Frozen in time

There's an old estate lake in the middle of an ancient wood not far away.Edged with mighty Oaks and Scots Pine.It's now half ruined boathouse conjours up visions of long since past men in straw boater hats rowing or punting their sweethearts on a sunny Sunday afternoon.
I still remember the first time I gazed upon its muddy,leaf covered expanse on one of my very first fishing trips as a boy..I would've been about three years of age and apparently gazed in wonderment as my elder brother caught a Rudd,nearly fell in,got a welly full of water,took it off and peered in(looking for fish).
The lake was well known for its specimen Tench,pristine and almost black..I actually caught my first one here,bizarrely,not on the bottom but on a grain of sweetcorn fished no more than four inches under a porcupine quill next to some lilies.It weighed all of three quarters of a pound and I'm ashamed to say that I was so excited I kissed it.
I have been drawn to this lake ever since and visit it in every season of every year.It's Tench,marvellous golden Rudd and large Perch are long since gone and the lake is now used as a farm for the now 'en vogue' commercial fisheries,and as such is stacked with small Carp clones.
As the site has SSSI status the angling stopped many years ago,not that I would wish to catch its current occupants.I do however still get lured to this beautiful place,frozen in time,frozen in my memory.