november-2026-free-line-part-2 - Flipbook - Page 116
FREE LINE / FIELD JOURNAL
KEVIN BEAUMONT
FIELD NOTES
Upon moving back to the village, as you would expect, my first thoughts
(obviously after my family!) were the reservoirs, and to say I was
heartbroken was an understatement They had been hit very hard from
otters, the Canadian pond weed had taken over big style and the smell of
large decaying carp in the bushes left by the otters was soul destroying.
There had been several angling clubs with the lease, however I m not
sure they realised the scale of the task in hand so never had much
longevity. There are till fish in there, and I m sure the thick weed has
been a bit of a blessing, giving them refuge, however the weed was so
thick, it would not be fair on the carp trying to pull them trough it, as it
was now 8ft long and on the surface.
In the summer of 2019, Wally Appleton, who also runs a local tackle
shop in Darlington, took over the lease for seven years with the option
to extend.
Since the takeover, the transformation has been incredible from peg
construction, weed boat contractors removing literally hundreds of tons
and new laid plans to erect otter fencing around the reservoirs to protect
what existing stock is still present but also protect the new stock going
in this year.
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