Sunday 27th July 2008 River Wey Upper Common Meadows.
Please be aware that between 1pm and 3pm there will a charity duck race organised on this stretch of the river.
This event is being organised by the publishers of the local "Good Godalming" magazine and the contestants will be local Junior School children.
You are welcome to fish during this time but please be aware that there are likely to be a few hundred yellow plastic ducks heading downstream.
The good news is that they will not be diving on your bait!
Broadwater project completed.
The final stage of netting off the bird feeding area at Broadwater Lake was completed on Sunday 18th May by club members under the watchful eye of Lead bailiff Mike Holcombe.
The netting was firmly anchored to the lake bed by the qualified divers using hessian sacks filled with a dry concrete mix by the land based crew. Poor visibility and low water temperatures made this a difficult and cold job but it was expertly executed by Clive, Ade, Dave and one other (sorry not known to me but many thanks guys.) Water safety man Derek Marshall was in the boat overseeing the operation in the lake whilst Alan Millington was organising the netting team on the bank.
Once the chain link was firmly sealed, the netting team went into action removing as many of the carp as possible into the main lake. Those of you who have been involved with nettings before will know that it is impossible to catch them all so we will run nets regularly through this section to keep the fish in the main lake.
An intriguing selection of items were recovered on the first pull and cleared away but no shopping trolleys or golf buggies this time! A lot of tackle and the odd crab line.
In excess of 500lbs of carp were moved during this operation and are now back in the main lake. It was estimated that there were between 300 - 400lbs of roach and rudd there too which can move freely in and out of this area through the chain link fence. The good news is that this means the roach population is alive and well with some very healthy sized specimens amongst them too. Large perch (2lbs plus) were there in good numbers and were moved to the main lake.
Many thanks to Bob Pickett for the pictures.
"Broadwater Lake improvement."
With the kind permission of Waverly Borough Council we have closed off the neck of the Bird Feeding area by installing a chain link fence across the gap.
It will be held down on the bottom by hessian sacks filled with concrete to remove any chance of it lifting. The purpose is twofold: to keep the carp out of this area where they were too easily poached and to keep them in the main lake available for us to catch.
Work started at 8am Friday morning and was completed by 2pm. The end result is a neat and tidy job using good quality materials by a team of committed club members. The second stage of the exercise will take place Sunday 18th May when the Bird feeding area will be netted and the hessian sacks put in place by another group of club members who are qualified divers.
Pictures of the work as it was being carried out are below."
STOCK POND ENLARGED AT JOHNSONS. (22-04-08)
The week commencing 14th April saw the Johnsons stock pond enlargement/re-shaping take place. The existing version was a really difficult shape when trying to net it somewhat resembling the outline of the african continent! The new shape is larger, deeper, flatter & much more netting friendly.
The netting access area off the Road Bank has been levelled and cleared of brambles plus a couple of spindly saplings to make life easier. The base was then topped off with hardcore that the 13 tonne digger tracked in which will mean that the club pick up should never get stuck in there again. The whole area looks rather unsightly at present as the spoil dug out needs to drain and dry off over the next few months. Hopefully members will be able to see that this is a great improvement. Later in the year a small digger will be back on site to landscape the area and to spread some road planings that will finish off the hard standing by the road bank.
Whilst on site the digger cleared various fallen trees to more sensible places including the huge willow that had been blocking the path for a few weeks. Amazing the power of that machine - a gentle nudging and 3 tons of timber was eased into the woodland! The massive oak trunk in the Marsh Farm Johnsons car park was rolled away deeper into the woods too to allow the car park shape to be improved. At the request of a number of members this was not moved to the bonfire site but left in tact for the various bugs and beetles to continue their occupation.
The drainage trenches around the barns were extended and the surplus soil was used to make bunds beside them as they should also improve our defences against unwanted visitors. The same has been done by the new gate near the metal building.
The extension to the car park by the cottage was completed too with a topping of 28 tons of road planings. It was hoped that we would have sufficient time to add a further disabled bay near peg 14 on Richardson Lake but unfortunately this was not the case. When the next digger is on site later in the year we hope we will achieve that task.
All in all a very productive weeks work.
ANNUAL WORK PARTIES ARE WELL UNDER WAY. (22-04-08)
Marsh Farm work parties have been running for a few weeks now with a lot of hard work having been undertaken although some of it has proved controversial. Fortunately the long awaited Management plans for each of our waters are nearing completion which will mean we have a planned approach to managing our waters.
One of the major tasks this year has been to wire brush down the barns ready for painting. The rub down is almost complete and the 3rd barn got its first coat of green paint last Sunday April 20th. A second coat will hopefully be applied this weekend whilst the remaining rubbing down is completed.
Barley straw was introduced at MF a few weeks ago now and the replaced Ultrasonics will be in again very shortly both here and at Broadwater.
Broadwater will receive its annual dose of Barley straw this coming Friday (25th April) when upwards of 800 bags will be hung around the island once the old bags are cut free.
PLEASE NOTE ESSENTIAL TREE WORK WILL BE CARRIED OUT ON BUSBRIDGE LAKE FRIDAY 11TH APRIL. CONSEQUENTLY, SWIMS 13 - 35 INCLUSIVE WILL BE CLOSED OFF FOR SAFETY REASONS BETWEEN 8AM & 4PM. THE CAR PARK END OF THE LAKE REMAINS OPEN
Eric the Egyptian Goose – Bait Quality Controller/Tester – Marsh Farm
Spring had arrived at last on Friday (06-04-08), the sun was shining and temperatures reached 18 degrees C, and this had encouraged fishermen to venture out in good numbers at Marsh Farm, although not a lot was being caught. We decided to look for a rippled surface, as the calm areas were unproductive it seemed, and the recently heavily “trimmed” south end of Richardsons fitted the bill. First casts were made around 6 pm; both of us” light linking” at short range on soft trout pellet paste. Pete had the first tench, but after an hour, I had managed 9 tench (to 5/0) and 3 bream, and no further fish had graced Pete’s landing net!
My old friend Eric the Egyptian goose wandered along the bank and was grateful for a meal of my trout pellet paste. He then moved to Pete’s adjoining swim and Pete was most offended when Eric refused his trout pellet, commenting that I had overfed him. I’ve never known Eric to refuse food, so called him back and he continued to gobble my t.p. with great relish. As a result of which Pete asked for some of my bait and immediately started getting numerous takes, although not converting them to fish on the bank for some time.
We packed up at 10.15 pm and in 4 ¼ hours had 31 and 18 tench respectively, plus 3 bream each. Pete also had a 2/12 crucian. The tench averaged around 3 lbs, the biggest being 5 ½ lbs. and we ended the evening with a total bag of about 140 lbs.
Eric may be flightless as he has a deformed wing, but Pete was thankful that he showed that his t.p. was no good!
Lightlinker WPS – I have included a photo of Marsh Farm just 2 days later – the vagaries of English weather!
Big tree down at Johnson's.
Half the Big twin trunked willow came down at 5.50 am Monday morning - it was heard but not seen up close!
Interestingly, the tree was on the list for work being required that Ian had drawn up last autumn. Either he is very good at this,or the yellow marker paint he uses makes the weaker ones fall over! My guess is he's pretty good.
Whilst this tree was nowhere near any of the swims it was across the path and still unstable. The angle it had fallen at was also enough to tempt members to pass underneath so it needed to be fully brought down to earth. Until today (Thursday 13th March) thewind had been far too strong to attempt working in the woods with the possibility of more to come down. At lunch time I startedon the willow (with the wife press-ganged into acting as safety officer come look out) and two hours later it finally obliged by coming to rest on the path. The main trunk probably weighs well over a ton and will require further cutting with a long bladed saw & then rollinginto the woods.
In the meantime it is safely on the ground and members can pass around it with little difficulty
Broadwater Common Carp Record (13-16 year old)
Congratulations go to this young 16 year old for perseverance in cold weather conditions, whilst the weather has been too cold for many to go fishing this young lad managed to get a new PB and Lake Record for the 13 to 16 year category. This superb new PB Common Carp was was caught at 06:30 in the morning on a NRG boilie.
Trunley Heath restrictions have now been lifted and it is available to fish again.
FMC Match results.
The annual FMC match was held this year on the Stovolds stretch last Saturday 27th October 2007.
Following a brief respite to the frosts seen in the previous week the FMC boys turned up whilst it was still dark apart from the full moon blazing away in the sky. Not a good omen as a rule and that was case for this sociable match where the winner takes all but has to spend it over the bar afterwards!
There was a draw for the agreed walk-off and fishing was to be from as soon as you could cast a line until 1pm.
It was very hard going even for the experts who struggled to get close to one pound in weight. Alan Millington was
landing fish consistently at the start but in the event they were very small and dried up all too soon. Andrew had a chublet first cast that was barely bigger than the lobworm and an hour later hooked a reasonable chub of about 2lbs.
Mike Holcombe spent the first 45 minutes walking up and down, claiming he was looking for deep water. Dave Woolgar reckoned he was just out to spook everyone else's swims as he finally settled on the furthest upstream peg that no one else had visited. Whatever the reason, he sneaked out two small chub plus a few bits to record top weight of 3lbs 8oz, to take the trophy for the first time. Twice winner Andrew came in second with 2lbs 4oz. Dave Woolgar's 4 medium sized chub turned out to be a figment of his imagination. Mike Holcombe was surprised he had that much. Everyone caught on the day but with low levels & very clear water it was always going to be hard. However, it was fished with the usual good spirits in evidence until we all remembered just how steep the slope back to the car park was.
Only two made it to the top without stopping and they probably regretted it!
Mike dutifully purchased the beers post match but sadly not everyone could attend and they are hoping he'll still be in the chair next time we meet up.
Congratulations Mike on a good win.
Tuesday 16th October Coaching trip to Broadwater
It had taken a bit of planning but finally we had the date for the promised visit to Broadwater to help Howie catch a big fish!
Stuart Sharkey also joined us for his first ever attempt at fishing having travelled by bus to Epsom station and then he caught the
train to Guildford from where he was collected & driven to the lake.
We were in luck as the rain had put most anglers off so we managed to get the Point to ourselves. We set up the rods and spodded
out some bait and left it to "soak" until our guests arrived about 30 minutes later - just as the rain stopped.
There were fish already showing over the bait so we were hopeful of a good session.
We spent a little time running through the set up of the rods, the use of buzzers and how the baits were hair rigged.
All four rods were cast out using the current favourite method of small pva netting bags containing pellet soaked in hemp oil and with
a small pop-up and small hook. Within 20 minutes Stuart had the first carp in the net, weighing in at 8lbs. Shortly afterwards Howie was playing
another but this was lost at the net - probably because the clutch was set a little too hard. Not to worry though as another carp obliged
within ten minutes or so - this one was a double of 14lbs 12oz. Chris Baitup correctly guessing the weight to the ounce.
Not to be outdone Stuart followed this with what turned out to be the best fish of the day with one of exactly 18lbs - a nice common
in good condition. Howie came close to equalling it with his best of the day of bang on 16lbs.
Early afternoon saw them both playing a fish at the same time - Stuart landing a fully scaled mirror and Howie landing a very pretty mirror.
We had arranged to keep the session down to around 4 hours and by 2.30 we were packed up ready to leave. The lads had a great time,
each landing 6 fish and the total weight was well in excess of 120lbs! Well done guys. Some of Howie's fish were photographed by Mary
on her camera so are not attached here (yet).
Stuart is hooked after his first visit in-spite of being warned that the fish don't always behave so obligingly. We have now put him in touch
with more local disabled angling clubs and hope that he continues in our sport.
Howie has been a regular with our Summer Junior Club at Marsh Farm and is often seen fishing on Hill Pond with mum Mary close by.
Stuarts first fish in the net. Posing with 1st fish Stuarts 2nd His 18lbs common The double run The two mirrors with their proud captors Howie with the pretty mirror Howie with a 14lbs mirror Carefully does it, Stuart steering a carp away from the bushes The "Lads" by the lakeside Howie's final offering for the day - another pretty mirror
Big Crucians still showing in Harris Lake.
This last week the Crucians have still been putting in appearances at excellent weights.
Harris Lake has produced specimen fish of 4lbs, 3lbs 12oz, 3.9, 3.7 & 3.5.
The mild weather has kept them on the feed and we expect them to continue showing
for some time yet, just as they did the whole of last winter.
Afternoon session results in a new PB of 31lbs 2oz.
Fishing with his son Alex and pals Pete Dawson & Ian Baldwin, Andrew landed a new PB from Johnson's
this Thursday 11th October 2007. They fished thru until approximately 7 pm and had a total of 5 carp
between them. Pete landed a "diddler" of around 5/6lbs, Alex had a 10lbs 12oz common and a mirror of
19lbs 8oz whilst Andrew had a common of 13lbs which was preceded by his PB monster which is apparently
a known fish called The Scar.
Short session pays dividends on Johnson's.
Alex had a cracking overnight session on Johnson's 3rd/4th October 2007 landing six carp of which 4 were over 20lbs with the biggest at 27lbs 4oz. However, the prize of the session was a new PB Tench weighing in at an impressive 9lbs 14oz. The dorsal fin shows ancient cormorant damage and has hardly formed at all, but a cracking specimen none the less.
Sandra Mackenzie was persuaded by son Alex to join him & his father for a short session at Johnson's today (Wednesday 26th September 2007)
and whilst on the way they all guessed on how many fish would be caught and by when and of course the inevitable happened.
Sandra claimed there would be just one caught by 1.30pm. Alex reckoned on two by 2pm and Andrew (forever the optimist) went for 3 by 2.15pm.
At 1.28pm Sandra's right hand rod screamed off and some 10 minutes later Andrew had netted her big common. Once out of the water we could see
just how big a fish it was, so big in fact that Sandra could not support it well enough for a good picture despite a couple of valiant attempts. (Plus her roots needed doing and her hair was a mess and make up not quite right either so I wasn't allowed to use those pictures. However, for a donation to charity I will consider sending a copy!)
It weighed in at a new record Ladies Common for Johnson's at 26lbs 4oz. Currently thought to be the second biggest common in the lake.
5th Annual Junior Multi Species Charity Challenge - Story, Results & Pictures.
Saturday 8th September 2007 was the last of this summers Junior Club events and it was the first time that we had held the Junior Multi Species at this end of the summer. We were not sure how successful it would be especially when we realised on the day that we clashed with England playing football, rugby & cricket that very afternoon!
The big questions were "Would the boys beat the girls this year for a change?" & "Would a girl win the sponsorship trophy for the first time?"
Competitors were asked to arrive at Broadwater Lake at 8.30 ready to start fishing at 9. The first arrived by ten past eight and to my delight they just kept coming!
By 9am we had 28 Juniors spread around swims near the main road car park eagerly awaiting the starting whistle. Their aim to catch as many different species as possible, earning one point each per species before moving on to Busbridge to repeat the exercise.
Andrews band of committed (some definitely certifiable) helpers had handed around tubs of maggots, pots of loose feed, landing nets and helped set up 3 & 4 metre whips in readiness for the start. The whistle blew and it began! Squeals of delight were heard and shouts of "I've got one!" rang around our corner of the lake as the first points were recorded by the "Purple Shirts" - the official helpers.
A Crucian, a common & a mirror carp were amongst the species landed. The majority of the Juniors catching roach, rudd and perch with a handful of Gudgeon putting in an appearance on the bank. However, Georges duck did not count and we released it without harm to either of them!
Bill Rushmer from Anglers Mail was with us snapping away for the article he hopes to have published shortly. He was also a great help in ferrying three of the lads from venue to venue as my car was loaded with fishing gear. Thanks Bill for all your support & your generous donation.
A call from the catering crew (Graham & Bernice) ensured they knew how many buns and burgers were required for later that afternoon.
Shortly after 11am the whistle blew again, fishing stopped, everyone packed up and we headed off to Busbridge. No one was lost on the way and after allowing 20 minutes or so to get organised, the whistle started off part 2 of the event. In the lead following the Broadwater fishing were brothers Finn & Rowan with 8 points but there were several pairs hot on their heels including the Holcombe sisters Rosie & Chloe. Rosie got off to a great start at Busbridge pulling out three different species in as many casts before everything went rather quiet.
Busbridge proved quite tricky on the day but everyone loved the experience at this very special lake. Again the whistle blew and we were off to Marsh Farm. By this stage the Holcombe sisters were just in lead but again there were several pairs close on their heels - namely the Watts brothers, Chloe Cozens & Tom Chase, George & Hayley and also Daniel & Howie.
Hill Pond had been reserved & closed from 1pm for us so we set up for the 3rd time that day. Everyone still looking pretty fresh and the Juniors still raring to go as
everyone was still in with a chance with so many points available across the 3 lakes at Marsh Farm. (A point available for each species from each lake). It is at this stage in the proceedings that things could get quite chaotic with points being scored everywhere, however, the children knew well by now that everything had to be identified by a purple shirt before their sheet was signed so we stayed in control ..... to an extent.
By 4pm the BBQ was lit, Graham, Bernice & Eileen were merrily chopping onions, setting out the tables, pouring drinks of squash. Andrew was running back and forth to the shop to organise prizes and more maggots which were disappearing at a steady rate. Malcolm was meeting and greeting the Mayor & Mayoress together with the Jannaways who so kindly replaced the Junior sponsorship trophy in memory of their son Chris who was tragically killed recently. The Surrey Advertiser had sent a photographer along to snap the presentations for us too.
Shortly after 5pm with parents starting to flag a little now the final whistle was blown and the big adding up session began whilst the equipment was put away for the season. Certificates were written out for all the competitors and the prizes and trophies put on display.
The big questions were soon answered. No, the boys couldn't beat the girls this year and Yes a girl did finally win the most sponsorship trophy!
Andrew thanked all the fishing helpers, the coaches, the catering team, mums, dads and children for making the day such fun and a great success. Also thanked were of course the Jannaway family, Mr & Mrs Mayor, Apollo Angling for supplying the prizes, Bill Rushmer from Anglers Mail and The Surrey Advertiser too. They all received a good round of applause and the presentations began.
The sponsorship trophy was awarded by Mr & Mrs Jannaway to Chloe Holcombe who raised a stunning £107, narrowly beating her sister Rosie who managed £93. Howie was third with £89. All the children did really well and managed to raise a stunning total of £941.50 all paid in on the day, which the Mayor kindly rounded up for us to £950. Thank you everyone.
The pairs competition was won by the girls again with a new record joint score of 32 points by the Holcombe girls Chloe & Rosie making it a clean sweep of the top prizes! Well done girls. As well as trophies they were given a new rod each.
Second place went to Chloe Cozens and Tom Chase with 28 points. They won a trophy and a new reel each.
Third place went to Howie Murphy & Daniel West with 26 points. They also won a trophy and a reel each.
All the juniors were presented with certificates and a selection of fishing tackle by the Mayor & Mayoress who were most impressed with the children's efforts,
congratulating them all.
It was then time for the group photos taken by Chris from the Surrey Ad with all the proud mums and dads snapping away too, followed by a mad rush to the burger queue!
By 7pm the clearing up was finished, the equipment put away, the kitchen cleaned and tidied, rubbish put in the wheelie bin. The 5th Junior Multi Species event had been another great success and it was finally time to go home."
Dave - photo captions as follows:
jpeg14. - John Jannaway presenting Chloe Holcombe with the Chris Jannaway memorial trophy for the most sponsorship raised.
19 - Winners Chloe & Rosie Holcombe
21 - 2nd Place Tom Chase & Chloe Cozens
23 - 3rd place Howie Murphy & Daniel West
29 - Jeremy & Tess Walch with the Mayor
33 - Team photo
36 - "Grub up!" The queue for burgers
41 - Andrew, Malcolm, Mayor & Mayoress chatting, with Ellie in the foreground chomping on her 3rd burger & Graham still slaving over a hot BBQ.
10 August 2007 saw the Broadwater Common Carp Record equalled by Mark Hancock, whilst fishing with his son Alan for Perch. The original Record of 29lb 8oz was caught back in September 2004 by Brian Heighton. Below is the picture of the common, along with a 23lb 8oz caught by Alan.
Click to enlarge
Alan Hancock
I fished Broadwater with some guests on 3 occasions last week (early August) and caught some cracking perch.
There is definitely some great fishing at Broadwater and not just carp. We were fishing at close range and along with perch I had some very entertaining tussles with the carp and I caught some surprise Crucians which I have never managed to catch before in all the years that I have fished at the lake. One of them was a nice 2 pounder, unfortunately no one was with me to take a trophy shot. Below are some of the Perch we caught.
2 lbs 4oz perch from behind the island
2lbs plus, caught on prawn Guest James Butt with 1lbs8oz perch. A personal best, for him Guest Matt Thompson. He has not been fishing for a number of years but caught this perch that just about scrapes 1lb. He was over the moon with it and wants to come again. Another angler hooked!
Life Ban & court action pending!
Someone is mutilating fish at Broadwater and possibly Johnson's in some sick attempt to be able to recognise repeat captures by cutting
the tail fins on carp he is catching. See the picture below of a carp caught at Broadwater this Wednesday (18/7/07).
This is an illegal and barbaric practice and any member aware of who is responsible for this should please contact the Club Secretary,
the Fishery Management Secretary or other Club Officer immediately.
Their telephone numbers are on page 3 of your permits.
Those responsible will be banned for life and probably face court action too.
An encouraging catch at Marsh Farms Richardson's Lake.
Richardson's Pegs 49 & 50Thursday July 12 2007 - 18.15 hours - 22.00hrs.David Wood and Peter Gains, mostly fishing one rod each in view of frantic activity.Total 88 fish (DJW 58 - PG 30)Approximate weight total 175 lbs (DJW 110 - PG 65)51 tench to 6/2 (including many 3-5lb fish)26 crucians to 3/4 (several around 3/0)10 bream (+only 1 small carp)All caught on large soft trout pellet baits at very short range - freelined/light linked/float
"Recent capture at Broadwater by John
Moore"
21lb
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Busbridge Carp Record broken. Dean Murphy caught the fish known as "The Big Frame" pictured below at a record weight of 36lbs 8oz on Saturday 27th May and is the biggest fish in the lake. Surprisingly it came out again the following weekend at 4oz lighter. It is now widely believed that this is the only 30lbs carp in Busbridge as the pictures claiming two others would appear on closure inspection to all be of The Big Frame.  |
FREE FISH AVAILABLE BY THE TON! We all know how rumours start and in a short space of time become guaranteed fact. Well, here is one that was true to a point. Many of you may have heard that we could lay our hands – or at least our nets on several tons of free fish. They included double figure bream, masses of silver fish, carp to 40lbs and pike in excess of 40lbs. Sizes and stock numbers to dream about! We were all drooling at the mouth at the prospect of being able to introduce some stunning 16lbs bream into Busbridge, a mixed bag into Bramley and maybe a few big carp into possibly both Johnsons & Busbridge. As always we have to be very careful with fish movements and introducing new fish, not just because of the legalities but because we could kill off all our existing fish stocks (which are pretty impressive) if we brought in diseased fish. This is why we have a strong relationship with the EA and have two Fishery Management Officers - Alan & Mike. At this point I'll leave you to read Dr. Alan Millingtons & Mike Holcombes findings, so please read on.................................... Fish from Queen Mary Reservoir 4 weeks ago we were told that the TWA who run the Queen Mary Reservoir wanted to reduce the fish stock and that we could go and net the shallow areas taking whatever fish we could catch free of charge. Rumours, started by one indiscrete member, began to circulate that we were going to net the Queen Mary and take 2 tons of fish distributing them between Marsh Farm, Busbridge and Bramley! Following up the lead, Mike Holcombe and I both spoke to the Reservoir Manager who confirmed that free fish were indeed available but that we would need to get the necessary health checks carried out. I then spoke to Dr Phil Renton who is the TWA Aquatic Biologist responsible for the Queen Mary and he also confirmed that we could take as many fish as we wanted free of charge. However, Phil Renton also told me that the last two health check had shown that over 45% of the fish carry at least two Category 2 parasites (Ergasilus Sieboldi and Ergasilus Briani). This means that EA permission to move the fish to Godalming Angling Society waters would not be granted. I confirmed this with our local EA Fisheries Officers. Sorry guys but all that glitters is not gold. Dr C A Millington Thursday, 03 May 2007
"Match
record goes
on
Richardson
Lake."
First 4lb+
Crucian
caught at
Marsh Farm
this year
(mid April) |
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Tench, Bream & Pike
feeding well at
Busbridge.
Busbridge is in
really fine form at
the moment with
Tench as well as
Bream showing in
good numbers to
several anglers.
Ian Baldwin landing
2 Tench and 9 Bream
in an afternoon
session. Best
tactics are little
and often re feeding
and all the usual
baits are working.
Alex returned on
Sunday morning to do
a little more Pike
fishing following
the family successes
on Friday (pictured
below)
and was far from
disappointed. He
landed 3 in 15
minutes and finished
with 5 for the day.
This was from a
totally different
swim too.
The carp are still
putting in an
occasional
appearance with the
largest reported at
just over 34lbs.
Don't forget
Busbridge is open
all year round now
so do give it a go.
Red Letter Day
at Busbridge - by
Andrew Mackenzie
You know how these
days sometimes start
....... the zipper
gets caught on the
rod bag and then the
clasp breaks. You
confuse each other
regarding where you
are to fish and
finish on opposite
sides of the lake.
Then it gets even
better by finding
two snags in two
casts where you have
no option but to
pull for a break and
lose expensive
terminal tackle!
Thoughts of an
immediate return
home crossed the
mind.
However, the sun was
out and warming in
our sheltered swim.
Alex Sandra and I
managed to fit in
quite comfortably
and finally got the
rods out safely.
Within 30 minutes I
had a drop back then
a run as the pike
took line making
several spirited
runs and putting a
great bend in the
rod. A few minutes
later I'd banked my
best Busbridge pike
in a few years at a
very respectable
17lbs 7oz. (Some way
short of my PB there
of 23lbs 6oz caught
on a 26mm cheesie
boilie but a
cracking fish none
the less.)
20 minutes later
Alex had a short
sharp run landed one
of around 3lbs that
obliged by tail
walking. Not to be
out done Sandra was
next in line to pay
a hard fighting pike
45 minutes later.
This was her first
ever pike and came
in at a very
respectable 10lbs
10oz. To round off
the session I landed
the fourth and final
pike of our family
Piking foray with
one of 7lbs
exactly.
What a great session
after such an
unpromising start -
just goes to show
you can never tell
how the day will pan
out. It looked
desperate for Piking
with bright
sunshine, high
pressure and little
or no wind on the
water but they were
obviously in the
mood to feed and we
just sat in the
right swim on the
day.
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Great Winter Carp at
Broadwater
By Ian Davey
I
fished over at
Broadwater on Friday
2nd February 2007
with my mate Adrian
Evans. We were
fishing on the Rugby
Bank opposite the
island probably
about 30 yards out.
Around 8.30pm I had
a good run and bent
into what was
obviously a good
fish. Anyway, to
cut the boring story
I've told so many
times short, I ended
up with a 28lb 8oz
Mirror carp. A new
personal best, the
biggest fish I've
ever seen on the
banks at Broadwater
and very happy
indeed.
As arranged Gary & I
plus a 3 ton digger
worked on the fallen
tree on Johnson's
railway bank
yesterday (Monday
22nd Jan 2007). I
did the cutting he
did the pulling and
in just two hours
the whole thing was
out of the water,
cut up and cleared
away. Next, some
earlier felled dead
trees by the stock
pond were moved and
then we worked on
the the pair of
large willows that
had fallen in The
Hole. The smaller of
the two we managed
to cut out and tidy
away but the bigger
one is well and
truly caught up in
another tree.
Currently it appears
safe as "nudging" it
with the digger made
no impression on it
what so ever. I will
arrange for a
climber to come out
in the next few
weeks to drop it for
us. The amount of
time and effort the
digger saved us was
immeasurable as all
this was completed
by about midday. To
make full use of the
digger Gary then
spread the 100 tons
of rubble in the car
park.
Busbridge suffered a
few fallen trees
too. A multi stemmed
Hawthorn fell across
the fence which
Andrew cleared on
Sunday &
straightened out the
fence as best he
could. There is a
very large Cherry
tree down at the top
of the lake and a
couple of others in
the water. Tree work
is being undertaken
this Thursday mainly
on the left hand
bank to remove
several dead and
potentially
dangerous trees.
Words and Pictures
by Andrew Mackenzie
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Thursdays storm
brought down one of
the large Poplars on
Johnson's Railway
bank around midday.
Fortunately no one
was on the lake. On
Monday Gary Ford
(pictured by the
Poplar to give an
idea of its size) &
Andrew will cut it
up and use a 3 ton
digger to clear it
away.
Some other trees in
the vicinity of The
Hole have come down
but I've not
examined them yet.
Again, I hope to
remove them on
Monday if possible.
Marsh Farm suffered
some minor damage to
the netting around
the Open Barn but
the pergola over the
BBQ has incurred
more serious damage
but can be
repaired.
Apparently Bramley
has a few trees down
and I have yet to
check out Busbridge.
If you see any
dangerous trees -
dangerous being
overhanging a path
or a swim - please
let me know EXACTLY
where it is, Lake
and swim number.
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An additional 300 Bream all of almost 8oz each were introduced to Richardson lake yesterday afternoon and 100 were stocked into Busbridge to help freshen up the stock there which is felt to be getting a bit on old side. With luck this new strain will revitalise the bream in general at Busbridge. Photographs courtesy of Mike Holcombe show the bream being released.
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Busbridge Lake
Friday 15th December
saw the tri annual
dosing of Busbridge
Lake with powdered
chalk - 4 tons to be
exact. The impact is
on the Ph level as
the water gets out
of balance over
time. The good news
is that it cannot be
over-dosed as the
water will only
absorb as much as it
needs to get back in
balance. Any surplus
sits dormant on the
bottom until it is
required then gets
absorbed.
Its not the best of
jobs as the 25K bags
have to be off
loaded by hand and
of course the lorry
could not get up the
track so it was
carried from the
entrance to the dam
wall before loading
onto the boat. The
lake was gin clear
before work
commenced and by the
finish it was an
emerald green. By
Saturday morning all
was back to normal -
the only sign that
we'd been there were
the traces of chalk
powder and one bag
that fell in the
lake.
The work party all
looked as though
they'd changed into
Homepride flour
graders long before
the task was
finished as can be
seen from the
following
photographs. The
afternoon was spent
cutting & dragging
out a large multi
stemmed willow near
the boat house which
was doing its best
to re root itself
from every submerged
limb.
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