The Secret Pool Part 1

[Catfish.017]

I dubbed it The Secret Pool for two reasons. Despite being just seven miles from home I was completely unaware of its existence until around ten years ago. Secondly, despite being close to a modern housing estate it is quite secluded particularly in Summer when it is screened from the casual observer by a luxuriant forest of Asian Balsam. My pal Mark found it on one of his frequent explorations on Google Earth!
It was in the depths of Winter when I first searched it out after Marks prompting and as has happened with me in the past, I approached it from the wrong direction, fighting through the tangled remnants of Summers growth and although the afternoon was dark and very very cold, I arrived on the bank in quite a sweat!
After recovering my composure I slowly walked as much of the bank that was accessible. There was a good covering of ice over rather brown looking water, the margins in places, forested with Reedmace stalks, many still sporting the 'Cigar' seed heads. Willow and Alder grew in profusion along the soggy far bank, some actually in the water and Norfolk reed grew both sides of a narrow channel that joined the two halves of the pool the smaller, probably a quarter of an acre with a wooded island; the larger maybe a third of an acre and very shallow one end.
I sat for quite some time taking it all in and deciding I liked the look of it. Then I heard a car and realised a narrow lane passed by just thirty yards from where I sat separated by a delightful little spate stream that screamed Wild Brown Trout. The pool sat in a wide loop in the stream but elevated well above the stream bed on the rich, sandy loam that supported the wide belt of Balsam now flat and straw like after many frosts. The outer bank of the stream is kept in check by a vertical wall of jagged rock carved out by a glacier ten thousand years ago, now softened by mosses, lichens and ferns clinging tenaciously to the permanently damp strata.
I managed to get onto the lane by a convoluted route which I suspected was necessitated by the pool being higher than normal. The lower part of the lane was carried by a viaduct of substantial proportions spanning the stream thirty foot below where a lush meadow provides Summer grazing for sheep and horses.
I resolved to do some research and then return in the Spring for another look when nature would be awakening. I discovered that there had been a mill near the pool which was more ancient than I had first surmised and in the absence of any old photographs, I tried to picture in my mind what it would have looked like back then?
On a mild, sunny day in March I returned to the pool. Free of ice the pool seemed to have shrunk and I soon discovered that indeed the water level had dropped. A sluice built into the viaduct that earlier was blocked with flood borne debris, was now clear and nearby a makeshift dam had partially collapsed further allowing the pool to lower.
The water still had the brownish stain pointing up the fresh Spring greens of early leaf and the yellow Willow catkins. The Reedmace was sending up green spears out of the marginal mud exposed by the receding water. Water that I now noticed was studded by clusters of bubbles causing my heart to flutter a little. Could it be that we had stumbled on a little gem? After a while the actual source of the bubbles became apparent, Frogs, lots of them! Spawning was well underway and I hoped there may be some fishy frolics soon as well.
Over the next few weeks we repaired the dam adding a foot to the depth and also planted some lilies around the deeper corner of the larger part of the pool where we found around five foot of depth. We fished there several times but caught only Minnows and Sticklebacks. I must admit here that we didn't try too hard to ascertain who actually owned the pool, information being rather scant , just vague rumours really. The idea of our own little fishery exerted a powerful influence on our actions going forward but we modified this somewhat with a vision of somewhere for the local youngsters to learn the basics with the added possibility of a nice surprise in the shape of a relative 'rodbender'
With that in mind a couple of bucketfuls of tiny Roach and Rudd went in followed a few weeks later by a dozen of each, six ounce Tench and Crucians and with that we left the pool to 'mature' for two years. When we did go back we were to have a surprise?

[Grumpy]

An unspoilt pool,lovely.I look forward to hearing how it develops.

[Wanderer]

Interesting stuff, Catfish 017.
Hope it's all good news and that things aren't going to go wrong.