BRITISH Waterways has stocked over 300lb of 4-5lb bream plus six carp, all electro fished from the Coventry Canal around Sutton Stop, into Makin Fishery. All the fish have been put into Lake 5 at the Warwickshire complex, including a magnificent 28lb carp, which is now the biggest fish in the lake.

The Exhall Basin area was netted because despite BW putting up notices that angling is not permitted, anglers keep fishing there and it’s dangerous as well as being unlawful. The area is affected by overhead power cables, and also boat owners using the marina have been complaining.

“It’s a marina and attracts quality fish, but the bottom line is that angling is not permitted there,” said Makin Fishery supervisor Andy Morton. “BW reserves the right to do it again in the future. We have miles of canal that’s not let and as long as we have the necessary permissions from the Environment Agency, which we did in this case, it’s all above board.”

The netting operation also produced over 100 zander to 5lb, which were sold to Billingsgate Market. The law requires BW to cull zander when netted because they are an alien species.

“Someone is going to have a very nice surprise with that big carp this summer,” added Andy, who had eight carp for 98lb on the pole from the Shackerstone stretch of the Ashby Canal last year. “The common carp is immaculate and I don’t think it’s ever been caught. It’s used to taking bread fed by the boat owners, so I would expect it to be caught off the top. The angler had better be geared up though – it’s a proper wild fish and will fight like one.”
Midland Angler