The Lake

The lake is approximately 12 acres in size, and fed by two streams and two land drains. It has a large outlet ('canal') approx 10 to 14' wide and 300 meters long which the fish love to get into in the warmer months. This will be dug a little deeper in 2010 (see below).

Lily pads are abundant, with large beds at both ends, and to the side of all swims. There are established reed beds, bull rushes and mature foliage all around.

The lake bed is very even, and fairly featureless. It has a reasonably soft bottom, with little detritus and very little weed. The main features (other than the pads and island) are the drop-offs that occur approximately one rod length out and go down very quickly from 4-5' by the edge of the pads to 7-15 feet in the centre. The bottom of these drop offs is as good a place to start as any, along with the consistent margins.

Open water is 15 feet deep at the east end sloping gradually up to around 6 feet towards the outlet end. There are some large bloodworm beds, and fish show in open water frequently.

Blakemere was referred to years ago as 'Black Mere' due to its peaty water colour. It was formed in the ice ages along with most of the other Shropshire meres and is abundant in natural life. 

Over the next 12 months we will be digging out some of the marshland around the lake, increasing its overall size to around 15 acres and creating several island and new bays. We will also create a large shallow bay at the south west end. This will create extra fishing areas and also create extra habitat for wildlife, vegetation and natural food source. The 'canal' section leaving the lake will be dug out to around 4 feet in depth along its full length. This will then mean we have an abundance of stalking swims, as well as the open water swims. We will update the site with pictures of work in progress as we go through the year.