Our fish are hatched from our own broodstock, examples of which have grown in the UK to over 60lb. Our fish originally developed by crossing two European strains demonstrate the coveted European growth rates with high shoulders and low scale pattern, having been further crossed with a Sutton strain we now achieve 20% more scaley examples with the same growth characteristics. This will increase to 40% over the next few years. Given the right conditions these fish will readily grow to become members of your A team adding value to your fishery whilst readily attracting anglers for the challenge of beating their PB.
Please note that in any strain of fish, not all will grow at the same pace and that there are always shooters which become that special investment. There are many factors which will slow down growth, which in itself is not a bad thing if you have time and are not looking for quick results. Such events range from the simplest of things like being fished for, to stock levels, water quality and food availability. If required we are available discuss this in more detail with our customers as part of the sales process.
Our C1’s are generally hatched late may / early June from Holme Fen broodstock. These fry are sorted and grown on in fry ponds for up to 7 months when they will range from 6 to 9 inch in length. At this stage they are netted, sorted and moved on to larger ponds
Fish are next graded at C2’s when they are typically 18 months old. We would expect the majority of fish to be between 1 to 2lb with the shooters reaching 3lb having had two growing seasons to pile on the weight. Fish are again moved into larger sterile ponds.
C3’s are graded at about 30 months old when they could have increased their weight by over 400% from the previous year. At this stage we would expect the fish to average 7lb with the shooters maybe around 9lb. These fish are moved to 2 to 3 acre ponds in which they grow on for a further 3 years ready to be sold.
Our C4’s are now in the larger ponds serviced by automated feeders filled high protein pellets (during the growing season) and left for a couple of years to do thier own thing. The number of fish in each pond is determined to ensure sufficient space to efficiently grow on until ready for sale.
Our Fish are sold at C5 and C6 between Nov and Feb separate reservoirs for each year class. Feed is stopped at least 6 weeks prior to harvest to help ready the fish for their new environment.
Covert Fish are sold at C5 and C6 between Nov and Feb separate reservoirs for each year class. Feed is stopped at least 6 weeks prior to harvest to help ready the fish for their new environment.
