Woodpecker Pool Newsletter November 2010

Hello everyone and welcome to our final newsletter for the 2010 season, and what another great season it has been although the weather in the early part of the season messed up the fishing at times, but apart from that all in all a very good season once again. The carp are far more wary these days as they have seen virtually everything an angler can throw at them so not surprisingly our guests have had to work that little bit harder this year to outwit them. A great majority of our angler's, over 90% caught personal bests again this year and lake records were again broken which is absolutely brilliant. The condition of the fish is excellent and that is down to you for looking after them whilst they are on the bank, the fish deserve the best treatment possible as they give you the pleasure when you catch them, a very big thank you for the way you treat them. Now lets move onto the final weeks catch reports of the season.

At the end of the last newsletter we reported on the Ross party's week, following on from them were our good friends Jen, Terry and John, what would their week have in store. Jen doesn't fish she was here for the rest and relaxation but Terry and John had an excellent weeks fishing with a total of 27 fish including no less than four personal bests for Terry, how's this for a list of fish, PB Common of 38lb, 2 PB Mirrors caught within half an hour of one another at 46lb and 47lb 4oz and to top it of after a marathon of a fight a New Lake Record Catfish of 86lb 8oz absolutely amazing, well done Terry, as you can see from the picture below John held the heavy head end as poor Terry was so worn out after the fight. John wasn't out of it either with his best fish, a catfish of 74lb 8oz, pictured below. The catch consisted of 3 doubles, 8 x 20s, 9 x 30s, 3 x 40s made up of 2 carp and the diamond back sturgeon, 1 x 50+ catfish, 1 x 70+ catfish and the 86lb 8oz catfish, the total weight was 920lb for an average of just over 34lb. A great week and thank you all for your company once again and we look forward to seeing you all again next year.

Our next guests are also good friends, Heather, Tony, Chris and Ian. Tony had joined me for a couple of days back in June when he and Heather, a non angler had called to see us whilst on holiday over here. It was Chris and Ian's first time fishing here and they had all come to celebrate two special birthdays, Tony's 50th and Ian's 60th so what would happen for them in their week here. The had a reasonable weeks weather but the fish were still feeding more through the night than during daylight hours which made it a bit tougher but they ended up with a great result and some fantastic fish with personal bests all round. To top the week off Ian had a staggering fish, another New Lake Record Catfish of 89lb after a terrific fight, a different fish to the one Terry caught the week before, congratulations Ian. Tony had a stunning Mirror of 47lb 10oz, just one ounce short of equalling the lake record, now that is honesty for you and Chris had some PBs topped by a Common of just over 30lb. The total catch was 35 fish including 6 doubles, 12 x 20s, 12 x 30s, 2 x 40s one carp and one catfish and the 89lb catfish, the total weight was 977lb 5oz for an average of 27lb 12oz. A great weeks fishing and relaxing, thank you all for your company and we look forward to seeing you all again next year and doing it all again.

Following on were good friends again Oli and Susie, they have been coming to us since day one and it was great to see you both again. This was a tough week, the weather had gone really cold with early morning frost and cold easterly winds. Oli and Susie wanted to see some of the surrounding area this year so did not fish anything like the amount of time that they have in the past, so with that and the weather conditions the fishing result was low just five fish but that said Oli managed to catch the Diamond Back at its top weight of 44lb 8oz and they had four nice carp into the 30s also. The total weight was 140lb 12oz with an average of 28lb 2oz. Shame we won't see you next year but enjoy your holiday in Alaska and we hope your new job Susie is going well, we will look forward to seeing you in 2012.

Our final few days of the season and good friends Lee and Peter fished from the Sunday evening until Friday lunchtime, John the other member of the party couldn't make it this time, you were missed John look forward to seeing you next year. A tough few days with the colder weather, early morning frosts and the cold winds continuing but they managed to catch some nice fish during their stay. Fishing quite a lot with live roach they had quite a few catfish to 83lb and a couple of pike, best 10lb 12oz. They also managed a few carp, the rare Ghost to Lee, only the second time out this season and topped by a Mirror of 45lb to Peter. The total was 12 fish with a total weight of 534lb 6oz for a staggering average of 44lb 8oz!!! Thank you both for your company over the few days and we really look forward to seeing you again next year.

Well that is the end of the fishing reports for the 2010 season, a very up and down one at times with the weather and fishing but some excellent fish were caught. Now most of you know that we have had a roach problem this season with them attacking the softer baits, we did say we were going to sort that out at the back end of the year and we have done. We netted the lake and have removed a large amount of these fish yet again, there were not quite as many as we expected to see but hopefully enough have been removed, if not we will do it again next year. We cannot remove them all as we need to keep some for our stock of pike and catfish to feed on, without the silver fish these other species will not have enough food to sustain their growth weight. We have also removed a very large snag from behind the island, we had assumed it was a large rock, imagine our surprise when Steve hooked his foot under what he thought was a large branch, when we eventually got it out it was a window frame eight feet long and fastened to it were corrugated sheets that had been buried in the silt, mind blowing as we thought we had removed all the snags years ago, just shows how wrong you can be!!

Sue and I would like to say a very big thank you to Jan, Steve, Wayne, Mark and Jim for taking the time and trouble to come from the UK to work so hard on our netting, without your help it could not have been done.

Just one more thing before we go Sue and I would like to thank you all for another fantastic year, your company and custom and the way you have left the chalet and grounds this season and to all those who brought us UK provisions. A very big thank you also as all our available weeks are taken for 2011. We are already looking forward to seeing those of you coming back again next year, we really appreciate your loyalty and friendship.

Till next time stay healthy and happy and tight lines to the hardy ones amongst you who are going to brave the winter weather to pursue your passion.

Sue and Doug

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