knotford 29

[gizzerd999]

Anyone know if the farmers going to put Any more manure in the lake this season,the weed has been a real problem in the last two seasons,,,.I posted a message in may last year when a Friend and i found a dead mirror in the margins,it was a fish we recognized as one i netted for my mate the year before,coming in at 31.8lb,my mates new Pb,,its a massive loss to the water,and with pictures of the fish both dead and alive it makes it hard to bear,,,,,the fish had two rigs in its mouth,a bolt rig and a lead clip with the lead still on,the tail rubber was on way to hard and there was a load of lead core mixed in as-well,,,the fish didn't stand a chance with the amount of weed that season(and with the rigs people where using)but the season before the farmer put tons of crap in and the water colored up all,, summer and therefor the weed was only in patches and not to thick,,,,,Iknow its impossible to police what rigs people chuck out in weedy conditions but sorting the weed out is the only option to keep the fish stock safe,,how much would a 30lb carp cost these days///?

[miller101]

A 30lb carp in Yorkshire to our club water is priceless. devastating really that it was lost, in circumstances that could have been avoided.

I look forward to seeing the clubs response to this, thans for that Gizzerd I was unaware of the details.

[frim]

The manure was put in 2007 season after advice from Bruno Broughton, this was arranged by the society through the local farmer!! it's good to know you think it did some good, was that the general feeling of all the regulars?? if so i will bring it up at tomorrows GP meeting and make arrangement's, i fished it early Nov and the weed was still bad so something needs to be done before the growing season. You ask how much the 30 that we lost was worth "nearly priceless gizzerd" pasties are about £6 a pound and the heavier they get so does the price. Personally i would ban lead core, and make it members only, whats your thoughts??? it can be sorted
frim

[cantcast]

someone will have to correct me if i am wrong on this but it was the club that put the manure in to help the weed wasn't it? & yes it worked to an extent.

however, the weed provides lots of food for the carp helping they're growth, especially the younger stockies. anglers themselves have a responsibilty to ensure their rigs are safe for use in weed. break off leads essential.

this case we are talking about, as far as i am aware, was an angler fishing too close to a snag, not weed. there is a lot of heresay involved with these things, but that is the general opinion down at the lake.

the majority of the lads i know down there are responsible. the weed will change year by year & yes last year was bad but i don't think adding things to the water will change anything in the long run, and i also believe the weed makes it easier to find feeding spots & it also makes the water more challenging and improves your own fishing by dealing with such problems.

bad angling caused that fish to die not the weed imo.

if the water was properly bailiffed then anglers may be a bit more careful in terms of what they do or don't do. but that's a different thread altogether!

[cantcast]

frim

i know we have spoken about leadcore before & i will say again - why do anglers need to use leadcore (particularly on a weedy water) when there is a wide selection of other leader materials available today which offer similar properties without the dangers of leadcore - mainly being its weight & also its inflexibility once it has a kink in it.

i would not be against banning leadcore if the weed was as bad as last year.

how much does the club make off day ticket anglers? i hardly saw any last year. the only ones i heard about were the polish who presumed they could fish on day ticket, stay the night & without a net!

the water is busy enough these days without having day ticket anglers on imo.

[gizzerd999]

hi there Miller, if you go to the bait kitchen web site and click gallery ,look for frostys 29.8lb mirror,am pretty certain that the fish we caught in 07 at 31.8lb ,,,,she had a massive head and flanks and had the potential ,in years to come,to grow to a very rare Yorkshire 40 dam shame,,

[dan]

I agree with James (cancast) about the weed and it's usefullness regarding feeding for all species. Rightly so, it should be the angler's responsibility to make sure their rigs are "safe".

As for the members only issue, I agree that it should be. I've only seen two day ticket anglers this year. It's just unfortunate that this has been bought up now after the gates for the new secure car park have been fitted...

Frim, do day tickets at Knotford make alot of money? It would be good to find out, and possibley put something forward to the GP...

[gizzerd999]

hi frim,thanks for the reply,iv just read the reply and concerns about the manure going in at knotford and agree to the comments that weed is beneficial to the fish for food and habitat .In 07 when the sh,t went in it had a huge affect on the weed,but thankfully it didn't kill it back completely,i put a lot of hrs in with the marker float feature finding that year,and while the weed was still there,in small and large patches,it wasn't as bad as it has been in resent years,last year the Canadian pond weed was showing on the surface in 6 to 10ft of water,and by mid July i bet there where only 2 to 4 swims fish-able.I think early march would be a good time to start putting it in again,the weed will grow but not to the extent as last year,and we will not lose Any more fish(hopefully),,,,,also only a few snagged up fish make it to the surface,when no1 weeded out over the road thy found many carp snagged up that would never have come to light,,i wonder haw many more have been lost,more than end up in th wharf i bet

[miller101]

The points made above are all valid. I understand where gizzerd is coming from about the manure but the problem of weed is only a problem if anglers allow it to be, it is fine to fish around the weed and there are plenty of clear area to fish if necessary, it was not that much of an issue last year and the weed is good for the carps growth, you will know that when you bring a clump of weed in it is covered with snails, eggs etc and the carp love it!

The idea of the water being members only is a great one and although the posts have been put in already for the car park it means that not all members need to purchase a key if they don't want to.

I am curious to know how much money has been made from day-ticketers over the past few seasons? Last year i saw three.

What are your thoughts?

[gizzerd999]

again i agree that you can find clear spots to put a bait,but haw many anglers know how to set up properly for these conditions,i have fished knotford for the best part of 22 years now,and the amount of people i see just chucking a bait out and hoping for the best has reduced ,but you still see it,they get snaged up and just pull for a break,,,,fishing in heavy weed is an art in its self,and yes we all have to learn some how,but protecting the fish stock should always remain priority,In 07 when the manure went in it still left large patches of pond and silk weed,but from mid July last year ,from the water works to blues barr there where only find a few spots you could fish to and you still had to play fish over weed beds,not to bad if you know your stuff but not a place to put a novice ,,,or a thirty pound carp

[cantcast]

i agree there are some 'less experienced' anglers on knotford who are unaware of the dangers of fishing in the weed.... i myself have been in a situation when a fish has fully weeded me up even fishing a lead clip only pushed on slightly.

these situations are going to occur & i think they occurred the previous year when the manure was in also (because there was still an abundance of weed)... however it fished better the previous year when the manure was in, but i think the fish weights improved this year due to the large amount of naturals (stockies in particular... the originals aint gonna go bigger imo or they would have already).

going round in cirlces here ;D

if the club wants to put the manure in again then i aint gonna argue with them. remember there are snags in every lake, not just weed, and sometimes fish get snagged up. however, good practice in relation to rigs will minimize the chances of fish losses from these situations. some waters have rules to help things like this, i don't know the best way forward but for eg

barbless hooks would mean fish would find it easier to shed the hooks if snagged up but then again do barbless hooks slide about more causing mouth damage? leadcore as previously mentioned 'kinks' meaning leads cannot break off.... chod/helicopter rigs - who thinks they are safe in weed - not me unless the lead is tied on with 4lb mono, in-line leads is another one - in weed is it safe?

food for thought....

it is this sort of thing that need to be addressed because no matter how much manure is put in knotford will still be weedy. hopefully this year it won't be as bad last year.

[gizzerd999]

Last year at knotford from mid July until late Autumn,on the car park side,,from the water works,,to blues Barr the weed was solid ,,from the margins to 60 yards out ,,you only had 3 to 5 spots to put a bait,and even then if you got a run you would still have to pull a fish through 40 yards of solid pond weed,,so much weed that it was breaking surface in 8ft of water
If you get a run in these conditions and you get snagged and the fish breaks off,chances are that the fish will not survive,even if the lead brakes free,,,,,the thirty pound carp that i found washed up down there,had line ,leads,lead core,and most relevant weed wrapped round its mouth,,yes fish hit snags and break off when playing them,but when the weed is so bad they don't stand a chance,,,,,In the past i have see syndicate waters closed down due to excessive pond weed ,None of the anglers were happy but every one agreed that until it was sorted and in the interest of fish safety it was the right thing to do,,
i netted that thirty both dead and alive ,and no mater what anyone says a combination of bad angling and weed killed that magnificent fish,,,can you prevent poor angling on a club water,,,no,,can you cut back the weed growth in the interests of fish preservation(not get rid of it) ,,,yes,,, A bit of a no brainer if you ask me,,,

[cantcast]

I cannot agree that if a fish breaks off & the lead came free (running rig/lead clip) that ‘chances are’ the fish would not survive. If that is the case there must be many more dead carp in knotford than we think, not only knotford but lakes all across the country.

I must admit it must have been a harrowing experience seeing the said fish dead & I agree with your point about the lake being very weedy in parts, it got ridiculous when autumn came and all the dead weed was blowing around the lake into your lines in the middle of the night!

I stated in my earlier post that I am not against the manure going in to help the weed but did state that the large amount of weed was responsible for good growth rates of the younger fish.

My suggestions regarding prevention of poor angling are just food for thought, I never said it would solve the problem, but surely it would help? The fish you found had leadcore wrapped round it, surely there is no need for leadcore on a weedy water like knotford?

We are all after the same thing here mate, to make knotford a better place to fish. I do not want to see any more fish die either, I was gutted when I heard the news of the one last year.

[dan]

I know it might be a bit of a long shot...but what about introducing grass carp. I appreciate that they won't clear anywhere as near as much weed as manure would, but surely is would help...

Your thought guys?

[frim]

Dan,
grassies were checked out, it's a big no no its a flood plain and you cant get consents, even if you could the amount needed to make a noticable difference would cost thousands- but it has been looked at. Manure seems top of the list to do the job when talking to the so called experts, but its draw back of also been a fertilizer means it's a never ending circle. Another method that some fisheries are trying to stop UVs are clay banks or bunds wind action creates the waves that keep colour in the water which then acts as a fiter or block to sunlight. I read sometime ago about the Yanks on Bass fisheries who had tried chemical's and similar to the things were talking about and they reckon they were all crap! they've gone back to rolls of barb wire boated out and pulled back to the shore by chains or ropes and brute force, they do individual fishing stations and leave the weed inbetween, this is supposed to be the only way to remove roots etc but it sounds hard work to me!!
answers on a postcard please
frim