Water quality at Darlow continues to look good. We have seen a small increase in ammonia to trace levels (0.04 mg/L, pH8.2), but they are not a major cause for concern at this stage and is probably a result of the disruption of silt during the weed removal process. All other parameters and water clarity are also good (oxygen at 8.9 mg/L; 89.1 %), and we have seen a much-needed 11 cm increase in water Read more…
Todays batch of fish were from Torre trout farm in Somerset; 150 Sparctics and 50 browns… and 1 large blue trout! Fish were stocked at an average of 2-3 lb, with some even bigger.
After a long hot Summer, we have restarted to the stocking programme at Darlow Water – 200 2-3 lb rainbow trout (some even bigger!) from Bibury fish farm have been released today! We’re now planning to stock on a regular basis with more rainbows, browns and Sparctics, so this should provide some great fishing over the Winter and in to next year. We are aiming to stock at least 800 fish before the end of Read more…
This year the club has decided to employ a contractor to help clear some of the vigorously growing aquatic weed from the lake. The most prolific weed seems to be a species of Elodea (probably Canadian pond weed), which has grown to several feet deep in places and may impact fishing or otherwise detrimentally affect the lake. Canadian pond weed is a non-native species, but this weed is great for oxygenating the water during the Read more…
We’re now well in to September and the good water chemistry continues to be maintained in Darlow; phosphates, nitrates, nitrites and ammonia are all currently undetectable, which is excellent news. Oxygen levels are also good (8.1 mg/L, 82.7 % sat.). pH is 8.3, which is fairly normal for Darlow. The only negative news is that water levels are historically very low, so we could do with some significant amounts of rain, and weed growth has Read more…
Water temperature has been extremely high over the last month, with a maximum recorded temperature of 24.9 °C on 09-Aug-2022. So, it has been a tough Summer for any stock remaining in the lake with water levels also very low (at least 20 cm below zero on the water gauge). We lost a few fish during the first hot spell at the end of June, but have not since had many more, even in the Read more…
After that very hot spell last week our water temperatures have risen sharply and are still very high. The water temperature was 23.5 °C today (Thursday, 21-Jul-2022) at 0900, which is clearly going to be very stressful to our trout, which can be seen at the surface and in large groups. Despite this high temperature, we have had surprisingly few fish losses; we did remove around 30 dead fish at the start of the warm Read more…
The latest water chemistry tests have been carried out at Darlow and ammonia levels are still low, with perhaps a trace amount detectable (0.03 mg/L, pH 8.4) – this could become more of a problem if the temperature rises, but at present levels are safe. Phosphate, nitrate and nitrite are all undetectable, which is probably due to the plant and algal growth. Clarity started to deteriorate in April and May, but has since stabilised and Read more…
Thanks to everyone (tireless Committee members included) who helped with the access road repairs last weekend. All large potholes now filled. Please drive slowly along the track so the repairs can last as long as possible!
Another delivery of 100 fish from Torre… 50 rainbows, and 50 Sparctic trout (a hybrid of brook trout and the arctic char). The water temperature is now starting to rise, so this will be the last stocking for a while. This batch should have a chance to acclimatise before the water temperature gets very warm and oxygen levels start to fall over the summer.