THE
MAIN LAKE
Since opening in the spring of 2002,
the main carp lake as we predicted has produced some truly remarkable
catches. The incredible weight gain on some of the fish was probably
as a direct result of the relatively new food source entering the
lake in the form of anglers bait!!
The biggest carp of this season was recorded at a weight of 65lbs,
showing an increase of 10lb in one season! Other fish showed similar
increases with many packing on 7 to 9lbs in under a year. This is
particularly outstanding when you consider quite a few of these
fish were already 40lb plus!
A cracking mirror of 55lb 10oz showed for the first time in September
2003, never been seen before. Two other large mirrors
were recorded at 52lb 12oz and 54lb 10oz and were caught regularly
throughout this season. The mysterious big leather caught at over
55lb the first week of the season, managed then to avoid capture
for the rest of the year.
It was a year of PB's for many of our guests, with many breaking
weight barriers they had been aiming for for years - myself included.
2004
the lake continued to produce larger and larger fish, as their weights
continued to rise, at the same amazing rates.
A
few big hits were had by number of fortunate groups, where several
50+ fish were caught during their weeks fishing.
The
by now well known "Scarred fish" had hit an incredible
72lbs!,when caught by Kyle Smith, and the
ladies world record was taken by Yvonne Powell with her capture
of the fish known as" the Dijon Arse" at a weight of 70.04
lbs!
The
tally of 50+ carp had risen to 12 different fish, and just slightly
out of the limelight were also the now 40+ fish which had moved
up from the 30's.
The
general feeling of the anglers fishing at the lake was fast becoming
a "anything could happen" buzz.
The
2005 season ,In may of this season,as many of you
are aware, the "Scarred fish" hit an incredible all time
highest weight, and new world record for a rod caught carp, with
a weight of 83 lbs!! to Staffordshire angler, Nick
Massey.This fish managed to avoid capture for the rest of the season!although
spotted quite regularly in the margins( a sight to see that is)
Most
of the other bigger fish continued to gain weight too, with most
of the 50+ fish going over the 60 lbs mark in the spring time, and
a few of the upper 40's moving up a rank. Still a handfull of "new"
previously uncaught fish showed up by the end of the year, amazing
they can avoid capture for so long.
On
a sad note, we lost 3 nice fish during 2005. Mainly due to unsettled
weather around the spawnig period affecting a succsessfull spawning.
The Dijon Arse
The big Leather
The pop eyed mirror.
The
2006 season, one of the biggest surprises for me
anyway, has been the amount of smaller carp coming through,28 individuals
so far!
Fish
obviously born since our arrival at the lake, and now, at 17/18/19
and 20 lbs are competetive for the food and getting caught. This
small wave of new faces, can only be down to the fact that these
small carp have made it through by avoiding predation, probably
as a result of the increased head of small fish in the lake (bream+rudd)
who have been keeping the predators busy. It can only be good news
though, because we have recieved a welcome boost to the fishing
here, without the risk of new stock, and as far as strains go, well,
do you know of any better parent fish?
By
the summer, the Scarred one had made 82.12 at it's
highest weight for this season,and was out twice at over 80. Lot's
of anglers went back home with new PB's of over 60 lbs! and average
weekly catches were up compared to the last two years.The big brown
one hit 67.12, and the Bulldog made 67 too, these two definatley
fancy the "70 pounder" slot up for grabs at the moment!
The
removal of the Bream, scheduled for spring 07, should give us a
nice boost as it will free up a lot more natural foods for the carp
population.
2007 Season, unfolded all back to front with the weather! The lakes fished well though, despite the unsettled and mixed up conditions.
Due to other things taking up lots of my time, I was not as focused as I normally am on monitoring the all of the Carp's weight gains, or looking out for any more new faces, as we found in 2006,... although, weight gain was noted on many of the bigger fish (40+) through out the season.
A steady effort was made by myself and many of the anglers to attack and remove some of the lakes Bream population through out the 2007 season. Between us all we managed around 700 x 3 lb bream!! Thats not far off of the Ton! (The Bream are an unwanted, but un avoidable bi-product of a Carp fishery and were removed and donated to local angling clubs).
I believe some of the 2007 weight increases seen with the Carp are partially due to extra food becoming available to them as a result of the Bream population being reduced, a factor that will continue to have effect throughout 2008.
But as for 2007 weights...The big Brown one was out over 70 lbs 3 times, to 3 lucky anglers. The "most wanted" Big Linear hit an all time best at just over 67 lbs, and the Bulldog was not far behind it! All of the 60+ fish seemed to gain weight, as did the 50 and 40 pounders, a few of our upper 40's moved up a rank too.
The mighty Scarred fish blew us all away again with 4 appearences through out the season...85.08 in the spring first time out, then out at an all time high of 87+ in early September, but then a staggering and new all time high in October of 89 lbs! to Mezz, (Paul Meredith) from Birmingham UK.
Latest News....Latest News......Latest News..
The latest capture of the mighty Scarred fish by Andre Komornicki...with a weight of 91 lbs (41.3 kilo)....Oct 2008.
"The
buzz continues, fishing the lake and being aware of
what could pick up your bait, is a feeling you can't explain!
Every
time that buzzer does a beep, you can't help thinking....."
This
lake is a balanced water and the fish are responding well to the
gradual changes we have made to their environment as part of our
fishery management program.
The Graviers Dijon has a fishery management program devised in association
with Bedwell Fishery Services UK. |
