Drought advice from EA

Advice note to stillwater fisheries

Drought status confirmed for parts of East and South Yorkshire: protect fish and other wildlife

Water situation update

As you are aware official drought status has been confirmed for parts of East and South Yorkshire. This is due to a lack of rain in South Yorkshire and low groundwater levels in East Yorkshire combined with a dry weather forecast. The drought status applies to catchments of the rivers Don, Rother, Derwent and Hull. As the dry spell is set to contintue over the coming months we are going to see lower river levels and some small becks drying up which will affect fish and other wildlife.


Suggested advice to stillwater fishery managers and owners

We recommend that you consider the following actions in order to minimise the risk of fish mortalities:

Ø Keep a close watch on water levels and look for any signs of fish in distress. Visiting the water early in the morning will allow you to observe your fishery when dissolved oxygen levels are at there lowest.
Ø To help maintain water levels repair leaky sluices or control structures so as to preserve valuable water resources.
Ø Consider restricting the use of bait and ground bait to avoid unnecessary pressure on water quality.
Ø Minimise the use of keepnets. If a match is planned consider using multiple weigh-ins to avoid unnecessary stress to fish stocks.
Ø Avoid stocking further fish.
Ø Consider reducing fish stock densities to avoid problems later with reducing water levels and low dissolved oxygen levels. Prior to moving any fish, a consent is required from the Environment Agency, which is designed to reduce both the spread of fish disease and non-native species.
Ø With the potential of low water levels and high temperatures, care must be taken over fish welfare.
Ø If you believe your fishery may be at risk from low dissolved oxygen levels due to algal growth, low water levels, elevated temperatures or over-crowding - be prepared - and check that you have access to water pumps, aeration equipment[1] and generators.

Please note:

Ø Talk to us before you relocate fish, as our written consent is required. This is designed to reduce the spread of both fish diseases and non-native fish species.
Ø We won’t normally rescue fish. However, in exceptional circumstances, we may consider an emergency fish rescue if we can find somewhere safe to move them to and on the condition that the fish have been health screened within the last 6 months.
Ø Please report any dead carp to us immediately as this may be due to a disease outbreak.

If you see any fish in distress please tell us immediately by calling our National Incident Hotline on 0800 80 70 60

We have included a poster with this advice note, which you may wish to put up in an appropriate location at your fishery.
Thank you for your support in helping us minimise the impacts of the dry weather. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and keep you updated. For further assistance or advice, please contact our area Fisheries, Recreation and Biodiversity team on 03708 506 506
[1] You can get aeration equipment locally from companies listed in the Yellow Pages or online.

Catch returns

Last weekend 3 Carp to 25lb and numerous Tench to 5lb.
Working party managed to get one fish hide installed and failed on the second one. The result looks bloody awful and we'll be in bother if the council see it. Mark, Andy and I will sort it out.
Thanks to everyone who turned up to help last Sunday.

What the Duck?

Any ideas what this is ? Can't be found in any UK bird book. Now lives on the pond.

B.T.L.A.C Match list 2012

June 03 Brafferton

June 17 100 Oaks lake

July 01 Sally Walsh's lake

July 08 Southfield Reservoir

July 29 Birkin lake

Aug 12 Brafferton - ghost lake

Aug 26 100 Oaks lake

Sept 09 Sally Walsh's lake

Sept 23 Langwith - Bethany's lake

Oct 14 Langwith - Anya's lake

Nov 18 Raker lakes - highbank

New Signs

Amazingly the council have at last amended the info boards at all entry points to Breary Marsh. They clearly state Private Fishing etc and there are 4 new signs around the pond itself. WOW. I also had a very interesting talk with a senior member of Parks and Countryside about how we proceed with improvements today.
It'll take a little longer that I first hoped but we will have a MUCH better fishery this year.

WORKING PARTY 25TH MARCH 10 AM

We will be having a pond clear up on March 25th meeting at 10 am. Bring your chest waders if you have them, gloves etc.

first 2 of the year

first two tench of the year. one 4 lb, one 3lb 13oz.

Last week

Well the pond is waking up after the winter and those lillies have started their 2012 invasion. Lots of fish sighted but none caught yet despite a few runs and a Carp snapping a Tench andgler.
These little monkeys are hoovering up a lot of bait.
http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/t/tuftedduck/index.aspx
Working party date to be announced here in the next day or so.