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Re: Old Warriors...
Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 7:55 pm
by Bob Brookes
This old lady was stocked by Donald Leney in 1956 & was caught by me around 2004. It was one of 5 that I caught from the Oxfordshire gravel pit around that time. I caught it on a James Mk4 & Young's 'pin on a worm---Happy days!
The water held such historical fish that it had the attention of Terry Hearn & my son for a season or two. To my knowledge it has yielded true Leney 40's. Sadly this historic water carp has been diluted by to the 'stocking' of lesser carp due to floods from commercial waters up the valley.
Bob
Re: Old Warriors...
Posted: Tue Mar 12, 2013 7:58 am
by Azur
SparrowHawk wrote:Just had a look at little egret press website,i had forgot about it being at st Germans!Would like to know which book of his refers to st germans lake still
His book is called the Spirit of The Pond
If i remember correctly he catches a number of the 'biggies' in the pool, including the largest, a mirror named 'Dando'? A lovely book though, does make you think about your approach to fishing etc
Magnificent fish Bob, love the dark head and tail!
Re: Old Warriors...
Posted: Tue Mar 12, 2013 1:40 pm
by GregF
Bob Brookes wrote:
Cracking fish!
Re: Old Warriors...
Posted: Tue Mar 19, 2013 8:26 am
by SparrowHawk
I'm waiting for my copy of tom's book 'spirit of the pond' to arrive,we may have caught some of the same fish!
Re: Old Warriors...
Posted: Tue Mar 19, 2013 2:31 pm
by Mark
Very nice Bob.
Re: Old Warriors...
Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2013 7:48 pm
by SparrowHawk
Got my copy of toms book this morning and read it within a couple of hours,great book.Upon reading it,it became obvious that the book is mostly about the same pond that i fished between '84 and '87,several years before tom fished it
I remember Tom as a small boy about 10 years old talking to me whilst fishing,his father(a stout,bearded chap)and Toms irish red setter,bracken,who seemed to roam freely around the pond and visited me whenever the frying pan came out-i shared many a breakfast with that lovely dog,a photo of which is inside my old diary.
Re: Old Warriors...
Posted: Thu Apr 04, 2013 11:08 pm
by Wandle1
SparrowHawk wrote:Got my copy of toms book this morning and read it within a couple of hours,great book.Upon reading it,it became obvious that the book is mostly about the same pond that i fished between '84 and '87,several years before tom fished it
I remember Tom as a small boy about 10 years old talking to me whilst fishing,his father(a stout,bearded chap)and Toms irish red setter,bracken,who seemed to roam freely around the pond and visited me whenever the frying pan came out-i shared many a breakfast with that lovely dog,a photo of which is inside my old diary.
...
I wonder if the one they call `Red` is still around [ St Germans]...My friend who fished at Shillamill with me caught this fish and others ......from the estate
I can remember looking around there [St Germans],never fished that one...but we had a quick look at the small pond above and remember seeing a small carp mooching around...
The pictures i have seen of St Germans were lovely....lots of reeds if i recall .....I missed out there for sure...too far for a North coast lad on a battered 125cc....back in the day.....
Re: Old Warriors...
Posted: Fri Apr 05, 2013 4:27 pm
by SparrowHawk
Place is really unchanged from when i fished it in the early 80s except the old conker tree has gone and the fish are a bit bigger,still a nice pond and i would like to fish it again one day
Re: Old Warriors...
Posted: Fri Apr 05, 2013 4:53 pm
by Bjp
Julian wrote:Blackadder wrote:That does look a lovely place Julian.
And some proper old timers on display as well!
The frustrating thing about it is that the place is still there - all locked up - still looks the same when you look through the tiny gaps in the hedges - still beautiful in the summer months - the fish nearly all died in the big freeze of Nov'10 to Jan'11 -but at least three of the carp survived (the old bailiff at the time still used to walk its banks for a couple of months until the lease with the landowner ran out).There is a conservation order on the place because of the historic connection as a Victorian clay works, so even though there is gradually getting some encroaching development it will remain an almost hidden isolated oasis, surrounded by dense trees and bushes and a fence on three sides and a rural railway line on the fourth side.
As far as I know it is still available as a fishing pool ( its just on the Bucks/ Beds border) by contacting the landowner and taking out a lease.The previous syndicate owner gave it up after the fish deaths, having already been in a long term dispute with the landowner for a couple of years over the rent, because of a problem previously with salvinia weed making it unfishable for a year and a half.
Now if that does not sound like a traditional fishermans paradise just waiting to be lovingly restored to it's former glory then i am a monkey's uncle,
someone recently posted about the idea of a TFF fishery and this was the sort of place that i imagined he meant, almost lost in time closed to the outside world, your own little redmire. Just needs some proper english fish to stock it with and heaven would be yours
Re: Old Warriors...
Posted: Fri Apr 05, 2013 8:00 pm
by Julian
Bjp wrote:Julian wrote:Blackadder wrote:That does look a lovely place Julian.
And some proper old timers on display as well!
The frustrating thing about it is that the place is still there - all locked up - still looks the same when you look through the tiny gaps in the hedges - still beautiful in the summer months - the fish nearly all died in the big freeze of Nov'10 to Jan'11 -but at least three of the carp survived (the old bailiff at the time still used to walk its banks for a couple of months until the lease with the landowner ran out).There is a conservation order on the place because of the historic connection as a Victorian clay works, so even though there is gradually getting some encroaching development it will remain an almost hidden isolated oasis, surrounded by dense trees and bushes and a fence on three sides and a rural railway line on the fourth side.
As far as I know it is still available as a fishing pool ( its just on the Bucks/ Beds border) by contacting the landowner and taking out a lease.The previous syndicate owner gave it up after the fish deaths, having already been in a long term dispute with the landowner for a couple of years over the rent, because of a problem previously with salvinia weed making it unfishable for a year and a half.
Now if that does not sound like a traditional fishermans paradise just waiting to be lovingly restored to it's former glory then i am a monkey's uncle,
someone recently posted about the idea of a TFF fishery and this was the sort of place that i imagined he meant, almost lost in time closed to the outside world, your own little redmire. Just needs some proper english fish to stock it with and heaven would be yours
I will eventually get round to speaking to the previous syndicate owner ( as he currently runs the syndicate on the farm pool I fish) and ask him for any contact details for the landowner of that site. Whilst I'm not in a position to take on something like that there may be others who would be interested in potentialy finding out if leasing it is still possible,and doing the necessary work required on a very beautiful old picturesque 2 acre pool that is a site with a conservation order on it ( ie no one is going to fill it in or build on that site).