later he banked another brace including a 20lb 6oz mirror.
Dan kept plugging away and had a few chances including doubles to 15lb 2oz.

Tom managed a couple of doubles to 15lb 8oz, Michael D netted a nice brace @ 14lb 2oz and 18lb 10oz, Tony weighed in with a 23lber and last but by no means least Les W weighed in with a brace of mirrors to 23lb 3oz.

Well done to those scratching a carp or two out now that spawning is over and done the fishing should become more consistent.

23lb 3oz South Lake mirror

Spawning time, has been a stop start affair over the last few weeks…

This isn’t unusual this far north as water temperatures can fluctuate rapidly and different year classes and strains of carp spawn at different times, this often leads to bouts of ‘stop start’ spawning, and a lot of pre spawning activity that can often be mistaken as full on spawning…

Essentially not all the females go at it at the same time and sexually excited males are trying to bully females into engaging in the act when they aren’t ripe enough…

This often leads to some tricky fishing as it’s mainly the smaller male fish that tend to get caught as they’ve used a lot of energy, females that are waddling around waiting for ideal conditions to spawn don’t feed as much, so unsurprisingly the chance of banking a big un during this time is reduced.

Feeding activity that does take place is often light grazing resulting in lots of funny takes, pick-ups and inevitably hook pulls…

This seems to have been the case on the South Lake as almost as many fish were hooked and lost or bumped off shortly after the buzzers sounded as there were landed…

That said a few carp still graced the bank including;

Peter with a couple of low doubles, Michael D with a brace to 13lb 6oz, Dan, Tommy, Barry, Michael Dow, Lee H, all banked hungry male carp to low doubles.

Simon banked a brace @ 15lb 8oz and 16lb 10oz, returning a couple of days later he had another brace this time @ 13lb 8oz and 18lb 10oz, Jon had a 16lb 2oz mirror, Chris T on a Guest session had a brace of 15lbers to 15lb 8oz, and Gary R landed a 17lb 12oz mirror during a two hour stalking session. good going given the afore mentioned feeding issues that surround spawning time.

Ryan R had a nice brace @ 15lb and 22lb 3oz, and Sean had the best hit landing carp of 10lb 2oz, 15lb, 16lb and 25lb 10oz, well done that man.

Ryan’s 23lb 3oz mirror

At the end of April and start of May a few Members wet a line and a few carp were captured, amongst those getting wet nets and slings were:

Phillip with a 14lb 10oz mirror, Peter with a hat trick of doubles @ 12lb 8oz, 13lb and 14lb 12oz, Stephen S with fish to 14lb, and Michael F and Garry with mirrors of 16lb 4oz and 18lb respectively.

Best result of the month went to Michael D who weighed in with a hat trick of carp including an 11lb 11oz mirror and a brace of twenties @ 21lb 3oz and 25lb 9oz, a canny result you had there Michael, keep at them!

The carp started spawning on the 12th/13th May, just as they were getting full on frisky the weather broke and the water temperature dropped from 18oc to 14oc…

Having had their nuptial’s interrupted as the weather changed and turned much cooler the fish became sullen and moody and remained difficult to tempt during the latter part of the month, hopefully June will see a warmer spell so they can get the big event over and done with, fins crossed…

One of a hat trick 25lb 9oz

Stephen S kicked off the first capture of the month in style when he banked a South Lake beauty of 25lb 4oz, his Guest had a couple of chances but couldn’t quite match his result but at least he bagged one.

Peter landed three doubles to 13lb 6oz, Franky had one a little bit larger @ 16lb 4oz, but it was towards the Easter Weekend when the fish really woke up…

Brian had three takes and landed two mirrors of 16lb 4oz and 26lb 4oz graced his net, the 26lber being a New Lake Record mirror, well done that man!

Temporary Lake Record… 26lb 4oz

His friend Anthony followed him in to his vacated swim and had a great hit landing mirrors of 10lb 8oz, 13lb 8oz, and a ‘quad-trick’ of twenties that weighed in at 21lb 10oz, 23lb 2oz, 25lb 4oz and 26lb 10oz, get in!!

That’s the first time four twenties have been caught in the same session on the South Lake, the 26lb 10oz mirror is also a New Lake Record being a different fish to the former Lake Record that had been caught 8 hours earlier by Brian…

Massive congratulations to both Brian and Anthony, I sense a friendly rivalry coming on!

New Lake Record 26lb 10oz

We all know the old saying;” When the winds in the East the fish bite least” well the same can be said for when the wind direction comes from the North, or worse still the North East…

Proving that you can still catch them during such poor conditions from the South Lake were Peter who netted a low double and a 15lb 8oz mirror, Craig who travelled a fair distance to do an overnighter, the weather worsened considerably during his visit but he was rewarded with a bonny 15lber for his efforts.

Also fishing during the freezing conditions was Les who caught a cracking 21lb 3oz mirror which turned out to be another new 20lb+ for the South Lake having been stocked@ 5lb in February 2014, growing well averaging 3lb+ per year…

Other Members banking fish later in the month included Gary with carp of 11lb and 14lb 4oz, Tommy who nicked a couple of low doubles while stalking to save a blank, and Garry L with mirrors of 10lb 3oz and 17lb 12oz.

Paul managed a hat-trick of carp towards the end of the month landing carp of 14lb 10oz, 17lb and 22lb 12oz, great stuff!

New Twenty 21lb 3oz

During 2018 we ended up stocking 68 carp to 16lb into the South Lake from our Stock Pond and moving half a dozen home grown fish to just shy of 13lb from the North and Long Lakes into the South Lake.

A total of 74 additional fish were introduced, bringing the current stock level of the 3.5-acre South Lake up to 164 fish or around 47 carp per acre.

This is in keeping with our objective of providing a variety of different challenges on the same site with all three Lakes having different stocking levels to reflect this.

Above One of a Brace of Twenties 23lb

The new stock seemed to stir up the original residents and fish could be seen moving and showing fairly regularly over the last three months, and a few carp were banked by those keen enough to wet a line…

Justin made a rare trip away from the North Lake in December and banked a 16lb 10oz South Lake mirror, returning for a day session on the 31st he had a brace of mirrors, a wee one at 7lb 10oz and a nice mid double @ 15lb 6oz, Happy New Year indeed!

Bryan had three takes during his January session landing two a 7lb 8oz mirror and a 16lb 8oz common, he also banked a low double in February.

Dan on his third session of the winter netted a cracking 24lb 10oz mirror, caught on 7th Feb while the water was 2/3rds frozen over, bloody good result, well done that man!

Dan followed up his result with a high single later in the month.

Neil caught his first February carp from the venue with a hat trick of mirrors when he banked fish of 11lb, 13lb and 23lb 12oz, nice one Neil!

Last but by no means least was Tommy who caught a Lake Record common of 18lb 10oz on 15th February, not many commons in the South Lake so a good result there!

Better was yet to come when he weighed in with a brace of twenties @ 20lb 15oz and 23lb later in the month, get in!

The 23lber was a new twenty for the venue and one that seems to be growing nicely Tommy having previously caught the same fish in May 2017 @ 16lb 10oz, that’s up 6lb 6oz in weight in less than two years, a great growth rate for carp this far north!

There might just be a surprise or two due from the South Lake this year…

A lot of fish activity was witnessed on the Long Lake but only a couple of Members wet a line during the month and only a handful or so of nights were fished.

Needless to say that on a 4.5 acre water that’s 320 yards long with seven swims to choose from location is key, the venue holds around 40 stocked carp and some home grown fish to target which means swim choice is ever so slightly important… especially if you only have one night ahead of you!

You have to be determined to keep at them for sure.

Gary is just that he knows the rewards are swimming in the pond, and he’ll get his prize, or one of them sooner rather than later in the meanwhile he was more than happy to net an 18lb 8oz common.

Two other fish visited the weigh slings over the course of the month when Neil C had a 12lb 4oz home grown and Bailiff Dave banked a spawned out 23lb 13oz mirror.

All well-earned fish without doubt.

Keep them commoning

Well July was the month our home-grown carp started putting in an appearance…

Our original stock first spawned in 2014 since then almost every year we’ve had numbers of carp recruiting through, in fact we have numbers of home grown fish coming through in all the Lakes, we aim to move most into the South Lake to boost stock numbers, we rehomed 6 to 12lb 12oz in 2018, so far this year we’ve rehome 10 to 14lb 10oz!

Tommy banked elven carp during the month the majority were home grown doubles between 10lb – 15lb 10oz, he did manage a fine 19lb 12oz mirror to top his captures off though!

Dave managed a handful of home-grown doubles including a lovely 16lb 13oz common.

Hopefully a few of the larger residents will put in an appearance over the next few weeks, it’s clear they’re being beaten to the bait by their younger hungrier brethren…

Perseverance…

As soon as a few warmer and brighter days came along the carp started gearing up for spawning, several false starts occurred as chilly easterly winds kept the water from reaching a temperature that could see them really go for it…

Eventually the majority of carp completed their annual nuptials before the end of the month, not many Members wet a line during June as it looked like spawning was imminent and could commence any moment.

Gary managed a couple of trips either side of spawning activities banking fish of 13lb 8oz, 15lb and 17lb 14oz, a home grown 10lber, and a 24lb 12oz common.

Tommy netted a home grown 10lb mirror and a couple of twenties a 20lb Common and a 22lb 14oz mirror, nice going.

The carp will be coming back into condition and starting to put the pounds and ounces on over the next few weeks…

Roll on September and October!

Cracking common

A similar story to the South Lake really, the fish geared up for spawning and started on the 14th, just as they were getting in the swing of things the weather turned naff and the fish sulked off and became very un-co-operative…

That said prior to spawning Gary landed an 18lb mirror and Ian managed close to a handful of mirrors when he added carp of 14lb 2oz (another home-grown fish), 20lb 2oz, 21lb 4oz and 21lb 6oz to his tally, good going given the fishing was as tricky.

Very few Members wet a line during the latter half of the month with cool unsettled weather continuing and the wind in the north/ north east the fish certainly bite least on the Long Lake during such conditions.

That said one of the advantages of having three completely different and distinctive waters on the same site to choose from means that you can always wet a line in a different Lake as they all fish differently from one another;

Ian’s move onto the North Lake and catching six during his last nights fishing being a case in point!

Keep at them…

Pauls 26lb 6oz mirror from last month

A little bit of steady sunshine saw the carp become much more active and moving quickly from one part of the Lake to another, although the water temp was still shy of 10oc they swam with speed and purpose to their chosen destination.

Gary just happened to be fishing in the arrival lounge of the destination the carp had decided to visit, and when they arrived, they fed!

Five chances later and four fish had visited his weigh sling, a couple of home-growns along with a 14lb 10oz mirror and a 23lb 12oz common got him firmly off the starting blocks, incidentally the common is another new 20lb+ fish for the Long Lake having been caught last spring at 19lb, nice!

Not content (cough) with having captured one new twenty Gary returned a week later and bagged another new twenty for the venue when he landed a 21lb 4oz mirror, very nice again!

Bailiff Dave added two more to his running total a home grown 14lb 10oz common and a 21lb 5oz mirror, another new twenty for the water!

Another New Twenty

Paul not wanting to miss out on the fun also got in on the act and netted a 20lb 14oz mirror, another new 20lb+ carp…

A bit of a theme developing here!

Paul returned for another couple of attempts a few days later.

This time he left the prospective new twenties in peace and landed mirrors of 26lb 6oz and 28lb 4oz, very very nice!

Tommy sat it out in the very cold easterly winds, his perseverance was made worthwhile when ‘a beast from the east’ arrived and a 29lb 8oz lump graced his unhooking mat, very very very nice!

Some good angling and good results cropping up on the Long Lake, well done to you all!

29lb 8oz Very Very Very Nice!

The Long Lake fish generally don’t respond well to Northerly or Easterly winds and we had our fair share of chilly breezes from those directions during March.

The fish didn’t follow their normal pattern of behaviour on the better and brighter days that occurred, they were on the missing list, somewhere, but where?

Bailiff Dave managed to find where ‘where was’ and banked one during the cold condition’s a mirror of 23lb 5oz a new 20lb+ carp to boot, always pleasing to see more push past the twenty-pound barrier!

On a return trip a 26lb 13oz visited his unhooking mat to get it’s photo taken these captures certainly made his efforts more than worthwhile.

I netted his 26lber, in fact I saw the fish crash clear out of the water on it’s initial run after being hooked, as I was standing 50 yards away at the time, exciting stuff for sure!

Ian had a bit of a result when he landed a New Lake Record mirror on the 29th, a belter of a carp that weighed in at 33lb 2oz, massive congratulations to you Ian, very well done that man!

I know you worked hard for that one moving several times to keep in touch with where the carp were moving to and from during the course of your session, very much a case of effort equalling reward in this instance…

New Lake Record 33lb 2oz