Advice please

[Colsom]

Hi all,

My local club purchased a very little use pond a few years ago. It had been predominantly a trout fishery with a few carp and some roach. I tried the pond a couple of times when the club first bought it but only had a couple of trout and a small roach. Over the last 2 or 3 years the path around the pond was neglected and got quite overgrown although the club did stock it with roach and tench last year. The path round the pond has now been cleared to a large extent but still needs some low branches removing. Access is via a right of way through a farmers field which is used by a very small number of sheep and Alpaca's. It is a quite steep downhill slope of around 100 metres to get to the pond which is ok when dry but very difficult and boggy when wet. For me carrying all my pole tackle is out of the question. The younger members might manage it. Basically it's really a waggler/feeder venue.

I have tried fishing the pond several times over the last couple of years but have only caught the occasional trout. This week I have baited with maggots, corn, casters, worm and bread and not had a bite, either on waggler at different depths or feeder. Groundbait also made no difference.

The pond is stream fed and surrounded by overhanging trees. It is a lovely peaceful place to sit. I'm not sure how deep it is but it does slope away from the bank reasonably steeply and is at least 12' deep maybe a lot more. I haven't plumbed the middle depth. There is also a very slight tow towards the outlet. The bottom of the pond is very smelly silt (when disturbed) to around 12" to 18" thick close to the bank. Whether this continues to the middle I don't know. The water bubbles quite a bit. I thought at first that it was caused by fish grubbing around but now I think it's gases from the mud being released.

My thoughts and those of others, are that the fish aren't used to seeing all the normal baits and are accustomed to feeding on natural foods. I was wondering if anybody has any suggestions as to what to bait with or how they can be encouraged to take "normal" baits.

Thanks for reading.

 

[Deejay8]

When it comes to the carp, have you seen any signs of them? Maybe clouds of silt or the fish basking in the sun? Same with the roach. Do you see them basking on a warm day? On a new water like this, observation and watercraft is very important. It could be the fish are in shoals, and you need to find them. Also, how silty is the bottom? When you plumb the depth is the plummet sinking into the silt, giving a false reading? Silt can be suspended at the top level and become more solid as it gets thicker. So make sure that your hookbait isn't sinking into the silt. Try setting the float to different depths to see if they feed on the bottom or at different depths. Also confirm how many fish were stocked by the club, just to have confidence that they are there.

 

[Colsom]

Thanks for the reply.

The water is quite coloured preventing seeing shoals. The only sign I see of the carp is when they jump out but it isn't too often. I'm sure the silt is giving false readings for bottom so yes I have tried different depths with the waggler. As for a feeder I have used a 2' hook length to try and keep above the silt. It's just occurred to me I haven't tried dead maggots to stop them burying in the silt. I'm not going to give up on this pond as it's such a lovely peaceful place to be.

 

[Barbelcatcher]

ask your local EA for their suggestions, includinga survey. Sure they would advise.

 

[Dave]

It might be an idea to get the silt surveyed before going any further with stocking.
If there is too much silt then it's not going to be good for the fish's health long term, plus any bottom feeding fish are going to colour the water up too much all of the time.
Add on that any methods you use will be impacted by the silt, whether it be presentation or loose feed being lost. Often ponds and lakes like this lend themselves to Fly fishing and Trout as they tend to be surface feeders or eat larvae rising from the silt, not in it.

 

[Deejay8]

As well as using dead maggots, try using worms injected with air, which gives them some buoyancy and stops them sinking in the silt. Ponds that are stream fed can often silt up, as soil run off from surrounding fields gets into the stream and flows into the lake. This can happen if the stream or lake are surrounded by hills. This scenario happened at Redmire Pool, which eventually needed to have the silt removed.

 

[ukzero1]

You could try casters on a slow sinking waggler set up. But I agree with @Dave, a survey would be a good move, not just of the silt, but also the water quality. It's no good stocking fish if the water is too acidic with any rain washing down any chemicals that could be in the surrounding land.

 

[Colsom]

Thanks for your replies everybody.

I made a mistake in an earlier thread. The water is very clear not cloudy as I stated.

I've taken a water sample today