NO FISH AT MISTERTON HALL

[TF_superslab]

Where have all the fish gone?After fishing here for 25 years originally catching 30-40lbs of prime large crucians,then it weeded up about 10-12 years ago and netted/cleaned.When the fish were put back only 10-20% of the crucians were returned along with tench 40% and brown goldfish 30% the rest being roach and rudd.Catches were good for several years 40-60lb.Over the last 4-5 years catches have steadily declined to where catches mostly consist of 4-5lb of silvers and a couple of tench or brown goldfish.Rumours from locals of hoards or cormorants seem unlikely but what other reason could there be as no reports of netting/theft or fish deaths are known.Does anyone know the reason for its decline?

[TF_baz-65Participant]

I too am bewildered by the dearth of decent fish at Misterton. Over the last six years catches have decreased alarmingly, for our club. Misterton over the years has been kind to me, and I have been fortunate to win a few matches with weights up to 38lb. Last year the winning weights were down to low double figures with the majority catching one or two pounds, or even blanking. This was in the summer, not winter. Cannot believe its cormorants as there are still loads of small roach, it is the large crucians, brown goldfish and tench which seem to have vanished. Due to this, a lot of us have stopped going and now go to other commercials. Not as nice surroundings but definitely more fish.

[TF_Cutnut]

Fished there this year with the Springstreet from Rugby and it was absolute pants, will not be going back anytime soon. Absolute shadow of it’s former best. If it was free to fish it that would be paying too much.

[TF_boss baitParticipant]

the answer will probably be

cormorants

devastated our local club fishery matches went from 50lbs winning to as low as 6lb in summer bever thought we would have them as inland as we are (saddleworth)
its now been re stocked and cages be put in now fishing great

[Anonymous]

Sounds like the answer is in the discription of the history on the venue. They removed the weed and the fish vanished over a few years.

The Leeds/Liverpool canal was famous in the 1970s and 1980s for its tench fishing at the Liverpool end of the canal. So much so that two division 1 nationals where held on it. However, the weed became a real problem in the 1990. So, almost all the weed was removed. Within a few years the tench where in decline. Within 5 year it was unusal to see a tench apart from in one or two pockets that where never match fished and still had large weed beds. In the last 10 years the weed has started to apear again on the main match sections of the canal. The tench have returned in higher and higher numbers with several different year classes of fish. Seen a very similar thing happen with Sefton park lake again in Liverpool. This lake was full of weed but also solid with tench and big crucians that gave big weights for both pleasure and match anglers. Not many venues in the county that could produce 50lb plus match winning weights in the 1980s and 1990s and it was free fishing. The weed was removed and within 5 years almost all the tench and crucians were gone! Another of Liverpool,s park lakes, Princess park lake was populated by some of the local anglers with tench and crucians obtained from Sefton park lake a few years before the de-weeding. Princess Park lake has not had its weed removed since those fish where stocked. Its numbers of tench and crucians have risen to resemble the numbers that where once in Sefton Park lake!

So, i would suggest that removing the weed has resulted in no new year classes of tench and crucians. The few fish that my be left in Misterton will be old fish and there will be very few if any young fish that will be able to replenish the venue stocks unless the weed returns in enough quanty to support the next generations of tench and crucians. Those tench and crucians that where returned to Misterton after the weed was removed where unlikely to be young fish. So, the decline in those fish numbers from natural deaths from old age would be felt quite quickly without there being a clear reason for the decline in the venue.

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