Under The Surface - Knypersley Reservoir

Many good anglers have fish Knypersley Res over the years, building up a wealth of knowledge on how to fish it. However, many of these anglers will have had the opportunity to see the reservoir as low as it got during the winter of 2005/06. During this time, British Waterways were working on Knypersley Reservoir to complete major repair work the the main dam wall. As a result of this work, the level was dropped to leave much of the reservoir dry. During this time, the water was closed to fishing, so I took the chance take photo's of the lake bed.

Again, I'd originally taken these photo's for my own personal use, but as i've had so many requests for them, I decided to write an article showing these photo's to you, the VBAS and CNSAA members. I hope these photo's will give you a better understanding of the lake bed and therefore improve your chances of catching.

I'll start on peg 1 on the match length going up the match length back round to the dam. There may be gaps left between areas due to there being relatively no major change to the previous pictures.

Notice how the steps continue straight down into the low water level on the steep drop off. Also notice where the dam wall levels out with the bankside just to the left of the picture.

This picture is from peg 9. Notice again, just how fast the bankside drops off and eventually starts to level out towards the bottom of the drop off. Pegs 2-12 are very similar to this picture.

These pictures are peg 13 (top) and 14 (bottom). Notice the mound that extends out from peg 14 and bends in toward peg 13 creating an under water bay. Although it cannot be seen from the photo, the mound drops off at a rapid rate at its end.

Next door is peg 15. Although classed by many as the sand bank/mound, the area in front of the peg is between two mounds with a small channel running through it.

The above two pictures are peg 17 (top) and 18 (bottom), also known as the oak tree pegs. Notice how the water is deeper between the two pegs (right of 17 and left of 18). Also notice the channel out in front of peg 18.

This is peg 19, aka the boulder peg. Notice how close the channel is to this peg.

Just after the bridge is peg 23. Although difficult to see, notice the steep drop off the right of the picture.

This picture shows peg 26. Notice the boulders close in front of this peg. Also, notice how the drop off is far less steep to the opposite bank.

The picture shows peg 29. Notice the deeper area created by the channel just in front of this peg.

This picture shows out in front of the beach peg. Notice how the drop off is much steadier than anywhere else in the lake. Also notice the lack of features.

The picture shows the shallows taken from The Serpentine dam. Notice the channel and deeper water hug closely to the right hand bank.

Looking accross to pegs 21-25, this picture shows the deeper area directly in front with a small channel running through it.

And finnally back to the dam wall. Notice the copper dam being constructed by British Waterways. The four corners of this copper dam are now marked by four pink buoys. Also notice how the brickwork on the face of the dam continues all the way to its base.

I hope that these pictures have now given you a clearer idea of what the bottom of the reservoir looks like. I've highlighted many of the key features of all the pictures but there are many more if you look closely. Try and use these pictures to your advantage and increase your knowledge of whats under the surface of Knypersley Reservoir.

Tight Lines

Daniel Goddard