One of the Midlands’ best-known commercial match waters is building a ‘predator only’ lake, with plans to stock over 2,000lb of pike.

Cudmore Fisheries, home of the high-profile Fish O’ Mania final, is to release the predators to over 20lb into its Tara Pool next month. There are also plans to introduce zander.
The move, part of Cudmore’s plans for a National School of Angling, has brought some raised eyebrows from pressure groups, who have seen big pike from trout reservoirs die in similar circumstances due to lack of food supply.
Pike ace Mick Brown told Angling Times: “Carp can be caught 30 times a year and be fine, but a pike only needs to be caught two or three times over a year before it starts to suffer.”