Skittles

[Numpty]

Can anyone confirm how the bird scarers on Grimleys are tethered?? Is it a continual line down the pond, or is each one tethered to the bottom indiviually.
Curious in case I get I get one of the Tincas on that decides to run !!

[crapcarper]

If what your on about is what i think your on about.

They are individually tethered to "fish safe" cages that have been lowered into the lake to give the fish a safe haven from the 'black death' (cormorants). Be careful though, don't cast too close the the markers as you will get snagged on the cages, I learnt this the hard way early winter when i was spinning on there.

Have you fished it lately? Hows it fishing?

[Numpty]

Fished it only the once this year in the hope of a tench (fished 6-8.30pm on 5 may).
Only took some bread, pellet & hemp & didn't get a proper bite although the float did dip through the small fish touching the shot.
Some larger fish moving but these were probably the jacks that are there. Are any of the Rudd that were stocked still in there???
Thanks for the info on the scarers.

[crapcarper]

Was getting the Rudd back end of last summer, not fished it yet this season.

Had some brilliant Perch during the winter on spinners, well into the 1-2 pound range. Had a couple of jacks too but nothing special pike wise, heard there was a 20+ caught during the winter in there though.

Keep us informed if you have any luck in the future.

[AlanMiller]

Grimleys is a worry - we have stocked on numerous occasions but still see no evidence of good fish catches - only lots of fry on hte top - we have the fish refuges in now to keep off the cormorants or at least stop them taking every fish that lives but still no better. Have you any views on this lovely fishery (place to be I mean) and on what else we can do to ensure it returns to being a place where good catches can be made and when stocked they all do not disappear within weeks

[bradley123]

Agree about Grimleys, a lovely little pond, nice setting,good pegs, but the fishing is not happening. I had a good day two years back, but since then, nothing to write about.
No dead fish,no signs of predators(mink etc) so where do the fish go. With the measures taken against the cormorants, I'm not sure that they're to blame either.I believe it was netted and pike taken out, so we can't even blame them.

[guitarman]

I have had similar "results" at Grimleys - fished a few times last season trying for tench and found the fishing very difficult.
I do agree though that it is a lovely spot - much prefer this type of venue and the rivers to the gravel pit complex.
Alan - just a thought - have you tried getting advice from the Environment Agency fisheries officer - used to be Severn Trent Authority -I found them really helpful when we set up our trout fishing syndicate - came out to our river and carried out a "walking survey" of the fishery and reviewed our stocking records and policy for us and offered advice as to future restocking - was all free of charge at that time - not sure about now though - a service funded from rod licence fee's.
I am not very up to date with coarse fishing but - if problem is not thought to be cormorants or other predators - could be the wrong fish species being stocked ??? some other problem from the feeder stream ??? oxygen levels in the lake ???
Seems to me a pointless and expensive exercise to keep re stocking if the problem is somewhere else - putting fish continually into fisheries is not always the best answer to poor fishing and can sometimes make matters worse.
Apologies if you have already considered this or I am "teaching you to suck eggs" and putting my nose in where it is not wanted (not my intention) but just a thought as I was reading Bradley's entry.
Cheers - Steve

[AlanMiller]

We have had some input from the EA - it was not very helpful though - they said that the problem was not cormorants because cormorants only very take small fish - at this stage I began to lose hope - we have though requested more input from the EA.
We have put in the cages and hopefully this will go some way to stop the predation - we do believe the looses are due to cormorant predation- so in the winter we are to stock again and get down their more frequently with our “Bird Scarers”

[guitarman]

Alan.
Shame about E.A. - they were really helpful when I contacted them - not so sure about cormorants only taking small fish either - on the large trout reservoirs you can often catch trout getting on for 2lbs. with fresh cormorant marks on their backs where they have been attacked but not taken - so that leads me to believe that they will not be averse to taking reasonable sized coarse fish - not sure what you stock in there or at what size - stocking bigger fish may reduce cormorant attacks ???
Cheers - Steve

[crapcarper]

Hi Alan,

I don't know what the E.A. mean when they say "small" fish, but i once sat on Redhouse and seen a comorant taken roach between 1 and 2 pound.

On the issue of fish stocks in grimleys, personally I have only had any success on there spinning, we have had serveral pike and a lot of good sized perch. Would it not be a option to get someone to come and electrofish Grimleys to see what is left in there and it would also be a chance to remove the pike (if this is really what you want to do), personally i don't think the pike are the problem, out of all the lakes i have ever fished the best always seem to have had a good head of pike, these keep weak fish down so the fish that remain are strong and healthy.

Personally i think the fish stock needs to be auditted, and a change of tactic regarding stocking. I know this will not be to everyones taste but why don't the club put a big head of tench and bronze bream into Grimleys along with a moderate stocking of the carp out of the stock pond (100 or so). A good species I also find provide a lot of sport on the more difficult days are Gudgeon, these always seem to be feeding, but a couple thousand in, once you get interest on the bait from these the other fish will move in.

Just a few ideas for you to ponder.

Dean