Good saturday at four oaks

[Lee]

Yes I was planning to go on good Friday but the weather and wife won so we tackled (!!) the garden and I came down Saturday instead. Apparently was quiet fri too. Steve came over and introduced himself too me which was nice. Thanks steve, nice to meet you, and thanks for the forum. Served as a reminder to Post once in a while :-).
Well I fancied meeting some carP so I fished the method firstwith corn then tried small strawberry boilie and the loved it. I suppose I had a pull round every 1/2 hour, and some delicate bites too actually. And as for 'last one then I'll pack up' - I had 2 of these and they just kept getting bigger!!

It was very breezy and cold all day and the sun only came out once or twice. Glad my brolly was in the boot, as well as a spare net as I  broke another one. Oh well it was too small anyway lol. the 46" one is blooming heavy when wet tho.

I've still got maggots so I think I'll go again this morning...

Hi to Wendy too xx

[Wend1]

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[Steve1]

Hi Lee
Its good to faces to names
Yes you had a good day with the carp
Had a good day myself with carp, tench and good skimmers
Wendy didn't do so good but she was tired after 3 days solid fishing, mind you she is getting on a bit now so its got to be expected.

[Wend1]

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[lee.t]

hi all.. I found 4 oaks fished really well early this year, but recently its really slowed down and I've noticed a lot of green slime on the bottom and hardly any fish activity. The bream I caught at the weekend were in worryingly poor condition - not slimey and smooth but rough and pimpled, and generally weak, not swimming off, hanging around upside down!!. I've always noticed a lot of wounds on the fish (carp anyway) from birds at 4oaks... I've once seen a heron leaving as I was arriving, maybe he's to blame?!
Other waters round here are carefully watched and controlled for Cormorants...
But the recent greening up of the water, is this normal/common/serious? And is it the cause of the slowness and poor fish condition? There's no aerator, whereas I think I saw one at lower ridge, and again at Yew Tree I think (not sure) I don't know whether the aerator is like a passive thing or has to be powered to be working... Its a shame after they were lucky and didn't suffer the fish loss from ice that many other waters did. anyone more knowledgeable care to put my mind at rest about all these thoughts??

[fish41]

Hi lee.
Think the bream going pimply is to do with their breeding cycle.
The greening up of the water could just be blanket weed or it could be algae or duck weed

[DaveE]

The rough feel to the bream is due to spawning tubicles forming just prior to spawning.

Aerators need either electricity or compressed air to power them. Barley straw can help to control algae.

[lee.t]

had a couple of hours down here on sunday just to see how it was doing (as its less than 2 miles from home!), still slightly slow I think.. cool and high from all the rain I guess. but it does look tidy, maybe the keepers have been in with the waders. almost always breezy and I always seem to get hayfever here?!