My clubwater is catch and release and every year we stock about 3 times with about 400kg of fish a time. After stocking nothing is caught for about a week and then the sport gets really good for a about 3 weeks before dropping off to the point where nothing gets caught at all.

Are the fish getting eaten - we have a lot of Zander in the lake and there are a few cormorants around? Or are they just wising up to our fishing techniques?

What % of fish can you typically expect to survive over the winter on a stillwater?

poached??

tt

If there is a head of Zander i quess poaching is not the answer

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Andy Wren
Winter grayling taking a year off !
Claret not just a great dubbing colour!

Were we live the polish/eastern europeans eat anything that swims??Even the zander

TT

A few do get poached as we occasionally find an empty can of sweetcorn around but this is not very often. I don't think this can account for that many.

As for the Zander we've tried catching them but without much success. Each year we find a few dead ones around 1m long. I'm sure they account for most of the losses but as few members have managed to catch them very few believe they are in there.

Even the Zander, ,it is a fine table fish ,would much rather eat one than any trout bar a really fresh run sewin !

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Andy Wren
Winter grayling taking a year off !
Claret not just a great dubbing colour!

Aha where u getting yours from

tt

Survival rates of stocked trout are not great.
I would suggest if you are getting something like a 50% return you are doing well.

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It is in truth not glory,nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting,but for freedom - for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with his life.(Declaration of Arbroath, 1320)

So, 400kg, three times a year =1200kg...if an average fish weighed 2.2lb, you're putting in 1200 a year. It's said a cormorant can eat 4-5lb of fish per day. If you have 3 working the water you could be losing fish at 42 a week to them alone. No doubt club members kill a lot when they start taking a week after they're put in. The Zander will no doubt be having a good feed on the fish the cormorants damaged. The fish that have been caught and released will soon wise up after they've been caught a few times. Then take into consideration poaching...1200 fish isn't a lot.

Each year you find a few dead ones around a meter long !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...Really!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!???????????????????????????? ..Its not April the 1st yet..