Redmair Pool up for sale!

Redmire Pool…… can probably be classed as the home of British Carp Fishing. The tiny 3-acre lake has been a mecca for specimen Carp Anglers, the world over, for decades and has produced some of the most famous fish in British Angling history. Now this iconic venue is up for sale.

The lake was originally stocked back in 1934 and it was left to the hands of Mother Nature to help nurture and help the Carp grow to record-breaking proportions. The lake was first fished over 17 years later in 1951, where Bob Richards set a new British record, with a huge 31lb 4oz Mirror. A record which remained in tacked for only 11 months when Richard ‘Dick’ Walker captured his famous ‘Clarissa’, a scale perfect 44lb Common Carp. A further 28 years would pass until Angler and writer, Chris Yates smashed the record from the same Herefordshire pool, with the capture of a 51lb 5oz Mirror Carp.

The Carp breading machine of Redmire didn’t fall into mainstream angling until it featured heavily in the BBC’s mid 90’s series, ‘A Passion for Angling’. This followed the two intrepid Piscators, Chris Yates and Bob James through their angling adventures. Readmire features in the aptly named episode of ‘Redmire Legends’, which depicts perfectly how hard and frustrating Carp fishing can be, but how equally rewarding. The pool was featured in a mode modern day feature by Alan Blair and the guys at Nash, where they re-enacted some of the classic scenes from the BBC show, such as the infamous Gudgeon match. It also incorporated classic angling techniques but using more modern day tackle.

Now the famous pool is up for sale, it has set many tongues in the angling word wagging. Although no official asking price is yet to be released. However, the Richardson family, who have owned and maintained the estate for the last 28 years, have confirmed that along with the lake and its fantastic fish stock, it comes with a ‘Large house’ and 100 acres of land. The sale will see a new ear for this enchanting still water.

As always, with such an announcement, comes a period of uncertainty with many questions being asked. Will the new owners allow for the pool to be fished? Will they understand or even appreciate the pools position in British angling history? I for one would hope to see the lake still accessible to the working class angler, it would be a real shame to lose such an iconic venue and see it turned into a syndicate water. Either way big change is coming to this historic pool.

Moving on, the back end of January has been a cold and trying time for anglers over UK. With the mercury regularly falling well below freezing, the majority of Lakes have had a lid on them for some time. I for one have been impacted by this challenge, and have had to change my angling plans to suit

accordingly. I ventured out in conditions, where the average person would think I was a maniac. However as every angler knows all too well, effort and persistence will eventually lead to a reward. Especially at this time of year, no truer word can be said. I went down to a stretch of the river Nene in Northampton, on an ice age like Sunday morning, with my father in tow. My target….Esox…the Pike. I was fishing a stretch that I featured in my first post a few weeks ago. I knew there were a few sizable Pike in this stretch, and the conditions were much better than when I first fished the same swims. Limited bright sunshine and cold…. very cold! Armed with a bag of sprats, I was keen to my lines out. During the drive to long the A45, my dad was telling me how he was confident for me, and that he was predicting a fish, first cast. Going by my run of blanks I had behind me so far in 2017, I didn’t have the same ‘The glass is half full’ optimism that my dad had.

We arrived at the river, to a scene of perfection where it looked like Jack Frost has frozen time still and gave my dad a good opportunity to take a few glorious photos while I set up my rods. Within minutes I was fishing. The bung was sat on the edge of some slack water, out the main flow of the river and looked really for a bite. It just needed to slide away. Within seconds I had an indication of interest on the float and it then gingerly slid away. Having not yet landed a fish in 2017, I was probably too keen to get the fish in I struck into the fish a little too early. It wasn’t an issue on this occasion, but this eagerness would later come back to haunt me.

I could see flashes of silver below the surface of the water as the fish fort for its life in the flow of the river. I could see it wasn’t the biggest of fish, but it defiantly didn’t want to leave its watery lair to come into the cold winter air. After 2 or 3 minutes, the battle was over, and Esox was gracing my net. I was finally of the mark in 2017! Having got the fish the hooking matt, it was evident that the hook hold was holding on by the skin of its teeth as both the trebles had come out and made a mess of my landing net. A visit to the scales saw the fish fall just under the 8lb mark. I was chuffed and felt it was just deserts for all the effort I had put in so far this year. A couple of mandatory photos and the fish was back to live another day. No wonder there was so much fight in him, my matt was covered in Leaches which had obviously come off the fish. It was clear that the fish were not moving that much in the cold winter conditions.

A fresh Sprat , an accurate cast and I was fishing again. It was a further 45 minutes until I saw any more action when my float started to sway and then it absolutely banged away below the water surface. It was a monstrous take. Eager not to let the fish get in the snags, I struck into the fish. My eagerness to get a good hook hold didn’t pay off this time, as quickly as the float had disappeared, the fish dropped the bait and was off. I was simply striking the bite way too early and wasn’t giving the fish enough time to turn and get a good hold of the bait. That was the last of the action for the rest of that day.

I had planned to visit a still water the following Wednesday as I had taken a day off work. However, the weather had other ideas. I visited the Castle Ashby complex the evening prior and all three lakes were solid with ice, there was no chance of getting a rig in. So it was back down to the river. I fished one ledger rod with a Maggot feeder targeting Chub and Perch, with another dead bait rod for Pike. This session was one of the nightmare sessions that Anglers dread, where you hook everything but a fish. Trees, Bushes everything! It was one of them days that you just want to forget.

The back end of the week as seen a thaw and temperatures have risen, with most lakes now opening back up. So this coming weekend will see me targeting the Pike at Castle Ashby and I may even be tempted to chuck out a rig for a cheeky winter Carp. But one thing is for sure, I have had enough of this long, cold and dark winter. Bring on spring!