I’d have loved to have seen that !!
Did anyone take any pictures?? post on here?

Also, did anyone catch?

I offered to take the JCB down to the match lake today to break the ice, i aked the lads, and they said na, they wanted to do it themselves!

Good job, because i couldn’t get it going anyway! lol.

Have to agree, thedog. It was a help in clearing the swims of ice. The lake fished hard but almost everybody caught fish. Not bad considering that the water kept freezing over and we had to keep clearing the new ice though out the day. Thanks Partridge!

Been to a few venues where the ice is smashed with a JCB or with a boat. Nice ideas but not a great idea where the standard of fishing then on offer is concerned. Problem is that too much ice is usually broken and the fishing is then extremely hard. Cutting the ice is the best way in my honest opinion or leave it to the anglers with there ice breakers!

@TrueBlue wrote:

Have to agree, thedog. It was a help in clearing the swims of ice. The lake fished hard but almost everybody caught fish. Not bad considering that the water kept freezing over and we had to keep clearing the new ice though out the day. Thanks Partridge!

Been to a few venues where the ice is smashed with a JCB or with a boat. Nice ideas but not a great idea where the standard of fishing then on offer is concerned. Problem is that too much ice is usually broken and the fishing is then extremely hard. Cutting the ice is the best way in my honest opinion or leave it to the anglers with there ice breakers!

some ppl are never happy!!!

i wish i was closer to neils fishery
omg how many fishery owners do you know that would take the time to clear a peg for you!!

spoilt imo

Smed, i was not knocking Neil or his fishery. Anglers in the know (which your clearly not) would rather break the ice themselves than have the ice broken with a JCB or boat. Thats what the anglers requested for the Xmas match on Neils fishery when asked with good reason. Still nice of Neil to offer.

To answer your question, Smed. There are quite a few fisheries that will smash the ice with a JCB or boat to keep matches going. I,ve seen it many times. The problem is that the fishing is normally totally crap when the ice is smashed like this. So, i and many others would rather do the hard work ourselves!

Cutting the ice with a chainsaw for all the anglers that requested it is something completely different and a real help. It allows the anglers the best chance of catching a few fish after clearing the ice from the swims.

i waited 24 hours for that bite trueblue! lol

look i know where your coming from regarding the icebreaking issue, much better to cut it yourself and slide it under i know! instead of having bits floating about all day…
i was really applauding the fishery owners that take the time to offer to help break the ice, not only for the anglers but i suspect for fish welfare reasons too.. weather it be with a chainsaw, boat jcb or dynamite

More of a nibble than a bite, Smed. I was going to ignore your comment. Just did not want Neil or Nigel thinking i was knocking them for there efforts in attempting to help to at least give the anglers a days sport in such bad conditions.

Once again, well done to Partridge. Its quickly becoming a top class fishery where every effort is being taken to give the anglers what they want!

on the subject of partridge how many are fishing it this time of the year? what weights usually frame in winter and what are ppl catching? tactics etc…
never even seen the place and as its probebly just over an hour from me i may have a trip over once this weather settles!

Check out the match results on the Partridge site for weights and numbers attending. From what im led to believe. Maggot or pellets are producing the top weights. Only F1s, ide and small carp(under 3lb) in Covey pools. So, there your target fish!