Fascinating. Really well researched. I recall being a junior member in a club in the early 70's dead keen, reading everything I could. At a club meeting someone shuffled up to me and said "there are Golden North fish" in the club water. Despite reading all the library books ref fishing, I had never heard of a Golden "North". I assumed he was an idiot or drunk First visit to the pond and I caught a 2lb very orange fish. Only then did I learn it was a Golden Orfe. 😂
Hi mark very interesting about the black bass at the pond at creeh. As a keen sea freshwater angler fishing for bass along the purbeck coast using lure's. Abu rupala mepps home copper tube worked very well. As member's of wareham club . Me and melvin port . Used lures to catch the bass very regularly in the evening at times. I lost a big one or the elusive carp that the pond held. But can remember seeing them just blow the surface. Now i retired might start fishing again. Enjoy your vid"s mark . Brian
Fascinating chat Mark. Towards the end of your piece you spoke of a rumour that bass had been stocked in the in Woking area. Many, many years' ago (1960 - 70) when a member of Woking & Dist A/C I heard of largemouth black bass being stocked in one of the ponds at Send before the time that the pond was purchased by the club. In my time none of these fish showed but who knows if it might have been in the 1950s when Leney was shipping them out to Dorset. Woking, after all, is not many miles from Leney's holding ponds in Haslemere. I also recall chatting to Bill Keal who was considering popping a few in one of the pits in the Kennet valley. He said he was minded to rent a vacant pit near his home in Woolhampton. Sad to say he died not long after and thereby left undone that project. His other wish was to float down the Rhine in an inner tube casting pike lures as he went. Great bloke full of innovative ideas.
In Angling Diversions Leney confirms stocking a water near Woking in the 1930s. Leney was stocking bass in the 1930s but no evidence that he continued after WWII.
In the late 1960's I was a member of the British Ichthyological Society, of which David Marlborough, who you mention, was an officer. Some may remember that a drawing of a burbot was on the cover of their regular newsletter. I have owned a house in Northern Brittany for 22 years, where the fisheries are well supplied with helpful tips to those who buy the appropriate licence (such as me!). At almost every one I frequent, black bass are claimed to be stocked; however I have never seen one caught, despite the locals using lures, etc. Derek Howard
Hi Mark. Interesting stuff there. I used to fish a pond near Creech in the 80's and from your description it was Berries pond. There were quite a few of those Bass in there and maybe bigger than the ones in Creech, they used to lie just below the surface in the summer. I was part of a syndicate that was run by a guy that i worked with at the time, the fishing was excellent and i have many photos of the place. Would love to get back there now.
Don Burrey ran the original syndicate from about 1957 and seeded a number of ponds with carp (an old strain) on the nearby heath. Later his son took over the syndicate.
Interesting tale, Mark. Strange how they've never established themselves over here. Youd think the southern England climate would be similar to much of the Eastern and western American seaboards. 👍
Sometimes wondered if our summers weren't quite hot enough? I think the EA would regard them as an alien species nowadays. There's still populations on the Continent; I've spotted them in a Swiss lake.
Thanks Mark, very interesting. I would like to know how pumpkinseeds got into CAC's Hucklesbrook Lake. I have caught a few when using worms as bait for perch.
There were pumpkinseeds in Martin's Lake (pond!) near Verwood and Creekmoor (in Poole) small pond in the late 80s. Those in Creekmoor disappeared long ago, I don't know about the ones in Martin's Lake. I've seen them in Hucklesbrook but not caught them though have had a few from Wainsford.
Interesting stuff Mark. Always knew of the black bass in Breech but never knew of the history behind them. Amazing to hear they were Leney’s. Have caught several in France and have found top water lures to be the most successful and in particular small artificial frogs. Out of interest Mark, what eventually do you think killed them off? Considering they survived for several decades, were clearly breeding given the small ones you both caught and saw and with a good introduction of prey fish it’s difficult to see why they eventually disappeared into extinction 🤷🏻♂️
We often wondered why they declined. Although I caught two very small ones in 1970 the next ones I caught were in 1975, 76 & 77, although we did see that group of four in the intervenimng years. The roach & gudgheon largely died out over the winter of 1976/77, just about 10% remaining, and those that survived and were young grew much faster so that by 1980 we had roach to a pound. Many of the roach in 76 had argulus (fish lice) and whether these infected the bass is unclear.
Interesting Mark. If Leney had put carp in there, Dorset might have had a mini Redmire. Don’t think we need Bass in our waters tho’, they would compete with our Perch. A far more beautiful fish.
I don't think Breach had the natural food in the early day to sustain big carp unlike Redmire. The carp stocking in 1976 of old-strain commons showed slow growth.
black bass are common in lakes all around my house in central france and I have several in my lake out there. They feed predominantly on small fish, very often attacking from open water and driving the small fish into shallow bays. They are lightning quick in the attack and often just drift about under the surface, immobile so the prey fish seemingly forget they are there. locals in france use small soft rubber lures either roach/rudd or often rubber jigger baits in bright colours. pissing them off seems to get more takes than outright imitation. they often feed well in bright hot sunny weather when the prey fish are sunbathing or up on a naturals hatch. I have caught them to 4lb, they often jump on being hooked and often chuck the hook quickly, they have hard bony mouths. the bigger ones are impressive to look at, with richer colours than the small ones. someone mentioned pumpkinseeds, they are commonplace out here, often called sunfish, and make small nests in the gravel margins which they guard. the bass enjoy eating the sunfish.
With the rise in popularity of lure fishing I do wish we had bass lakes, at least, in this country. I wonder if the EA would permit them to go into rivers. 🤔😂
Couldn’t agree more! I’d love to see them among perch… it’d spice up the fishing culture over in the uk and make it way better and probably more appealing. Rather than fishing for carp and sat on the bank with all the gadgets. Boring. Other species have settled in fine with our waters. Sure there’d be a knock on affect but nature balances out. Also the argument for it being too cold is nonsense too because they’re everywhere over North America and Canada where temperatures get colder than the UK. Imagine going out fishing in the uk having bass available too aswell as all the other predators🔥
Fascinating. Really well researched. I recall being a junior member in a club in the early 70's dead keen, reading everything I could. At a club meeting someone shuffled up to me and said "there are Golden North fish" in the club water. Despite reading all the library books ref fishing, I had never heard of a Golden "North". I assumed he was an idiot or drunk First visit to the pond and I caught a 2lb very orange fish. Only then did I learn it was a Golden Orfe. 😂
Hi mark very interesting about the black bass at the pond at creeh. As a keen sea freshwater angler fishing for bass along the purbeck coast using lure's. Abu rupala mepps home copper tube worked very well. As member's of wareham club . Me and melvin port . Used lures to catch the bass very regularly in the evening at times. I lost a big one or the elusive carp that the pond held. But can remember seeing them just blow the surface. Now i retired might start fishing again. Enjoy your vid"s mark . Brian
Mega interesting story! Thank you
Brilliant a tale worthy of our childhood reading. Thank You !
Glad you enjoyed it
very interesting.
Very interesting enjoyed that mark something different for a change thanks for sharing 🐟🎣👍
Fascinating chat Mark. Towards the end of your piece you spoke of a rumour that bass had been stocked in the in Woking area. Many, many years' ago (1960 - 70) when a member of Woking & Dist A/C I heard of largemouth black bass being stocked in one of the ponds at Send before the time that the pond was purchased by the club. In my time none of these fish showed but who knows if it might have been in the 1950s when Leney was shipping them out to Dorset. Woking, after all, is not many miles from Leney's holding ponds in Haslemere. I also recall chatting to Bill Keal who was considering popping a few in one of the pits in the Kennet valley. He said he was minded to rent a vacant pit near his home in Woolhampton. Sad to say he died not long after and thereby left undone that project. His other wish was to float down the Rhine in an inner tube casting pike lures as he went. Great bloke full of innovative ideas.
In Angling Diversions Leney confirms stocking a water near Woking in the 1930s. Leney was stocking bass in the 1930s but no evidence that he continued after WWII.
In the late 1960's I was a member of the British Ichthyological Society, of which David Marlborough, who you mention, was an officer. Some may remember that a drawing of a burbot was on the cover of their regular newsletter. I have owned a house in Northern Brittany for 22 years, where the fisheries are well supplied with helpful tips to those who buy the appropriate licence (such as me!).
At almost every one I frequent, black bass are claimed to be stocked; however I have never seen one caught, despite the locals using lures, etc. Derek Howard
Hi Mark. Interesting stuff there. I used to fish a pond near Creech in the 80's and from your description it was Berries pond. There were quite a few of those Bass in there and maybe bigger than the ones in Creech, they used to lie just below the surface in the summer. I was part of a syndicate that was run by a guy that i worked with at the time, the fishing was excellent and i have many photos of the place. Would love to get back there now.
Don Burrey ran the original syndicate from about 1957 and seeded a number of ponds with carp (an old strain) on the nearby heath. Later his son took over the syndicate.
Interesting tale, Mark. Strange how they've never established themselves over here. Youd think the southern England climate would be similar to much of the Eastern and western American seaboards.
👍
Sometimes wondered if our summers weren't quite hot enough? I think the EA would regard them as an alien species nowadays. There's still populations on the Continent; I've spotted them in a Swiss lake.
very interesting Mark. I believe someone once caught a Walleye in Wallasey.
We had a walleye record due to a consignment of large-mouth black bass from the USA actually being walleye, and only a single documented capture.
The old walleye record came from Welney.
Relic populations are always interesting.
Thanks Mark, very interesting. I would like to know how pumpkinseeds got into CAC's Hucklesbrook Lake. I have caught a few when using worms as bait for perch.
There were pumpkinseeds in Martin's Lake (pond!) near Verwood and Creekmoor (in Poole) small pond in the late 80s. Those in Creekmoor disappeared long ago, I don't know about the ones in Martin's Lake. I've seen them in Hucklesbrook but not caught them though have had a few from Wainsford.
Great summary Jack 😉
Not heard that nickname for a while, Adrian.
Interesting stuff Mark. Always knew of the black bass in Breech but never knew of the history behind them. Amazing to hear they were Leney’s. Have caught several in France and have found top water lures to be the most successful and in particular small artificial frogs. Out of interest Mark, what eventually do you think killed them off? Considering they survived for several decades, were clearly breeding given the small ones you both caught and saw and with a good introduction of prey fish it’s difficult to see why they eventually disappeared into extinction 🤷🏻♂️
We often wondered why they declined. Although I caught two very small ones in 1970 the next ones I caught were in 1975, 76 & 77, although we did see that group of four in the intervenimng years. The roach & gudgheon largely died out over the winter of 1976/77, just about 10% remaining, and those that survived and were young grew much faster so that by 1980 we had roach to a pound. Many of the roach in 76 had argulus (fish lice) and whether these infected the bass is unclear.
‘Sea Bass’…drives me crazy. I have to correct all restaurants I see this incorrect name being used in. I should get out more I guess
Interesting Mark. If Leney had put carp in there, Dorset might have had a mini Redmire. Don’t think we need Bass in our waters tho’, they would compete with our Perch. A far more beautiful fish.
I don't think Breach had the natural food in the early day to sustain big carp unlike Redmire. The carp stocking in 1976 of old-strain commons showed slow growth.
black bass are common in lakes all around my house in central france and I have several in my lake out there. They feed predominantly on small fish, very often attacking from open water and driving the small fish into shallow bays. They are lightning quick in the attack and often just drift about under the surface, immobile so the prey fish seemingly forget they are there. locals in france use small soft rubber lures either roach/rudd or often rubber jigger baits in bright colours. pissing them off seems to get more takes than outright imitation. they often feed well in bright hot sunny weather when the prey fish are sunbathing or up on a naturals hatch. I have caught them to 4lb, they often jump on being hooked and often chuck the hook quickly, they have hard bony mouths. the bigger ones are impressive to look at, with richer colours than the small ones. someone mentioned pumpkinseeds, they are commonplace out here, often called sunfish, and make small nests in the gravel margins which they guard. the bass enjoy eating the sunfish.
With the rise in popularity of lure fishing I do wish we had bass lakes, at least, in this country. I wonder if the EA would permit them to go into rivers. 🤔😂
Couldn’t agree more! I’d love to see them among perch… it’d spice up the fishing culture over in the uk and make it way better and probably more appealing. Rather than fishing for carp and sat on the bank with all the gadgets. Boring. Other species have settled in fine with our waters. Sure there’d be a knock on affect but nature balances out. Also the argument for it being too cold is nonsense too because they’re everywhere over North America and Canada where temperatures get colder than the UK. Imagine going out fishing in the uk having bass available too aswell as all the other predators🔥