John Bailey – The Kingfisher Diaries
August 19th 2009
All Ship-Shape down at the Kingfishers
Well, we've had Nigel and team in with their machinery, knowledge, sweat and blood for getting on for two weeks now and Lily, Lobster and Willow all look dramatically different. Okay, when major bankside renovations do take place, things do tend to look a little bit raw for a while. But nature will heal fast and we're already seeding many of the barest areas.
Bankside maintenance is an essentiality. There's no doubt that the alder fringe around Lily was proving problematic for many anglers, certainly pole anglers. Overhead casting to the distant lilies had also been a problem. Hopefully, now Lily is much more accessible and the increased light let in as a result of strict pruning will benefit the water dramatically. 
Lobster, always tiny, was shrinking before our eyes. The eastern end of the lake is comparatively shallow and it has been amazing how fast the reed and lilies have colonised in the last season or so. The work there will increase the effective life of lobster by many years. We've got a lot of fish in there now and they need the space and light that we've now given them.
Willow remains the conundrum. In part, because of the almost unfishable banks, it has never received much angling attention. Our hope is, now that it's much more approachable, that more people will fish and we'll get a better idea of the stocks. We're more than willing to put more fish in but we really do need to know the status quo before we do so. 
