World Carp Classic - Official Global Website
Lake Bolsena 2nd - 8th September 2012

I have made mention in previous blogs that I am chairman for my local club. Not a massive piece of water but one that resides in the public recreational fields of the market town of Brandon in Suffolk. I grew up fishing this pond, I remember well my transition from fishing the flowing Little Ouse river to the stillwater of the pond. It was extremely difficult to watch a float sitting stagnant when I was so used to trotting a stick float always on the move in the flow. As if that wasn’t enough to deal with It was then the transition from catching specimen carp on match gear to my first carp setup designed to target my quarry. This pond holds fond memories and a place I often angle to recapture my early carp fishing years.

As previously stated this is a small pond but that has no bearing on why or how I fish, my aim is enjoyment in my angling wherever the venue and the pretty fish of Brandon have their place. We have suffered at the claws of a predator at the top of the food chain introduced into an environment that cannot sustain its existence. The Little Ouse fish stocks have been seriously depleted as have many waterways across East Anglia, in turn the otters have set their sights on our prized quarry to supplement their diets. Unfortunately the £7000 pricing for a proper fence is way out of the clubs available funding. Like many other fisheries we have to continue and hope for no more visits making the remaining stock even more special.

We also have another issue on the pond with foreigners fishing and taking fish, personally I don’t believe this has had a huge impact as they do have to actually catch them first. Unfortunately being in a public area and without any kind of boundary it has been extremely difficult to police the banks. Often they turn up and swim or party on the banks making it a no go zone for the youngsters and families that used to walk and fish.

I am trying to change the situation and finally my ideas are coming to fruition, the fence at each access point will give us a boundary and the ability to keep non

members out. We have also had a couple of work parties to remove the trees

that fringe the lake encroaching into the swims, but there is still a long way to go. The great news is more and more people are starting to talk about the pond again, hopefully next season the club will sell out of the annual limit of 150 clubcards like in years gone past.  I’ll keep you posted on what happens, hopefully with some more captures to tell you about as we discover what still swims in the pond….