Coppice Lake dead fish report

Following various reports on Facebook, two BAA Fisheries representatives visited Coppice on Friday afternoon 8th April. They walked the entire pool, spoke to the four anglers fishing and carried out an intense visual survey.

The colour of the pool was within the range which you would expect for this time of year. There was evidence of patches of more intense colour, probably caused by fish grubbing about on the bottom and disturbing the silt. There was no smell from the water, the water was icy cold to the touch and there was a slight breeze causing a fair ripple on the surface. There was no evidence of lack of oxygen, no scum on the surface, no foam and no evidence of fish being in distress. The pool was full to overflowing with fresh water flowing into the pool via the pipe from the ditch. They saw several fish break the surface or roll just beneath it and the anglers stated that fish were moving on their baits. Only one angler reported having caught a carp of around 8lbs.

One small dead roach (1oz) was found on the bank with it's head eaten away. There was a single tern on the water which was witnessed picking up several tiny roach off the surface of the pool. There was no evidence that the pool was in any way polluted.

There are at least 10 Canada geese on the pool and the grass on the banks has been eaten away to the bare soil over much of the bank.

All in all, in the view of our two Fisheries Rep's, there is nothing intrinsically untoward with the pool at this time.

At this time of year there are always a few casualties which have not survived the winter, plus some fish which succumb post spawning.

We will continue to monitor the state of the pool.