Tag: Keith moors

2017 HALF SEASON REPORT.
Well we have completed the first half of 2017 and we are now into a 4 week break from the fishing. This is not normal but we there is a considerable amount of work to be done around the house and garden so the plan is to hit it hard and give Sharon a break from the cooking times. This should mean everyone can relax and be fresh for the second half of the season.
We also plan to add some more dye to the lake in order to try to finally get on top of the algae so it will be interesting to see how effective this is. The biggest effect will probably be more evident next season.
Right that leads nicely on to a resume of this year so far. I will keep it brief but there have been some major events.
The first of these has to be the weed control.
In previous years the weed cutting began as the weed developed and it was then a race to keep swims open and fishable. This year, the team worked on the weed before it got a foothold and it seems to have done the job beyond everyone’s expectations. The type of weed in our lake is one which sets “turions” (seeds). These then drop to the lake bed and germinate before growing very rapidly into new plants. It is hoped that the early control this year (and possibly next) might lead to even less work for the future simply because the weed did not have time to set seeds. Fingers crossed.
The knock on effect from removing the weed may also have something to do with the fishing being harder this year, although I know of several lakes which are going through similar patches, without having any weed control to blame. It could be that the natural foods that would normally be in the weedbeds are now openly on offer to the carp as they roam about and this large supply of readily available natural protein seems to be very much to their liking. Now before anyone shouts that they don’t get big on natural food just bear in mind that 1 gram of dried daphnia contains 525 calories, yes you read that right; 1 GRAM = 525 CALORIES, and the blue whale seems to do alright on shrimps.
We have to hope that this free food source is not so widely available in future years as the weed growth becomes less and less. Bloodworms, snails and slaters will always be there, as they have been since the lake was dug 300+ years ago and that is good for the welfare of the fish but we need to be able to compete with our baits.
Following the weed control we needed to work on the algae blooms. One thing leads to another I guess. Our research through some of the best U.K. fisheries has led us to use an aqua blue dye from “Lakeserve”. We have made one application and the second will be added during this break. Our research suggests that the final piece of this complicated jigsaw will be that the fish will begin to feed very heavily again. The reasoning behind this is that some of the small daphnia type organisms feed and thrive on algae so once the algae is beaten the food chain above changes dramatically leading to anglers baits becoming far higher on the acceptance scale.
Right, onto the fishing. The obvious highlights have been the captures of Half Lin at 74lbs 15oz and Cut Tail at 76lbs 15oz. However, there were one or two other sixties that we were waiting to see but they didn’t get banked until after spawning so we now wait to see what those can do during autumn. Without digging through records the fish that spring to mind are, Clover, Pipesmoker, Twin, Lumpy, Footsteps, Horseshoe Scale, Black Scale, Chunky, Andy’s Common, Roundscale, Peach etc. etc. All of these, plus a few more, could be big sixties if they get caught at the right time and the weather conditions remain good for the “post spawning” recovery period.
The possibilities for next spring are mind blowing but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
As a final piece to this blog, I mentioned “Peach” above and Alan spent an evening float fishing following his earlier success with an unknown fifty, and his only bite, as they light faded, was from her. She turned the scales to 57lbs 5oz so, firstly, a huge well angled to him for that but it’s even more impressive if we look back at her previous captures.
Her best ever weight was on 27th March last year. This was before spawning and she weighed 61lbs 4oz. That’s just 4lbs bigger than she is now and she is currently well spawned out. Let’s take this a little further. We know that the big girls can shed 10lbs plus in spawn and we also know that our growth rates, even conservatively, are 4lbs plus. Just those two facts alone give her, along with several of the others listed above, the potential to be upper sixties before the end of this season and new seventies next spring. That being the case, what about Half Lin and Cut Tail???? 80lbs plus????
Be lucky.

Now that the quality of the fish, the facilities and the fishing at Moorlands is out there for all to see, it’s no surprise that the number of anglers coming to fish here is growing. Many of this years anglers are returning regulars but some are new visitors and may not be familiar with the rules and the way we like to run things at Moorlands. So now is as good a time as any just to familiarise everyone with a few things. First of all a good start would be for everyone to actually read the copy of the rules on our website, it really does save everyone a lot of hassle long term and would put a stop to any genuine misunderstanding. The main rules are that leaders of any description are not allowed, no lead core leaders, no safe zone leaders, no leaders of any description are allowed. Main line for Carp is a minimum 15lb breaking strain. Lead clips are also banned. It makes no difference whether you trim your tail rubber or the leg of the clip, nor does it matter what other lakes do, all clips are banned, as are all in line leads. We do NOT insist that you use tubing as it was never intended to be for fish protection. It is simply to reduce tangles when using braided hook links and that leads nicely to my next point. Uncoated, braided hook links are not allowed. If you must use a combo rig or strip back part of the coating then no more than half inch to be stripped back.
I know it’s an old fashion concept these days and it’s all about me me me now, but we still expect our anglers to fish with consideration. If you are fishing into the main bowl of the lake you must NEVER cast more than half way across. There are aeration heads and lilies along the centre line so there’s no excuse, apart from which, casting beyond the centre would risk the air line being punctured. Before making your swim choice and casting out, just have a look around you, see where the swims to your left are, see where the swims to your right are, and see where the swims across from you are. If those swims are occupied, speak to the people in them and find out where they are fishing. If the swims are empty, then bear in mind that during your session it’s quite likely that someone may occupy them. Are you fishing in their water? It’s no good chucking 10 kilo of bait into what is quite clearly not your water, only to have someone move in next door. It doesn’t matter if you have put 10 kilo or a single out, if you are in someone else’s water you will have to re position your rods and fish in the confines of your own swim. It’s so much easier to think about these things before hand and it saves everyone a lot of grief if we all avoid these situations before we even cast a line out. I’m not saying anything revolutionary here, it’s simple good manners and courtesy. I don’t care if you are the hardest bloke on the planet, manners and decency are not a sign of weakness, they are what makes the lake (and the world by the way) a better place. Just please think of other people before you make a decision, be aware of your surroundings and how your fishing may impact on others.
Please also be aware that we run a carp fishing holiday, we do not run Club 18 to 30 holidays, you are not in Ibiza when you are on our lake and you are certainly not in J D Wetherspoons. If you want to party then by all means get yourselves off to them places, don’t come to our lake. If you have a radio or ipad or iphone or any of the other noise polluting gadgets, there is a simple thing to remember, If anyone else can hear it, it’s too loud. It’s not for you to decide how loud other people think it is or isn’t. It’s quite simple, If anyone else can hear it it needs turning off or at the very least turning down.
Fish care. Everyone who fishes our lakes must use a cradle, we provide them for each angler. We expect the fish to be returned freely to the water in less than 10 minutes after it enters the landing net. Get it in the net, leave it there in deep enough water while you get your scales, camera, medicare and water bucket sorted, make sure your cradle is as near to the water as possible to minimise the distance the fish as to be carried from the water to the net. Never lift any fish that looks to be thirty plus without placing a suitable sling under the net and do not ever ever put photo location before the safety of the fish, IE do not carry the fish 30 yards so you can have a photo in a more picturesque location. If you catch a fish in the night do not ever ever retain it until daylight. Again the simple rule is, get it in the net and back into the lake within a maximum of 10 minutes, no excuses, no exceptions.
I have tried not to make this to heavy and really it is all basic stuff. I’ll talk about cleaning the toilet after yourself and keeping your swims tidy, so as not to attract rats, another time. Your behaviour has a massive impact on everyone else so let’s make it a positive one. Let’s keep the old values, let’s keep the sporting etiquette, and let’s keep fishing in peace and tranquillity.
I REALLY hate having to send people home early but it has been necessary in the past. Please don’t make it necessary again.
Thank you

 Week ending 13th May 2017, WOW!!!! After several weeks of poor results (nothing to do with the anglers, just weather) we finally managed to see some of the named fish.  I’m not going to bore you for too long and will allow the photos to speak for themselves.  The crew consisted of two anglers who had been to Moorlands before with 4 new members. The week started well and continued in the same vein and I shall list the forty pluses for your enjoyment. I will just add that I haven’t got a clue about the numbers of twenties and thirties but here you go:-

42lbs, 43lbs, 44lbs, 44lbs, 47lbs, 48lbs, 48lbs and 49lbs 13oz common.

53lbs 3oz “Arfur”,   54lbs 0oz “Cluster”,   54lbs 4oz unnamed,   55lbs 15oz unnamed,         56lbs 10oz “Footsteps”,     57lbs 3oz “Blackscale”,     57lbs 14oz “Roundscale”,               59lbs 2oz “Pipesmoker,         73lbs 10oz “Half Lin”.

Well yesterday was yet another strange day to continue this strange season. We are seeing fish upping, rolling, head and shouldering and bubbling all around the lake. That has been going on constantly throughout this season but getting them to pick up hook baits is tricky, to say the least. Yesterday it all seemed to be coming together when fish started hitting the bank. First off was a new lake record common to Andy Murphy at 59lbs 15oz. Agonizingly close to our first ever 60lb common by just 1ozNext it was Dale’s turn with The Half Lin at her heaviest ever weight of 74lbs 15oz making it two different mid seventies now residing in moorlands.

The next shout that went up was for Gary Westcott’s first, and long sought after, fifty and what a fifty to catch. It was a stunning linear scaled mirror of 51lbs 11oz and, as it was caught by Gary and was a linear it just had to be christened “Garry Linear”.

Now we just need these creatures to get on the feed properly so that we can see some of the other fifties and sixties before we get to spawning time and they all start losing weight.

Here we are at the end of April and it feels more like the end of February.

well angled my friend!!!!!

A much better start to the current week with at least 10 carp banked by breakfast Monday morning, and a bit of time still to go.

There have been some big forties and Clover at a “partly spawned” weight of 56lbs 10oz in amongst the cptures so it’s all looking good and our work on keeping the weed under control seems to be paying dividends.

We still wait to see the two seventies back on the bank to see which one wins the race and just how close to 80lbs we can get this year.

Eventually we began to see some fish being banked and, while 5 forties to 48.03, common, are not to be sneezed at, none of the fifty plus fish had seen a net.

Friday afternoon rectified that with Pat sending out the whoops of success. I was called by Alan to bring the scales and camera so I knew it was a good fish and as soon as I arrived in Pat’s swim I recognized the fish. Pat estimated her at 55lbs and was convinced that it wouldn’t beat his PB of 61.13 which was Clover from last year but I was confident that it would. On the scales and the reading confirmed my thoughts. There, in all her glory, was Cut Tail at a new lake record weight of 74lbs 10oz.

well angled mate. You deserve that kipper.

Well here we are again, on the eve of another new season.

Let me say a big thanks to Tom, Simon and Alan for their help this week in cutting down and logging up the dead and split trees that were, potentially dangerous.

With the work completed we were able to do a bit of fishing but, despite seeing plenty of rolling and bubbling fish, they seemed so mobile that it made it very difficult to get onto them properly. We did manage to catch a few but not the numbers that we expected. Last night we were visited by a pair of violent storms with thunder, lightning and heavy rain for most of the night and, as is often the case, the fish in my swim decided to feed. My first take came at 11.30pm followed by the second at 3am and the third, and largest, at 5.30am. Soaked through for the first two meant just getting back into bed to dry out so it was pleasant to have the third during and improved weather spell. In order of appearance they weighed (all mirrors) 45.14, 43.01, 48.14 and amazingly, something that I didn’t realize until I updated my records, the last fish turned out to be my 300th of 40lbs plus.

Now let’s see the lake record smashed by a happy customer.

be lucky.

Into the first of the “spring” months and the weather has certainly improved. We are not out of the woods yet but it’s certainly better than the minus 15 and solid ice lid that we suffered for the whole of January. We have been watching fish feeding all around the lake with no particular area seeming to be of more interest. It certainly appears that they are very mobile because, one morning they may be in front of Boneyard and that afternoon they are in front of Second Pontoon.

Alan arrived back in mid February and we have been busy every day since with cutting back and burning unwanted and fallen branches, erecting new canopies outside the lodge, re bedding and filling the drive pot holes and generally getting everything ready for the end of the month. Jan has been staining and painting as well as giving everything the final touches so we are on track for opening. Added to all of the work that we carried out during the depths of the season and it has been a very busy winter.

Right, now some fishing related stuff. Whilst we have been working Alan and I have been putting the rods out during the days. We haven’t worked hard at it but have tried different areas over the course of five days with the rods going out at about 8 am and wound in at about 6.30 pm. So far we have had 5 carp between us. Alan has banked 3 mirrors at 36.06, 37.06 and 42.08 while i have had a common at 32.02 and a mirror at 51.12. [an unrecognized fish]. The most impressive thing to come out of this is that they have all been solid and obviously not underfed for their winter under the ice, plus, they have all fought extremely hard. Now, if the big girls have fared just as well we may be in for some extreme surprises early in the season.

 well here we are in mid February already. January was evil and it’s good to see the air temperatures gradually climbing. Not a lot of signs of feeding fish yet but enough to show that they are slowly waking up. We are putting in some food for them now but not too much as I want them to eat as much of the naturals as possible.  I was recently asked which of our fish would be most likely to brake the 75lbs barrier this year and my obvious answer was to say Cut Tail and Half Lin. However, that also got me thinking about the younger fish and a few that spring to mind are Footsteps, Peach, Twin, Pretty One, Black Scale, Horeshoe Scale etc. etc. Now all of these are fish that have been born in the lake and are doing well, but there are another batch of very young fish which have been born since the last drain down in November 2011. That was the drain down that finally eradicated the bloody poison chats so all of the young fish born since that day have had much, much less competition for food during their early years. We saw carp of 4 years old last year (born spring 2012, so 4 years old in spring 2016) reach mid thirties already.  Those are the fish that interest me nearly as much as the progress of the big, known fish. If we were to see one of these make 40lbs plus at 5 years old then we have a base stock which could set the carp world alight. Exciting days to look forward to.Be lucky.