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The History of Hodbarrow Lake in Millom
Standing on the third Outer Sea defence looking Northward and inland across Hodbarrow lake towards the Cumbrian Mountain range.
Historically Hodbarrow was a mining area, and up until well after the 2nd world war Heamatite ore was heavily extracted from this area, and it was thanks mainly to the mining industry that the town of Millom was born.
One major problem which the industry faced, was keeping out the sea from the mining areas as the tides rolled in twice daily, subsequently a sea defence was designed and built,
being constructed of predominantley of wooden stakes and mud. It became apparent very soon that this defence was inadequate and a new and more sturdy "Sea Wall" was needed,
so work began on the second outer defence which was to be constructed with locally sourced stone.
Although very formidable compared to the first defence system, the second sea wall began to show cracks and points of failure, this was due to the mine expansion and undermining the area, the shifting sand and clay like base on which the wall was built didnt help either, as the second wall began to fail, the decision was taken to build a 3rd Sea wall to surround the entire mining area and hopefully solve the problem once and for all.....
Areal View of Hodbarrow taken whilst flying directly above the third sea wall "around 1965" the old pumphouse still visible near the top right.
A unique view of the land fault running right through the middle from the mines which cause the second sea wall to collapse.
Today the 3rd outer Sea defence still
stands and is holding quite well, and this whole area makes for
fantastic fishing opportunities, simply because from a distance
measuring the thickness of the new Sea wall you can either be Salt
water fishing in the Irish Sea or Fresh water fishing here in
Hodbarrow, and i would like to continue with the story of how Hodbarrow
as a Trout fishery was born...
In the 70's, development was underway on the banks of Hodbarrow lake and it became a popular tourist attraction in the form of a caravan site, and the land was renowned as a valuble nature reserve, with Artic terns nesting here year after year, among many other species of bird. The lake was drained to some degree in the 1980's so that a long straight and thin spit of land could be constructed "shown on the left on the top image", and this was the beginings of making Hodbarrow a prime watersking venue, the spit was geared towards water skiers as its design was formulated around the dissapation of waves caused by the speed boats wake. The water that was drained from the lake to allow this spit to be built was replaced with water from the sea until the lake reached something above the level left behind from the mines, and the use of sea water is where an unforseen problem would arise in the near future..
The owner of the developing holiday making site was recieving numerous compliaints from caravan owners and holiday makers regarding the sheer amount of predominantly two winged insects which were hatching from the water and well "terrorising" people, A superb idea was put forward to introduce a species of fish into the lake which would help aleviate this problem, as they would hoover up the insects all year round whilst in they were still in the aquatic stage of their life, and also to consume a perentage of the hatching and mature egg laying adults at the surface...
Some small course fish were purchased and transported to Hodbarrow to be kept in a segregated area of the Lake. The owner went down to these fish daily to hand feed and keep an eye on them, but one day to his dismay he found that the fish had died, the EA was called for advice and asked to take samples, they concluded that the water was still brackish to some degree from the previous introduction of sea water. Over a period of time of which i cannot confirm, the EA were called to come and sample the water again, and they found this time that the level of salinity had dropped, they went on to suggest introducing Rainbow trout, and subsequently rainbows were placed again in a segregated area and hand fed by the owner, and to his delight the fish were seemingly quite happy for a period of a full fortnight, most importantly they did not die...These very lucky fish were released and allowed to venture off into the gloomy depths of the main body of water, and further stocks were purchased and introduced, it was shortly after that Hodbarrow opened up as a small, non advertised fishery.
Im guessing now that maybe the initial detriment of adding a percentage of salt water has had a positive effect on the environment that these fish live in now, creating an environment which errs on the side of alkalinity, the lake continues to produce good hatches of Two winged flies, Damsels, Upwings, Sedges, and its very abundant in Lesser Water Boatmen, Water Hog louse, topped off with huge schoals of minnows and sticklebacks "the elderly gentlemen of the area tell me of fishing for these as children in the ponds that were in the midst of the mining area", and the fish that are introduced into Hodbarrow are very very lucky fish indeed, with over 190 acres to roam spread out over 4 miles of shoreline, maximum depths of 110ft and all that food to go at too....!
My grandfather George Cummings was an avid angler and hunter, and with myself being the eldest grandchild i was his first choice for a little fishing buddy, most nights i would religiously stand by the lampost outside my home at 7pm, waiting to see his car come around the corner for him to take me fishing, and not once did he let me down, he was very happy at having such a fishery in his home town, and he never wasted the opportunity to escape the house after work to fish the evening rise. As a child i remember quite clearly seeing fish rising everywhere no matter where you looked, and being out well past 10pm with my grandfather and fellow anglers was always a buzz, always safe in the knowledge that i wasnt going to get into trouble with my parents..
Before long, rumours were getting around town of individual big fish being caught down at Hodbarrow, and these were not typical angling tall stories neither, as they were often witnessed by many, Local sea anglers who had just started to fish for trout for the very first time were amazed at how hard these fish could fight, alongside instances of carelessley unattended float rods going into the water, the fish in there quickly started to become legendary amongst those who sought them. One name in particular which i remember quite fondly from my childhood was "Big John" a name aptly given to any Hodbarrow fish which smashed an angler.....
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In the 70's, development was underway on the banks of Hodbarrow lake and it became a popular tourist attraction in the form of a caravan site, and the land was renowned as a valuble nature reserve, with Artic terns nesting here year after year, among many other species of bird. The lake was drained to some degree in the 1980's so that a long straight and thin spit of land could be constructed "shown on the left on the top image", and this was the beginings of making Hodbarrow a prime watersking venue, the spit was geared towards water skiers as its design was formulated around the dissapation of waves caused by the speed boats wake. The water that was drained from the lake to allow this spit to be built was replaced with water from the sea until the lake reached something above the level left behind from the mines, and the use of sea water is where an unforseen problem would arise in the near future..
The owner of the developing holiday making site was recieving numerous compliaints from caravan owners and holiday makers regarding the sheer amount of predominantly two winged insects which were hatching from the water and well "terrorising" people, A superb idea was put forward to introduce a species of fish into the lake which would help aleviate this problem, as they would hoover up the insects all year round whilst in they were still in the aquatic stage of their life, and also to consume a perentage of the hatching and mature egg laying adults at the surface...
Some small course fish were purchased and transported to Hodbarrow to be kept in a segregated area of the Lake. The owner went down to these fish daily to hand feed and keep an eye on them, but one day to his dismay he found that the fish had died, the EA was called for advice and asked to take samples, they concluded that the water was still brackish to some degree from the previous introduction of sea water. Over a period of time of which i cannot confirm, the EA were called to come and sample the water again, and they found this time that the level of salinity had dropped, they went on to suggest introducing Rainbow trout, and subsequently rainbows were placed again in a segregated area and hand fed by the owner, and to his delight the fish were seemingly quite happy for a period of a full fortnight, most importantly they did not die...These very lucky fish were released and allowed to venture off into the gloomy depths of the main body of water, and further stocks were purchased and introduced, it was shortly after that Hodbarrow opened up as a small, non advertised fishery.
Im guessing now that maybe the initial detriment of adding a percentage of salt water has had a positive effect on the environment that these fish live in now, creating an environment which errs on the side of alkalinity, the lake continues to produce good hatches of Two winged flies, Damsels, Upwings, Sedges, and its very abundant in Lesser Water Boatmen, Water Hog louse, topped off with huge schoals of minnows and sticklebacks "the elderly gentlemen of the area tell me of fishing for these as children in the ponds that were in the midst of the mining area", and the fish that are introduced into Hodbarrow are very very lucky fish indeed, with over 190 acres to roam spread out over 4 miles of shoreline, maximum depths of 110ft and all that food to go at too....!
My grandfather George Cummings was an avid angler and hunter, and with myself being the eldest grandchild i was his first choice for a little fishing buddy, most nights i would religiously stand by the lampost outside my home at 7pm, waiting to see his car come around the corner for him to take me fishing, and not once did he let me down, he was very happy at having such a fishery in his home town, and he never wasted the opportunity to escape the house after work to fish the evening rise. As a child i remember quite clearly seeing fish rising everywhere no matter where you looked, and being out well past 10pm with my grandfather and fellow anglers was always a buzz, always safe in the knowledge that i wasnt going to get into trouble with my parents..
Before long, rumours were getting around town of individual big fish being caught down at Hodbarrow, and these were not typical angling tall stories neither, as they were often witnessed by many, Local sea anglers who had just started to fish for trout for the very first time were amazed at how hard these fish could fight, alongside instances of carelessley unattended float rods going into the water, the fish in there quickly started to become legendary amongst those who sought them. One name in particular which i remember quite fondly from my childhood was "Big John" a name aptly given to any Hodbarrow fish which smashed an angler.....
Cock Brown Trout dressed up in spawning
colours, this fish caught me by suprise last year towards the back end
whilst rainbow trout fishing,
Honouring the close season, please be assured this image was taken very quickly, and he swam away strongly when returned,
Honouring the close season, please be assured this image was taken very quickly, and he swam away strongly when returned,
One final fact about Hodbarrow
today is that in 2004 the very first addition of brown
trout "approximately 3-5 inches in length" were introduced into the
lake, and what a beautifull day that was!. Last season "2007" agressive
feeding brown trout began to turn up in anglers catches,
displaying a
growth rate that has been truly phenominal, from a tiny trout that
represents something from the upper reaches of a Cumbrian spate river,
to fish like the one above in just over three years! What is also
fantastic news is that of course unlike dipliod rainbows, the
mixed sex brown trout that were introduced are able to reproduce in the
shallow wind swept bays over winter. This can be veiwed as quite a rare
occurence, given that succesfull spawning cycles usually required clean
feeder streams, of which there are none into Hodbarrow, but this again
proves that nature works in fantastic ways to ensure species survival.
If you would like to fish Hodbarrow please be assured that there are probably some British Record Fish in here "Catergory B Rainbows" which have never seen an artificial fly or lure before, and that there is no waiting list for season tickets. Following negotiations with the owner, the seasonal prices for 2008 have also been reduced considerably...
Please read the Northwest Environment Agency regional byelaws regarding Brown Trout close season and permissable tackle, please also ensure you have your current EA Rod Licience upon you at all times whilst fishing.
The stocking policy is currently in serious recognition of very carefully increasing the fish numbers over the next few years, to bring Hodbarrow up in line with established fisheries of similar size across the Uk, and at the request of the owner, enabling promotion of Hodbarrow as a premier Uk Fly Fishing venue, this should attract many new members. The pricing and stocking policy is also geared towards ensuring that local children will continue to have a place to fish for many future generations to come, rainbows dont replace themselfs when money runs out, but here thankfully the Brown Trout will.
The desicion has therefore been made to simply purchase many more smaller fish for the same price as those previously obtained larger ones "historically introduced at 1.5lb", and relying on the abundant food source present to quickly get them up to landing size. In looking also to never lose the future potential stamp of fish that Hodbarrow can turn out, this manouver must be carefully regulated against angling pressure and natural predation, coupled with the fact that now we have sexually mature breeding fish in here to. If predation proves to be low we must be carefull to not foolishly overstock, an interesting situation, one which unashamadely requires the beginnings of record keeping and external input from experienced specialists in this field. Given that we must remember that the owners only remit for paying for fish to be put into Hodbarrow all these years anyway, was to try and reduce the fly life.
At the moment it seems its very difficult to keep everyone happy...........
If you would like to fish Hodbarrow please be assured that there are probably some British Record Fish in here "Catergory B Rainbows" which have never seen an artificial fly or lure before, and that there is no waiting list for season tickets. Following negotiations with the owner, the seasonal prices for 2008 have also been reduced considerably...
Adults 17 years and over £85 per season
Retired/ Disabled Anglers £50 per season
Teens 12-17 years old £40 per season
Children up to 12 years old £30 per season
Day Ticket Adult £10
Day ticket Child £2
Retired/ Disabled Anglers £50 per season
Teens 12-17 years old £40 per season
Children up to 12 years old £30 per season
Day Ticket Adult £10
Day ticket Child £2
Please read the Northwest Environment Agency regional byelaws regarding Brown Trout close season and permissable tackle, please also ensure you have your current EA Rod Licience upon you at all times whilst fishing.
The stocking policy is currently in serious recognition of very carefully increasing the fish numbers over the next few years, to bring Hodbarrow up in line with established fisheries of similar size across the Uk, and at the request of the owner, enabling promotion of Hodbarrow as a premier Uk Fly Fishing venue, this should attract many new members. The pricing and stocking policy is also geared towards ensuring that local children will continue to have a place to fish for many future generations to come, rainbows dont replace themselfs when money runs out, but here thankfully the Brown Trout will.
The desicion has therefore been made to simply purchase many more smaller fish for the same price as those previously obtained larger ones "historically introduced at 1.5lb", and relying on the abundant food source present to quickly get them up to landing size. In looking also to never lose the future potential stamp of fish that Hodbarrow can turn out, this manouver must be carefully regulated against angling pressure and natural predation, coupled with the fact that now we have sexually mature breeding fish in here to. If predation proves to be low we must be carefull to not foolishly overstock, an interesting situation, one which unashamadely requires the beginnings of record keeping and external input from experienced specialists in this field. Given that we must remember that the owners only remit for paying for fish to be put into Hodbarrow all these years anyway, was to try and reduce the fly life.
At the moment it seems its very difficult to keep everyone happy...........