On Thursday 18th February 2015, several members of Leamington Angling Association removed many fish from the Abbey Fields lake. This is kindly performed by the Association every year.
This is done because the lake in Abbey Fields is very shallow and, in the summer, the fish are sometimes stressed through lack of oxygen. Warm water holds less oxygen, so that’s why netting happens in the winter. Jon Holmes at WDC was concerned about this and there have also been instances of carp being stolen for eating.
Therefore, the overall biomass of fish (they have been breeding prolifically) was reduced and the surplus fish (mainly carp plus a few rudd) have been moved to other lakes where they have a lot more space. The work was performed using a 150m-long net, in three passes, to cover the whole lake. There are still plenty of fish in the lake, but they now constitute a more natural population.
The pictures below show the work in progress. Thanks to Anthony Simmons of Leamington Angling Association for his explanation above.
Photos courtesy of Pat Smith, Linda Pettifor and Leamington Angling Association.
