It's been a while since I posted on here but I am pleased to see that Paul has opened the forum up a bit and, whilst we are nearly full for 2012, it can't hurt to keep you all abreast of how Moorlands has developed over the years.
Proper winter wonderland out here now. This is our third heavy frost in a row and the temperature dropped to minus 8 last night so the trees are hanging, white with frost and look wonderful. The lake would have been totally frozen over if I hadn't [it was actually Jan's idea but I'm happy to take the credit] turned on the aerator and I am very impressed with the amount of clear water that it has maintained. It is now on a timer and will switch on and run every night until the weather starts to improve. On that note, the forecast is for a warm "blip" on Thursday but then sliding back into cold conditions immediately afterwards.
Roll on March.
On a personal note it is exactly 10 years ago today that we completed the purchase and moved in to Etang du Roivre and my only regret is that we didn't do it ten years before that.

Keith do you still feed your fish in these very cold conditions?

I feed with crushed maize soaked for 2 days and pellets each week but Im beginning to think I am wasting my time and money when the lakes are partially frozen.....

Hi Paul
I do still feed and I also used crushed maize but, like you I'm not sure whether I'm wasting my time. Let me explain a bit more:-
This year we worked our nuts off to empty the lake, take out most of the catfish, move the small carp to the stock pond and leave the lake dry for 4 weeks to kill off any fry that we missed. We then put just the large carp and the wide-mouth bass back in the lake as it refilled. Since then I have been finding feeding fish virtually every day and have put out maize, mixed particles, pellets or boilies each time that I have found them feeding. I have put the loose feed close to but not on top of the area in which I found the fish. Following that I have again continued to walk the lake but I have never yet found the carp back on the loose feed. I have found them feeding again but always away from where I have put the feed. They obviously prefer the snails and bloodworm to anything that I can offer LOL.

Wasting your time!!!!!.....Sort it out Paul!!!

kind regards Jeff

Your post doesnt make sense Jeff!

Delete please Paul, as it was the wrong Paul and even the wrong forum......Sorry;)

kind regards Jeff

Well whatever that was about at least it kept our topic live LOL.
I thought it may be interesting to put a bit more meat on the bone of where we are now as a fishery. It was ten years ago yesterday that my wife and I moved into our current address and in that time all of our efforts have continmued to focus on growing Moorlands from the original "unknown runs water" to a big fish venue. During autumn 2011 we constructed our own stock pond and have now been able to remove the small carp [under 20lb] for growing on and we have removed most of the catfish, leaving only those above 60lb.
The average weight of our carp is now [as I type] 37lb 9oz and this is taken from the total stock take taken during the vidange in November 2011.
I have also added the list of carp banked in the 2011 season. This is not the stock of the lake and obviously includes some multiple captures of the same fish.

TOTAL NUMBERS OF CARP BANKED DURING THE 32 WEEKS OF THE 2011 SEASON WERE:-

298 twenties
686 thirties
213 forties
37 fifties

Thats a pretty impressive list of big fish, Keith....what strain are they?

Hi Paul
The majority are Royale's mate but there are a few Dink's and a few Italians. The big fish are now all from the original stock when we bought the place just sorted ......... 6 times so far mate LOL.

Keith I am having my worst year ever for cormorants are they coming as far down as your place?

We do get one or two mate but not in the numbers that some of you are facing. I understand some of the lakes around Limoges are being hammered also. However the islands on the Saone at Chalon-sur-Saone have been virtually killed of any vegetation by hundreds of them roosting in the trees.
I would just add that I haven't found any injuries caused to the big carp by them but I'm sure they are taking some of our bass. The odd fish that I have found with damage to their backs are often caused by coots. They thrash the water to a foam if the carp come up underneath them and, having had to unhook a few, their claws are real talons mate.

Keith I have a dozen a day flitting between the lakes, taking the silver fish and shitting everywhere. I try shooting them but they are an impossible target with just a .22.....

I have a huge reserve of silver fish, but I do worry about the effect on the carp...

The strange thing is you only see these bastards in the winter. Where are they for the rest of the year?

use a .177 mate to kill them pesky birds.. try a "Weihrauch HW 35"
..probably the best long range rifle there is..brilliant and will drop a cormorant easily from 100 metres.

as for the feeding fish maize..... i think there is too much natural food buried for the winter in the silt..the carp know they are there and will eat that over maize any day....try not feeding them for a while then put some in and see if they react.. if they react fast they have probably ate most of the natural larder..if not you know they are well fed ..and it will save you a few quid.

Hi Cliff, I agree about them preferring the live food mate. On top of all that,while the lake has had some ice on it I have still managed to find snails eggs attached to some of the rotting leaves on the lake bed. This indicates that their preferred food items are being replenished even as we speak.

There must have been getting on for 100 cormorants flew over the complex this morning....someones fish are in for a real battering.......

Hi Paul
I noticed your reply on another thread about your roach fry in January. I am also seeing feeding carp like I've never seen before, this early in the year. [I counted 32 different sets of bubbles yesterday morning]However, my concern is that this weird winter weather could lead to the carp spawning very early this year. What do you think?

It could be possible Keith, but I remember this has happened before...we had spring-like conditions In January/early Feb and everything came alive and then we had a really cold February and things were pretty catastrophic for some of the wildlife such as frogs... I remember hundreds died and we were stockpiling them and then had to dispose of them... After the February cold spawning took place at the customary times.
We will have to see but early spawning could affect those anglers planning to arrive early season to avoid the normal spawning period...

i think we could be in for the mildest winter since records began... got no idea what it will do to the natural clocks of the wildlife but it probably wont do them too much harm.