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double-figure commons were shooting past<br />
the 20lb mark and during the 2003 season<br />
Mark Harvey landed a new lake record by<br />
catching a 23lb 8oz mirror. We named it<br />
after him (Harvey) but little were we to<br />
know just how big this fish was going to<br />
become over the next few years!<br />
It seemed as if we were always working,<br />
which, looking back, I suppose we were!! � e<br />
excessive weedgrowth was still causing some<br />
problems but we were gradually winning<br />
the battle. Of course, for a good many years<br />
the lake remained untouched and the weed<br />
that built up and died each year was slowly<br />
increasing the silt levels. We therefore<br />
decided to use a product called Siltex to help<br />
reduce the silt levels. � � is worked very well<br />
indeed and also gave the whole eco system a<br />
new lease of life, which, again, bene� bene� ted the<br />
� � sh enormously.<br />
Fortunately however, all the hard work<br />
at Springwood never took a complete<br />
stranglehold of my life, and I was still<br />
managing to � � nd a few opportunities to go<br />
� � shing. I’d le� le� Frampton a few years earlier<br />
and had � � shed a few seasons on the Swindon<br />
Park Lake, but in reality my sights were set<br />
on a very di� di� cult Berkshire pit in search of a<br />
big mirror mir or that r I’d dreamt about for so long.<br />
However, I knew that was going to be a much<br />
bigger challenge than anything I’d come up<br />
against before, and taking into consideration<br />
the time availability av ilability a and family commitments<br />
become over the next few years! that built up and died each year was slowly<br />
Mark Harvey 23lb 8oz.<br />
For a good many years the lake<br />
remained untouched and the weed<br />
that built up and died each year was<br />
slowly increasing the silt levels<br />
I had in front of me, I didn’t view that as a<br />
viable option at that particular time.<br />
You may recall the explosive start to the<br />
season I had at the Swindon Park Lake in the<br />
last issue and it was clear that I still had a little<br />
� re le� in my belly for the place, although I<br />
would be the � rst to admit that my interest<br />
was waning with each passing year and I knew<br />
it wouldn’t be too long before I called it a day<br />
on there. All but one of my main target � sh<br />
had graced my net and I was starting to get<br />
repeat captures, which isn’t ideal. � e jewel in<br />
the crown was undoubtedly � e Resident, but<br />
I’d caught her twice. I’d also banked another<br />
40 at 41.08 at the start of the 2001 season,<br />
which was also one of my main target � sh, but<br />
that was a repeat capture as well. Sadly, one or<br />
two of the older � sh were beginning to pass<br />
away, including the aforementioned 41 and<br />
I began to wonder just how long some of the<br />
old character � sh had le� .<br />
Despite having plans to � sh at the Park<br />
through the autumn of 2003, the hunger<br />
never arrived. Again, I think this was more<br />
to do with my hectic life schedule and<br />
limited � shing time rather than any lack<br />
Life and Carp Life <strong>Mike</strong> <strong>Willmott</strong><br />
23