These were the unusual scenes at Highbridge’s Apex Park on Thursday (February 17th) when a huge operation was launched to move hundreds of fish between two lakes.
A team from Bridgwater College’s Fisheries Programme was drafted in by Highbridge Angling Association and Sedgemoor District Council to help move large quantities of carp and bream.
The unusual task was required after a recent decision to separate the boating lake – near Apex’s main car park – from the fishing lake in order to increase safety in the leisure area.
Iain Turner, Fisheries Management Programme Manager at Bridgwater College (pictured) told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “There’s now a division between the fishing lake and the boating lake and the angling association wanted to make sure that any fish on the boating side should be returned to the fishing side, which is where we helped.”
“The team from the college’s fisheries programme used an 80 metre net stretched across the lake to remove the larger fish that had been cut off from the fishing lake when the barrier was installed. We scooped up some big fish, including several carp weighing 8-12lb and numerous big bream, so there are some good catches to be had.”
“It was a big task that took nearly all day and we also found a few unusual items too – a scooter, a car exhaust and a bike all were removed!”
