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| the future's bright - the future's gold |
If you’re a lover of
wildlife, you’ll know there are places that you visit which touch your soul.
I’ve recently returned from just such a place.
This place isn't grand, it's just a
shallow half-acre lake surrounded by woodland and fields with a little river
running through it. Neither is it ancient, for until recently it was a silted
up hole in the ground which required three years of hard graft by members and volunteers to
transform into a haven for wildlife. It's become very valuable.
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| just a few of the large numbers of tench and crucians stocked into our lake |
Why it has a magical quality is
a mystery but lying in a hollow in a quiet corner of sunny Dorset, it is the
very essence of peace and tranquillity, apart that is from the deafening
birdsong. In just two visits I’ve already identified thirty-seven different
species, so all of them think it’s a special place too.
With a steady flow of crystal
clear water, weed growth is prolific, so the lake makes an ideal home for
tench and crucians. The club has stocked lots of both this past couple of years
and they are growing rapidly. They have even bred successfully. The water is
alive with food and fat fish.
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| what a cute little tench, hardly out of nappies |
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| all the tench are in superb condition and fiesty when hooked |
1st May was the day our
members were allowed to fish it for the first time so a couple of days later I
arrived at sunrise to see whether our club had created the ideal fishery for
some traditional angling.
The mist rose gently from the
calm water as I carefully cleared a narrow strip in the weed, using a small rake
on the end of my landing net pole very close to the bank.
Tench love weed and
the food and cover it provides, so I was careful to only scrape out enough to
provide a clearing for my tiny pole float and create a spot for my bait to rest on the
silt.
Quietly lowering a small pole
cup of chopped worms in dark groundbait along with a pinch of hempseed, pellets and
maggots into the swim, I inched my little bit of worm over the top before
enjoying the damp air rising above the willows and alders.
Those moments when waiting
for the first signs of interest from the fish are as good as they get, though I
didn’t have to wait long before the float tip trembled before being pulled
slowly under. A gentle strike, a wriggling resistance and the fattest little
tench lay in the landing net and made my day.
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| my very first tench from our new pool, tempted by a bit of worm |
Luckily it was the first of
many, so another little pot of tempting morsels was added to the swim after
every couple of tench and didn’t they fight, stretching my elastic to the point
where I thought I’d be broken. They were the most perfect fish, golden red-eyed
beauties, the females so fat that spawning was surely imminent.
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| they are the most perfect example of tench |
It was a little cool and
early for the crucians to add to my enjoyment but they will surely be
delighting us all before too many weeks have passed and I was more than happy
with the eleven tench caught in the four hours I was able to escape the world.
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| butter melting in the early morning sunshine |
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| Chris casting into the future |
They weren’t all small either, several being around the three pound mark or
more and really feisty too. Neither did I
catch as many as several other members, so for our Wimborne Club, it has
been mission accomplished.
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| a happy angler with a good 'un |
Three years ago the WDAC set
out to create a traditional tench and crucian fishery for our members and with
the help of many volunteers and organisations like the EA and Angling Trust,
the results are simply delightful. I’d strongly recommend you give it a try ;
it really is a jewel in our crown.
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| Chris catching the future |
For further info on WDAC membership and our other waters, please visit our website : http://www.wimborneanddistrictanglingclub.co.uk/
