HORSESHOE LAKE UPDATE
30/11/2025: HORSESHOE LAKE UPDATE
We are pleased to confirm that Horseshoe Lake will reopen from 9am Monday, 1st December. You may notice aerators positioned around the lake; these will remain in place as a precaution a small number of swims may remain closed.
No doubt the question on everyone’s minds is how many fish have been lost; whilst no one (us included) wants to see fish die, due to the quick actions and due diligence of the Fisheries team, we lost a total of 36 carp and a few small tench, pike and one perch. The Carp weights are mostly unknown as many were waterlogged or decayed when they came to the surface, we estimate a small number to be over 30lb.
To assist with ongoing monitoring, please send catch reports—including photos and weights of all captures—to catchreports@thecarpsociety.com.
Some maintenance work will likley take place over the next 6–12 months. We will keep you informed of any temporary swim closures or disruptions.
⚠️ Horseshoe Lake Temporary Closure Notice
Lake update: 21/11/2025 UPDATE Mondays O2 readings although safe were down on the previous week, which gave us the jitters. Tuesday saw a slight increase, but by Wednesday the readings were back to averaging 6mg/l. Thursday and today's ( Friday) readings have been excellent though, reaching 8mg/l in parts of the lake and a consistent 7+ all over. We have found no further mortality's, we've been testing the water quality and the Ph levels, Ammonia, phosphate and Nitrate are all good. I don't want to jinx things but it's been a good week and hopefully keeps getting better. We are going to keep the lake closed next week and keep the aerators going but lower the length of time they are on and see how the lake reacts. We will also introduce some feed into the lake and see how the fish react. If things improve or even stay as they are we will be looking to open the lake on Monday 1st December. Thank you for your understanding and patience throughout this time. Thank you very much.
Lake Update: 12/11/2025
We have been continuing to monitor and record the lake readings daily. While the levels remain within acceptable limits, they are still fluctuating, and the fish remain lethargic. For these reasons, the lake will stay closed until we are confident that it is safe to reopen. We will continue to review the situation closely and share another update early next week. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
Lake Update: 04/11/2025
We are pleased to report the oxygen levels continue to show steady improvements on Horseshoe. They have slowly risen to 6.5mg/l - 7.5mg/l all around the lake & remained steady at that level for the last 3 or 4 days now, which is a huge relief, especially given for the first few days we had readings of 0.7mg/l to a maximum of 1.5mg/l. That is outrageously low and potentially disastrous. Sadly, to date we have lost 30 Carp; as distressing as that is, it could have been so much worse.
While 7mg/l is widely considered ideal (if not optimum) for Carp to thrive, its worth noting that in the past decade, our readings have been consistently above 10 mg/l, so we’re still not back to what we consider ‘normal’ for Horseshoe.
We have been visually monitoring the fish, while we have been out on the boat taking readings, and whilst the current readings are good and no new losses have occurred, it's clear the fish are still a bit lethargic, and I suspect recovering from the shock of such a sudden and prolonged drop in oxygen levels. With that in mind we are going to give the fish some more time to recover and hopefully get the levels even higher before we reopen. We believe this is in the best interest of the fish and don’t think any anglers would want to fish for them just yet.
Traditionally, we don’t usually have that many anglers at this time of year, but we know this decision may disappoint a few of you, especially those who were keen to get bank side. But we’d rather face a bit of disappointment now than risk a more serious setback by opening too early. We appreciate your patience and understanding—it means a lot during times like these.
We will review and update further next week.
Lake Update: 27/10/2025
Oxygen levels continue to improve on Horseshoe. They are now at a level where the fish should be perfectly safe and comfortable.
However, we are going to keep the lake closed for a little while longer to give both the fish and oursleves time to recover from what has been a pretty traumatic couple of weeks. Once we are confident the fish are settled and feeding we will let you know. All being well we'll then be able to open the lake and get back to normal.
We don't want to tempt fate just yet, but we'll give you a full run down on all thats happened when we come out the other side. Thank you.
Lake Update: 23/10/2025
The oxygen readings today, although low, were a good improvement on previous results. We understand that everyone is keen to get back fishing, and while things are looking more optimistic, we are not out of the woods, so the lake will stay closed for now while we continue to get the O₂ levels consistently positive and give the fish a bit more time to recover.
Lake update: 17/10/2025
The oxygen levels on Horseshoe remain low. We currently have six aerators going and have managed to stabilise the levels. The levels around the aerators show improvement but the rest of the lake hasn't improved. We are working round the clock to address the problem and hope to have some better news after the weekend, but as it is at the moment the lake remains closed. Thank you for your understanding and patience during this time.
Lake Update 13.10.25
Oxygen Levels: Here’s a quick update while work continues at the lake:
We’ve seen some slight improvement in oxygen levels, but they’re still fluctuating, especially in the early mornings.
We currently have six aerators running around the lake to help keep things stable. It looks like algae dieback and the recent pressure changes have been the main contributors to the issue.
Thanks to the hard work and vigilance of our Fisheries team and helpers, we’re doing everything we can to stay on top of it. For now, the lake will remain closed while we continue to monitor conditions closely.
We’ll post another update as soon as we can — but at the moment, no news is good news, and the team is keeping a close eye on things.
11/10/2025:
The oxygen levels on Horseshoe Lake are currently low. As a precaution, we’ve already deployed a couple of aerators to help increase oxygen levels, and we’ll be adding a few more today. Because the aerators will be spread around the lake, we’ve decided to temporarily close Horseshoe Lake for a couple of days.
This will give the lake time to recover and oxygen levels to return to normal. We appreciate your understanding and patience while we take these steps to protect the health of the fish and the lake environment.
We’ll provide an update as soon as conditions improve.
