No fish in Bircliffe....you must be joking! - Ravenfield Ponds - Coarse Fishing in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, UK

Following a series of mid week matches on Bircliffe Pond last year where catches were less than exceptional it was suggested by some that either cormorants, otters or fish eating humans had taken all the stock!

As part of our fishery improvement plan it was decided to check the situation prior to making any additions/changes and accordingly a net was run through part of the pond to investigate. The results can be seen below.

In the picture above the netting team estimated that there was approximatley 1000lbs of fish. Don't believe it? Then look at the picture below which was taken halfway through the excerise of returning them to the water when there was ~500lbs in the net. Just look at the amount in the landing net.....we lost count of how many nets full were removed.

The stock consisted of predominantly roach, skimmers, rudd, tench and perch and in these quantities the reasons why the match anglers can't catch them remains a mystery.

One disturbing factor was the almost total absence of crucian carp, a species which used to be present in large numbers and which will be re-established as a top priority.