Ruining Knotford Lagoon???

[bert]

Just got back from Knotford and Im not sure what to think about whats happening down there.The place looks more like the local swimming baths than the MATURE gravel pit Ive fished since I was at school.A blue weedkiller has been added and Im told it kills the weed by stopping photosynthesis.So that must mean the lake will be bright fookin blue all year .I wasnt down last week but Ive been told another 60 4-5lb carp have been stocked aswell.Now I dont know the exact stock but out of 70 captures last year I only had 16 at 20+ and 2 of those were repeated(Im not complaining about that I was happy to net every single one)To me carp fishing has always been about catching fish of specimen size,so in my opinion the stock could have been left alone for at least 5 more years to help the bigger doubles reach their potential some of wich are real stunners.Now the weeds being killed off I can only assume the levels of natural food that live in it are going to decline incredibly,I cant see how that can be at all good for the fish or the lake as a whole.How the bigger fish will fare now against the disproportionate number of ravenous small stockies and low doubles only time will tell.Maybe thats what the club wants? a muddy hole in the ground (sorry BRIGHT BLUE muddy hole) full of singles + doubles so they can sell hundreds of tickets to the NODDY carping brigade >:(Knotfords always been a proper carp water,so in my opinion that means a healthy ecosystem wich has to mean weed,every species of fish youd expect to find in still water,and a balanced carp stock.Just one of those things missing f**ks things up in my opinion.

[mr knowbody]

I dont fish it anymore, but if anglers want it on a plate why dont they go to a commi?

Anglers V enviroment?............(guess what wins in the great sceam of things)

A bit sad realy.

[breamboy]

Good post Bert, spoken to several members who also echo your views on these subjects

[grahampark]

Hi Bert
The product we have used is called 'DYOFIX POND BLUE' it is NOT a weed killer but is an Algae prevention and inhibitor.
It works by blocking out the UV light and denying algae food source, it is harmless to fish,wildlife and insects.
The blue you see will drop out in a matter of days and you would not know it was there.
We have recently had comment on this site regarding the weed growth and are trying to do something about it and all other methods tried to date have proved to have only had limited success. All we ask is to give it a chance and lets work together on this.

Regards
Graham

[mr knowbody]

I just clued myself up on this product. I think you might of just wasted some money.

I think you may have recently had coment in favour of weed on your website too? (how come the numpty wins?)

When are you gonna plant species of weed we don't have in Knotford? (Weed fights weed if you know your weed).............Stand down hemp head's!

When you gonna start working with it and not against it? (nature)

I could stick a couple of otters in there if it would make things easyer for you?

Please think about what your doing, please (if there was a praying smilie I would of used it)

[bushy]

nothing wrong with dyofix .it wont harm the weed just sort any algae . the problem with algae is it will use up valuable oxygen in the water putting the whole fishery at risk. i just dont see a problem your club is again working in the members interest and getting a load if misinformed crap back in return.

[jb]

The only time knotford has had a problem with algie as far as I can remeber is when they put the horse nuts in to fertilise (or did I mean clear the weed). The weed rarly gets bad enough to make the place unfishable if there is a little thought to the anglers approach and to the welfare of the fish. Knotford is an awesome speicemin water and not just for carp tench and bream are a good size in there and can prove a challenge, there seems to be a lot of pike making and apperance too. Surely the club should use this as an oppertunaty to and manage a thrieving speicemin water as a flag ship for the club and the north of england. Closing it off to day ticketers, managing it like a carp fishery/syndicate with appropriate rules and monatoring it. 5-6years ago it was a good place to fish, not too bussy everybody knew everybody and the only problem seemed to come from the day ticketers and the people fishing there without a book. Although stocking the place is looking after it for the future and it is necesary, surly theres other options such as would be to grow the fish on in stock ponds or in waters like sandworth, when they get to an appropriate size (15lb for example) then stock them graduly into the lake to keep it a speci water. People don't go to knotford to catch 5lbers, people spend time walking the banks looking for signs of fish, markering spots and finding holes in the weed putting there bait in sometimes taking three or 4 casts to get it right then putting there free offering out. all this take time and then at 3am in the rain you catch a 5lber that doesn't really put much of a test on the 12lb mono and 3lb testr curve rod. The only things that enjoy the smaller size carp are the pike, cormerants, mink and the otters are on the way.

[richwak]

I have had a look at this chemical that you have put into the lake and it does not just target algae it blocks UV light. That means that all the plants in the lake-the start of all food chains- will be prevented from getting the UV light. No UV light means no plants!!!! To say this was stupid would be a complete understatement, any 11 year old in school can tell you taht all foodchains start with plants and without them the whole chanin will be harmed and that means the fish. what will the microorganisms eat? What will the fish eat? This is crazy, you cannot play god without damaging the whole eco system. Weed is an essential part to the lakes health. The reason that Knotford has speciment fish in it is because it is a rich water with plenty of food for the fish to eat. It the comany's lierature it says that this product is for:
•Local councils
•Golf clubs
•Stately homes
•Private gardens
•Commercial fisheries

Knotford is non of these it is a large clear water gravel pit. This is evidence that Leeds does not care about the specimen anglers that pay good money to join the club and then pay again for a night ticket. They tolerate us but all they want is an overstocked commercial type fishery that they can allow matches on to generate revenue that has been lost due to the members leaving down from 9000 members to 3000 i think! They should be developing this as a specimen water not a commercial fishery. Can you imagine Linear or the like doing this to their lakes?

[bert]

Oh dear,that dont sound good does it

Hopefully grahams right and the colour will return to normal,I dont see how blocking UV rays isnt going to affect all plantlife in there though its not going to be selective.And I understand Herbicides/Pesticides a little bit,so my craps not that misinformed ;D.Anyway what I know about Dyofix was relayed to me by the guy applying it,scary thought??

Anyhow my whole point was that please,please could the clubs lake management be more sympathetic to what is ALREADY THERE and has been in the past,than to whatever it is the club wants it to be in 10 years time.Restocking is always going to be essential but it can surely be done in the least invasive way,the same can be said for plant control.

[grahampark]

Hi jb
Putting smaller carp into another fishery to grow on and be removed when big enough for a speciman lake is a total none starter, it is not practical or cost effective in any way.
All the society stillwaters are now on classified 'flood plains' and therefore to move fish from one fishery to another would require a section 30 consent and an health certificate, to obtain this a number of the said fish have to be provided for sampling and they have to be provided alive to the specified lab, the nearest one is down Cambridge area, cost wise we would be looking at £250-00 plus transportation and if we were only looking to stock fish in the 15 pound bracket we would have to send 30 fish for sampling, this at £20-00 per pound the fish to be sampled would cost £300-00 each. Stock ponds on each venue is one other way to go but not all sites have the area available.
Hope that gives you some insight into the situation, we would be better off just buying 15pound fish from our supplier, if he had any which is doubtful.
Also what about the members that regularly fish at venues like Sandwath who constantly keep losing stock fish.

Regards
Graham

[jb]

fair point mate, I can see why that wont happen but for arguments sack you could replace the bigger fish with anew stocking of smaller 1's, any way as you've explained the situation it is not relavent. What are the clubs plans for the future and there vision say in 5 years and 10 years for knotford?

[mr knowbody]

Phew, seem's like knotford still has a heartbeat.

From the posts above I can work out that nobody understands the lower order of plants and how they go about there buisiness in a given season of sunshine we may not even get? Yet?

Bushy, you realy don't have a clue. Did you realy read the Dyno site or do you have shares in it?

Jb is on the money. (unlike the idiots who are wasteing it on Dyno)

Richwak and Bert make good points, they obvisly fish the water.


Why do you (the controleing do gooders) think you can batter nature into the shape you would like it to be? I can only assume you don't know the differance between a plant and algae?

Algae is not even an issue at this time of year unless you feked with the plants (weed) last year, the only algae that could spoil your fishing is silkweed/blanketweed, and its way too early for that, if the place is in good health.

I'm glad I don't fish there anymore, the guys that do must be gutted.

[breamboy]

It really is quite sad, I was all ready to go and buy my permit and night card last week ready for a couple of nights fishing this weekend, however hearing of yet more stockies and the deisel spliialge, sortry blue dye put me off. 3 hours on the A1 down South was far more appealing than fishing a blue muddy puddle full of five pounders - if I wanted to fish an easy runs lake I would have gone to Kippax Park. I spoke to a number of friends who share my views on this, one of whome "cut his teeth" carp fishing on Knotford and said that after what has gone on the lake has lost all of its appeal.

It does seem that - as with many walks of life - the idiot factor is being catered for. At the end of the day, if I found a lake too challenging or testing - I would either try harder or pull off, hone my skills else where and return and give the place hell a few years down the line. Not moan and winge and get the club to make the lake easier for me.

The lake is unique, it is a lovely place (well it is when you get used to the gypsy camp and the nuts works), it is fished by a great bunch of lads in general and has a good head of fish - of varying year groups. It isn't a runs water, and it isn't rock hard, it is a tricky carp water that rewards those who put in effort.

Now this dye may not be branded a weed killer, but a small amount of reserarch will show you that that is what it does - in a round about sort of way, it does not kill it - just stops it growing. But stopping UV rays entering the deeper water photosynthisis cannot take place and the weed cannot grow.

Now perhaps someone with a bit more knowledge of fishery management than I can explain something too me.

Everyone bleets on about biomass, and how the amount of natural food in a lake supports the fish. The weed is a good source of this natural food - it was always crawling with bugs and creepy crawlies, bloodworm etc.

Now my take on this - and one which i would like clarifying/explaining is as follows...... If the weed cannot grow, then there will not be as much food, the fish will not put on /maintain weight. This latter fact will be further increased by increasing the number of fish in the lake.

More fish + less natural food = fish lose weight and condition.

Is this wrong? Or is the tree I am barking at the right one.

It would be sad to see a lake that I enjoyed so much last year go to the wall - and I really do hope that my thoughts above are incorrect and I am worrying voer nothing. I appreciate that the club listened to comments on here - however most came form people who did not even fish the lake and heard second hand rumours. The guys who fished the lake week in week out would have been able to give a slightly more factual based view on the weed situation than mythical pie in the sky comments by a few numpties who don't know the score.

Also, following the fish deaths last year at Sandwath and Knotford following the stockings were the fish quarenteened before being stocked into the lake?

[wrighty29]

as for pie in the sky the info comes from guys who have fished this place before you were even born .I myself spoke to a number of lads who fished last year and it was all the same story nearly 1 fish to 4 or 5 they lost because of the weed and then there was the idiots who was bragging about the weed not being a problem because they could just pull the fish in with heavy braid .I think it would be a real shame if no weed at all grew but it is a club water which people would like to feeder fish or fish a waggler which would be impossible with the amount of weed thats been present over the last 10 year. the thing that is a big problem is noddys fishing the place as it is open to anyone and thats when you get dead fish. how many fish have been killed by anglers over the last few years i'll tell you of 1 thirty pounder and if you are willing to pay that price over a bit of blue die then you should not be fishing

[breamboy]

The people who lost fish becasue of the weed - I would bet my last pound this was the idiots who were fishing over the top of lilly pads, that is why they lost fish, no great surprise. They were fishing from the path along sid ethe lillys near the headland and casting across the bay and attempting to drag fish back through the pads. That is why they lost fish.

As for people fishing the lake before I was born, I fail to see what bearing that has on how bad the weed was last year and the previous few? It wasn't bad, you didn't need braid, you needed to use a bit of common sense, something which is sadly lacking from society it seems.

It seems odd becasue all of the regulars (some of whome have also fished it since before I was born) were commenting last year on how thye weed was nowhere near as bad as previous years?

Also, on weekends last year the palce was full of people fishing with wagglers and feeders, I took picutres of tench and carps for such anglers last year, people fishing with light tackle but still landing the fish - how.......... because they used a bit of common sense, found clear areas and fished properly.