Barford Lakes News

Day Ticket Catch & Good Weights on Match Lake

Posted by: Sarah Thomson, 31st July 2009 09:59AM
(Edited by: Sarah Thomson, 9th August 2009 16:47PM)

Pictured is Josh Moore who caught this 12lb carp from the Pleasure Lake on a hair rigged 10mm Scopex Boilie.  You can view a bigger picture in the Gallery or click here. 

If you have any good shots you wish to send me please email them to info@barfordlakes.com.  If you can also tell me how and where you caught them and your full name. 

Day ticket fishing carp Josh news July 09

Pleasing match returns on the Match Lake at Barford yesterday with Paul Gardiner winning with 130lb caught mostly in the margins on a banded 8mm Barford pellet whilst feeding 4mm pellet.  Second was Frank Ling with 103lb who caught on paste and third was Paul Ashford who caught on pellet feeder with banded 8mm pellet as hook bat and had 97lb.

The Top Lake should be back open next week and Willow Lake will be match fished this weekend.  Things seem to be getting back to normal - touching wood as I type! 

Fox Match Bingo has Finished

Posted by: Sarah Thomson, 30th July 2009 10:35AM

To see who won the Fox Match Carp Ambush pole please click here.

Fishing this Weekend 1st & 2nd August

Posted by: Sarah Thomson, 28th July 2009 17:50PM
(Edited by: Sarah Thomson, 6th August 2009 09:14AM)

We're all ok for day tickets on the Pleasure Lake this weekend - being able to offer day tickets on both days (we are open normal as usual mid-week).

Catches have been good with lots of anglers reporting double figure carp along with some decent size Tench, Bream and Crucians showing.  I've been doing a bit of tree work around the Pleasure Lake and have opened up a few more swims.  Will do a bit more round there this evening to tidy up some margins a bit.

Keep your eye out in the Angler's Mail in the next couple of weeks as we had a feature done on the Pleasure Lake on Monday on how to fish small PVA bags.

We are starting up the Tuesday Open Matches next week and starting on the Pleasure Lake and fishing 2pm - 7pm.  So next Tuesday 4th August the Match Lake will be open for Day Tickets and hopefully the Top lake will be back on board by then.

Don't forget we only have 4 more weeks of "Summer" left!!!

Fishing this Weekend

Posted by: Sarah Thomson, 22nd July 2009 08:52AM
(Edited by: Sarah Thomson, 22nd July 2009 08:53AM)

Unfortunately we are unable to offer day tickets this Sunday 26th July. Things have nearly settled down and we will be open as usual in the next couple of weeks.

Ladies & Gents Cancelled

I'm afraid the Ladies and Gents match has been cancelled which was due this Saturday 25th July on the Match Lake.   

The Open Match this Saturday is now on the Match Lake at Barford.

Sorry no Day Tickets this Weekend

Posted by: Sarah Thomson, 15th July 2009 14:27PM

Our sincere apologies but we will not be able to offer any day ticket fishing this weekend, Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th July.

All ok for fishing from Tuesday and if anything changes we will update the website.

 

Pleasure Lake Catch Report

Posted by: Sarah Thomson, 12th July 2009 10:02AM

Gary Thomas (Taverham) fished the Pleasure Lake on Friday and fished peg 7 down the margin and at about 8.5metres.  He caught various species of fish ranging from carp to double figures, bream, skimmers, some good roach and rudd to 1 and half pounds, some fantastic tench to 7lb and some lovely crucians to 2lb.  All were caught on various baits from Barford 8mm pellets, sweetcorn,  expanda pellets and luncheon meat. 

Fishery Update

Posted by: Sarah Thomson, 7th July 2009 15:13PM
(Edited by: Sarah Thomson, 7th July 2009 17:15PM)

Pleasure Lake

We re-opened the Pleasure Lake last Sunday for the first time since the outbreak and things went quite well. Carp were being caught and all fish were strong and healthy. The pictures below are of Paul Gardiner (Barford) who had carp to 16lb and Crucians.  And also of Robert Mitchell (Watton) who had four carp to 12lb. Anglers were also reporting good catches of Tench, Chub and Bream. The Pleasure Lake is an awesome mixed fishery which has Roach and Rudd to 2lb so we're finding that more of a mixture of species are finding anglers bait.

2009 July Paul G Barford Common carp  July 09 Robert Mirror Carp

2009 July Paul G Barford Mirror carp
 

 

Francis Hatch (Norwich) is fishing peg 5 today on the Pleasure Lake and she has had 7 lovely Tench to about 5 lb and some good Perch and just lost a nice carp at the net!

Match Lake

This lake is now back open and we day ticket fished it for a week before we allowed match anglers back on. We had the Freedman Angling Club on there on Sunday and the top weight was from Steve Humphries who had 67lb, 2nd was Mr Lovett with 66lb and third was Steve Chapman with 64lb. There was another 40lb and 4 or 5 weights of 30lb odd. We were very pleased with how the match went and anglers reported that all fish were strong, fit and healthy.

Colton Lake

We had treated this lake further as the fish had lots of Argulus parasites on them. Parasites and bacteria live in all lakes but sometimes when the fish are a bit under the weather they are prone to picking them up. It's normal to have the odd parasite on fish but due to the virus problems they had quite a few! The treatment worked and we had UG Angling Club on there on Sunday and they reported that the fish were very clean and fit. Their match weights were pleasing too, 1st was Dennis Dagless with 70lb, 2nd was Rod Laytham with 63lb and third was Lee Carver with 62lb.

The Tackle Shop and lakes are open every day but closed on Mondays. Day tickets are on various lakes which will be up on our website or failing that just give the office a call on 01603 759624 to find out which one.

Disinfectant Measures

All fisheries now have a disinfectant dips and anglers are dipping fishing equipment (landing and keep nets and un-hooking mats and weigh bags) on arrival and departure. We are still holding a dry net policy so match anglers are dipping then laying their nets behind their pegs and putting them in 15 minutes before the start. All anglers have been extremely responsible and are following this.

The disinfectant isn't the cheapest about but is the best as it has the lowest contact time and has no residue so it does not require a rinse. So if all nets are covered with it, after 2 minutes the disinfectant has done its job.

Best practise for all anglers is to dry their nets between sessions - the majority of bacteria, parasites and virus' will die on a dry net.

There is still so little known about this virus and there is a more contagious stage and this is when the fish are suffering from clinical signs  of the disease.  The dips are effective and none of the venues have been fished during a disease outbreak.  We are working with CEFAS and are following their guidelines. 

Thanks so much for all the emails and calls of support, it's been really helpful.

Bingo Update

Posted by: Sarah Thomson, 3rd July 2009 14:55PM

Click here to see what's happening with the Fox Match Bingo

Sad News

Posted by: Sarah Thomson, 1st July 2009 19:13PM

My apologies for not releasing any information earlier, I know anglers have been concerned with the current rumors. It's been a busy and stressful time for us and we have been waiting for confirmed test results before releasing information.

It saddens me to state that Barford and Colton Lakes have had a confirmed outbreak of KHV (Koi Herpesvirus Disease). Initially we had a problem in Colton and Barford Match Lake and under guidance of a vet we began treating for a bacterial infection. This problem appeared to spread to our Pleasure Lake and it became apparent that it could possibly be something more sinister. On our request the Fish Health Inspectorate (CEFAS) have taken samples for testing and we have now had the results confirmed.

We had voluntarily ceased fishing on all affected venues and will now maintain this closure until we are happy things are right. Barford Match Lake has been re-opened for fishing whilst Colton and the Pleasure Lake remain closed whilst we are treating any secondary bacterial or parasite problems.

We are hoping they will open soon, but not until we are happy the fish are better. We have set up disinfection stations for nets and mats on all waters to increase biosecurity and in accordance with Cefas instructions.

We have previously held a dry net policy at our fishery as the majority of bacteria and viruses will die on a dry net. On matches we will still ask all anglers to lay their nets behind their pegs on arrival and only put them in 15 minutes prior to the match but as a first line of defense anglers are asked to dip all nets as per instructions before and after each fishing session. The disinfectant we are using has no residue so there is no need to rinse. It is ultimately important that this is adhered to protect our and other fishery's carp stocks.

We have not had any problems in Barford Top Lake, Willow Lake and Railway Lake and Abbey Waters. As we have not had the problem in the Top Lake it is so very important that anglers dip their nets if they swap lakes on the Barford complex during their day ticket session.

I truly believe we have minimized any losses on affected lakes through improving the environment for the fish (not fishing the venue and aerating 24hours a day) and by treating any secondary bacterial/parasite infections. It does sadden us though that a percentage of our carp stock has perished in the affected lakes but we hope to have an effective management plan to ensure we still provide the best day's fishing for anglers.

We are working closely with CEFAS, who have been a great help and the measures we have in place will ensure that the disease is contained and managed effectively. The clinical outbreak has now largely passed through the affected venues and the remaining carp stocks appear strong and healthy. Now it's a matter of time to see what stocking issues need to be addressed, if any.

We are day ticket fishing on the Match and Top Lakes and will get the Pleasure open as soon as possible and Barford Tackle is open as normal.

CEFAS are happy we were dealing with the situation effectively by not fishing the affected venues whilst the virus was active and by having net dips on lakes. We have been allowed to continue angling on unaffected lakes and re-commence fishing on lakes where the clinical disease outbreak has finished. We closed our fisheries voluntarily as morally we felt it the best action for the fish, and their welfare is paramount.

We have so far not had to cancel any matches with the exception of the Maver's Pairs Qualifier this weekend and have continued to offer day tickets although a bit limited on some days.

My apologies to the anglers booked on our Maver's Pairs qualifier at the weekend - I look forward to the event each year but I think you will agree we need to ensure we have dealt with the situation effectively first before allowing anglers from all over the country to fish here.

There is still little known about this viral disease that affects common carp, Cyprinus carpio, including its ornamental varieties such as koi, ghost koi etc. It is highly contagious and there is no treatment or cure and fish that recover from the disease may carry the virus and act as a source of infection. KHV disease is a listed disease in the Aquatic Animal Health directive and is made a notifiable disease in England and Wales under the Aquatic Animal Health Directive Regulations 2009.

We thank all our customers for their support so far, this is the time that we really need it. We are over the worst now and the outbreak has more or less ceased.

A letter will be going out to club secretary's tomorrow with details of the new bio security measures.