29/12/2025
I hope you all enjoyed your Xmas with family & freinds. I was in cape Verde running up to xmas in 26° chilling with tom which was a nice break.
I just got back to the lake at dinner time today, after a long drive from Cheshire last night catching the 03.30 boat . I was booked on the 09.15 and usually split the journey staying at my brothers near London on route. but unfortunately he was on holiday, so I had to do it in one hit. P&O ripped me another £60 for getting a earlier boat the swines.
When I got off in calais at 06.10 It was freezing and as I drove further down it cooled more dropping to minus - 6° when I re fueled in dreux. As the sun rose just before 9 it was like a scene from a Xmas card with the trees all white. As I got to Orleans it started to cloud over and was quite foggy but it was a couple of degrees warmer but never rose above -1 all the way down.
I passed a few lakes that looked frozen and wondered if foxpool would have a lid on it. As i pulled in the gate it was -2 but no ice on the lake.
Thankfully gert and silve had been and switched the log burner on for me and the house was like toast. Gert had just fed the fish aswell . I was thinking I might stick a few rods out over the next few days before I lime the lake again . Gert said nothing has been showing recently, so im not too optimistic in these temperatures.
I called a bookers to stock up on the food for breakfasts and brought a new dishwasher over from curry's to fit.
The lake is full and the back lake is filling nicely, but there was some cat ice on the shallows. There's plenty of water coming in on both lakes and the pipe from foxpool is filtering water into Chad's pool nicely so it won't be long before thats full another 3 to 4 feet to go. As I walked around it seemed a lot drier than when we finished the dig and even the soft silt we dumped in between the the two lakes had a crust on it. Don't get me wrong its still soft as you can see from the deer prints in the mud.
Foxpool is about 4cm off running over the spillway so when its full it will be about 6cm tops off the top of the new swim 4 which is ideal for netting fish. So im glad I judged that right as it was low when I re did the front last year, before we completed it,so least I judged that right.
There's still a monumental amount of work to do on the new lake but ive got a few years to chip away at that. But least we can move the fish over this spring when we net the stockpond. i think the water will clear after the bottom settles aswell.
Big thanks to gert for looking after the place and feeding the fish in my absence much Apreciatted. Im off there now to sample some of silves culinary delights 😊.
Have a great new year boys and girls and hope 2026 is a good year for you all.
I look forward to welcoming some of you back next season and meeting our new anglers . Thanks Graham foxpool.