hearing whispers that two tone and other fish are dead due to polution.not good

Buried 2-tone yesterday with a handfull of Mainline's finest since he liked his bait it seemed the right thing to do , it was a sad day. Looked like he'd been dead for a while. Big lin, kinky back, rasberry a 25+ common and a 26+ from 2 years ago have perished along with a few other slightly smaller fish and around 150 bream ! The place has a "dead feel" to it and others have noticed it, I dread to think what and how many are on the bottom. A pike popped up right in front of me yeserday afternoon and that looked like it had been dead on the bottom a good while. The baliffs Stu and Rob are doing there best but there doesnt appear to be much support from the club officials.
I understan something the farmer spread on the fields is the reason for the deaths and it seems that its all the big old characters that are going dying, aint it always the way

Very sad...one of the NW's better 'open to all' waters

..Gutted, special place to many lads..

Compleatly gutted mate I have watched them fish grow on for over 20yrs

I assume the EA have been informed. They may be able to help / advise / even prosecute if required.

Sad news indeed

When was this stuff sprayed on the fields? the fields around the lake have been grass for several years and fertilized by the cows, seems odd that any pesticides etc would have been used.

Gutted.

Let's hope something good comes from this sad event and the survivors all grow to become 50's! It happened on the Flash before in the early nineties and it recovered to what it is now lets hope it can do it again.

Never fished it but was hoping to one day. Very very sad news and another great loss in the North West this year
Harv

I dont think the E.A or anyone have been informed (I may be wrong) but the water is still open and theyve been popping up for 3 weeks. Like Ive said the club officials dont appear to be doing anything, its all down to the 2 baliffs and the few of us who have been down there.
The stuff was spread on the fields around 5-6 weeks ago on the upper fields behind "the nod" and washed in from there in the heavy rain. The farmers son came down last week and he seemed gutted...NOT, as he hates fishing

very sad news like harv i was planning on having a go sometime in the future.

I dont think the E.A or anyone have been informed (I may be wrong)

Given that the river and in turn bottom flash are connected almost directly I would have thought it essential that the EA were /are contacted.

I have it on good authority the EA have now been informed.
Cheers
Harv

Tragic....

Never fished it but have mates who have.

Also nice to see the club are so concerned.......If theres a chance I hope somebody sues the arse of the Farmer.......but he can probably afford it.

very sad,very fustrating for the lads on there

....there for the grace of god an' all that.....

Shocking, shocking news, it happened a couple of year's ago on one of my local lakes,
The farmer sprayed the fields and the rain washed it in the bottom lake, not many fish survived. Someone is responsible for this and it needs to be looked into IMO

sad news from one of the better north-west waters..

very sad news indeed lets hope we find out the problem and most importantly that none of the other bigguns turn up dead they don't live forever but if i can be prevented..........

The stuff was spread on the fields around 5-6 weeks ago on the upper fields behind "the nod" and washed in from there in the heavy rain. The farmers son came down last week and he seemed gutted...NOT, as he hates fishing

I know I am going off on a slight tangent but Hot shots words have made me think. Farmers are creatures of habit that tend to stick to a fairly tight calendar. What I mean by that is they tend to do the same thing at the same time of year each year. More than that you can also guarantee that if one farmer is undertaking a specific job at a certain time of year there will be hundreds of farmers up and down the country doing the same or similar jobs at roughly the same time. Just a thought, could this and also the fact that nationally we tend to lose a fair number of fish each spring to unexplained deaths be connected? Yes I know that is unfounded speculation but it is quite feasible.

Good point Andy.
My day job is troubleshooting within quite large projects. I'm not bad at it either and get decent rewards as a result.
Farmers have been doing what farmers do for a very, very long time.
I've fished for a long time (+35 years).
REPORTED, regular mass fish deaths such as this are relatively recent, probably within the last 15 to 20 years. Granted, there have always been polluters, hence the ACA within angling. But things such as barrels of chemicals being dumped are isolated, (far too frequent!!!) incidents.
The 'unexplained' mass fish deaths are now common place and are geographically spread. Something must have changed nationally to cause this.
I have no idea what the cause could be, other than to go along the 'increasing angling pressure' route and all the things that attach to that increase. e.g. increased stocking of fish, more fisheries, disease/illness induced by injury in a fish creating an mini epidemic, increased numbers of non natural predators such as cormorants bringing infection with them.
It could even be down to angler mobility. Transferring an infection from one water to another.
I don't think we can blame the farmers though.

The fact is, it's another tragic event in angling.

Is Iraq still swimming around the flash or has he gone to the great lake in the sky also ?

Cheers
Saul

so wats the biggest thats hopfully still alive

Most definate andy, my house backs onto a field and he has dome the same thing every year at the same time give or take a week or two! And its the same all over the village and the country for that!!!!!
It does seem to coinside with some of the big fish kills over the years on in this area anyway..

dave

Is this incident fact or fiction ? I find it very hard to beleive that Winsford anglers are taking no action and also the fact that there are no press releases regarding the situation.If my memory serves me well the anglers on the flash always greatly over exaggerate any fish kills,to keep outsiders away.I hope im wrong ,but why just the Flash,what about the river or the other pond nearby.

Ive got the pix of a very dead 2tone and Rasberry in my camera which any doubters can see if it flix their switch. This situation is FACT and a sad one.
Ive been told by by someone involved that updates/info has been getting passed on to club officials for 3 weeks with no feedback or apparent action being taken other than that of the 2 baliffs and me and my friend when we can get there, burying fish, tidying the place up ! So draw from that what you will. Trelfords is behind the the flash and nowhere near "the nod" or shallows where the crap washed in, and the level is so low it is inefect not connected to the river, at the moment. (rainfall permiting).
Above is as much as I know, hopefully there will be no more deaths but I personaly dont believe that everyfish that has died has popped up.

The EA must have been down to take samples at least ????????????
If not has anyone took a sample of the water before it rains and any evidence is lost ????
Or is this some sick plan of the noddys to return it to a bit bashing water

Cheers
Saul

Hotshot, Since know one is sure if the EA have visited Top Flash. If you come across a small dead Carp instead of burying the evidence, why don't you take it home and bung it in your freezer. Just as matter of interest has anyone contacted the EA i.e you or the bailiffs that are doing the tidy up? Anyone can report a pollution incident.

The EA are now aware of the situation, thats all I know. Up until 2 days ago samples had deffo not been taken and neither me or the baliffs have seen or are aware on any visiting NRA/EA. I dont know anything that has happened in the last 2 days.
Windknot, Id have loved to bury a small carp instead of 25lb+ fish (cant fit one of them in me freezer )but you dont seem to get the fact that its the bigguns that have suffered this tradgedy. Im not a baliff mate, I work shifts 5 days a week and have got a life of me own, Im doing my bit where and when I can. Although I wouldnt be surprised if recieve a ban for what Ive said in these posts, so at this time you all now know as much as me. Its in the hands of the EA now.

I do get the fact that it is the bigger ones that are being mostly affected by this terrible incident, that is why I said "if". There's plenty of dead bream knocking about keep one them, if its poison it will be in their system as well.

Hotshot, in an earlier post on this subject you mentioned that fish had been popping up for 3 weeks. Yet the EA have only just been informed????!!!!
What are the controlling club playing at?
I personally find this delay in getting expert help a tad suspicious.
Is there something to hide?
Is the farmer really the prime suspect or a diversion?

Just rang the EA and reported (re-reported?) the incident. The man I spoke to said someone had reported it yesterday. I DON'T know if this is the first time it has been reported though. He said he would keep me informed.

Can someone please send me the number of the fishery manager (you know the one), I will call him today and report back his words on the forum with regards to what action is to be taken.

The number is on the permit (i aint got mine with me).

cheers,
Tomo.

His e-mail address is on the W.A.A. website. Good Luck!!

From the Winsford AA Web site :


Top Flash - 8 March 2005

"We have recently suffered a number of fish deaths at Top Flash include bream and some of the larger carp. Would all members fishing the Flash please look out for any further problems and notify us as soon as possible with details of anything out of the ordinary. The EA are investigating the incident."

Harv

sounds to me like there wasnt something done quick enough, if all information is correct the first dead fish was 3 weeks ago, thats a disgrace if the E.A. has only just been informed, typical top carp water run by a joey match orientated club. pisses me off!!!

Dont blame the noddies ! blame the dumb carp anglers who were not really bothered when it was just the bream floating to the top.Pathetic,you only have to look at your rod licence for the phone number its that simple.Did they all think it would just go away.

You know fcuk all mate, it was carp and bream together that started popping up, the club officials were very quickly informed. It was assumed they would take action, IF they did they took their time. Theres hardly been anyone fishing the flash this winter due to the place switching off totaly. So the "clean up and water watch program" has been left to a few of us, all with jobs/family's ect... maybe you could do your bit !!! for the record I spent over 2 hrs trying to get hold of the NRA and just got an answer phone message. Easy to sit back and moan about it is'nt it. I know Ive done my best, have you ??

The EA were informed and took action about three and half weeks ago and have been monitoring the situation since. They have visited the flash several times and peformed various tests. The alledged cause of the pollution/poisioning was the spreading of Jute by one of people who leases land off the fishery owner. Jute contains potash and is very beneficial for the soil. The spreading was stopped immediately.
Lets put this in perspective the flash has a good head of Carp. Up until now less than 10 have died, unfortunately some of them were big. It's a very small percentage of the lakes population both in Bream and Carp stakes. Let's hope by the early intervention of the E.A. and the immediate stopping of the fertilisation damage has been kept to a minimum.

One thing i do know mate is that over the years certain people have made fishing the flash rather unpleasurable for outsiders.So its rather tongue in cheek that when a major incident happens they come bleating to everyone.
Yet no one comes forward with information regarding the capture of the big common ? keep it in house then,dont you.
I feel sorry for the fish mate, not the anglers thats for sure.

sunnycarp, when did you last fish the place, if ever ? i heard the rumours about the resident anglers but never found them to be true,you should try being more social after all it is THERE local water !

The Flash boyz are mostly good lads, its like everywhere else, show your face a few times and you soon get talking and eveything goes on from there, and as its their local water and an awesome one I cant blame them for being a little protective towards it. (although granted, it did have a bad rep at one time many years ago)
I do agree with you on the fish though Sunny, its them that are the victims and not the anglers.
With regards to the EA, if they have/are taking action its been very low-key

I spoke to a club official who had told me the EA had been down and took samples and are awaiting results. Also the water had risen as it does from time to time and this had really enhanced the amount of infected soil washing into the lake. Apparently it was a potash product put on the field and this was responsible for killing the following amount of fish – 9 carp and 90 bream..??.. I can't believe that.

However despite the amount of money spent and invested in research that fertilizers, herbicides and insecticides do not kill birds etc, it appears to me that water life is again ignored in terms of laws regarding spraying of fields and crops…..

Its happened now, lets hope thats the end of deaths and prehaps more importantly the end of that stuff being in danger of infecting the lake.

Il drink to the last bit, shame its some of the big old charcters that have paid the price. RIP.

SAD news of a great lake,one of the northwest top waters when i fished there,as for the club they do not give a sh?t

i think that there is going to be one or two red faces on this topic, when the EA produce their report on the fish kill.

sad news indeed,the place held my top 2 pb,s for a few years.....hope the better fish improve to replace the lost ones...intrested to seeing the report.....if there is one.

and well done hotshot....at least no one can say you didnt try to do something about it.......may you be rewarded