Ashmead fishery

[chillfactor]

I see the carp society has purchased Ashmead,  always been somewhere I've wanted to wet a line . Been thinking of fishing Horseshoe again this year so interesting that they have purchased Ashmead. 

[salokcinnodrog]

At least with the Carp Society you know it will continue to be run as a fishery, hopefully with the same 'neglected' but well-managed feel.

 

A place I have wanted to fish myself since reading about it in More From the Bivvy by Tim Paisley.

 

[bluelabel]

Bet they start cutting swims and spreading chippings all over the place... I really question their approach to their fisheries...

I've been twice and I was hoping to get back next year... I won't bother now...

[newmarket]

14 hours ago, chillfactor said:

I see the carp society has purchased Ashmead,  always been somewhere I've wanted to wet a line . Been thinking of fishing Horseshoe again this year so interesting that they have purchased Ashmead. 

That looks lovely there matey 👍🏻
 

hope you’re well .

[chillfactor]

On 12/02/2022 at 09:56, newmarket said:

That looks lovely there matey 👍🏻
 

hope you’re well .

All good thanks Tim .... hope you & family are too , not been fishing much the last few years , but hoping to get out more this year . 👍

[newmarket]

1 minute ago, chillfactor said:

All good thanks Tim .... hope you & family are too , not been fishing much the last few years , but hoping to get out more this year . 👍

Yeah I can relate to that . 
There’s a few I know that are coming out of semi retirement this year . 
which is good , there’s nothing better than a couple of days on the bank .

[yonny]

On 12/02/2022 at 09:39, bluelabel said:

Bet they start cutting swims and spreading chippings all over the place... I really question their approach to their fisheries...

If Skeff was prepared to sell to someone that would do that, the fishery would have been offered for sale on the open market imo. Sell to the highest bidder innit. The fact the deal has been done so quietly says to me that Skeff had a buyer in mind to adopt his baby from the start. I'd expect them to run it exactly as it is now, but with Society membership a requirement. They're not so stupid as to purchase the place then destroy everything that makes it special imo.

On 12/02/2022 at 09:39, bluelabel said:

I've been twice and I was hoping to get back next year... I won't bother now...

Give them a chance mate!

On 11/02/2022 at 19:48, chillfactor said:

always been somewhere I've wanted to wet a line .

Same mate, just one of those things I've never got round to.

[Golden Paws]

Sorry to change from the original poster a little but I never joined or particularly wanted to join the Carp Society. I suppose I've been put off by when they issued the 10 year tickets for Horseshoe and then the classified sections of the angling comics were full of people selling Horseshoe membership with 9 years remaining! A few years back there was some serious discussions regarding the (then) Directors and their plans for the future of the Society  (leave it at the that as I didn't get the full story and don't want to get sued!)

A quick look at the Website shows that apart from a President, they have 4 Vice Presidents and 9 people identifying as Directors! I don't know if it is a paid position or otherwise but it does seem a bit top heavy.

Horseshoe, Farriers, Little Farriers and Ashmead aren't that far from me and are places that I would like to fish (especially Ashmead) but it would mean joining. Farriers is a Syndicate and Little Farriers is only available for 3.4 or 7 day bookings.

So my question is to people who might be (or have been members), is it worth joining?

[yonny]

10 minutes ago, Golden Paws said:

A few years back there was some serious discussions regarding the (then) Directors and their plans for the future of the Society  (leave it at the that as I didn't get the full story and don't want to get sued!)

You can't get sued buddy. They literally got busted. The court case only came to an end when the guilty parties agreed to pay all costs and todays board wrestled back full control of the Society.

14 minutes ago, Golden Paws said:

A quick look at the Website shows that apart from a President, they have 4 Vice Presidents and 9 people identifying as Directors! I don't know if it is a paid position or otherwise but it does seem a bit top heavy.

Unpaid. It is top heavy but this is to prevent what happened from happening again. Look at the names, you'll not find more trustworthy guys in all of carp fishing.

16 minutes ago, Golden Paws said:

Farriers...... Ashmead.....

is it worth joining?

I'm not a member and never have been but for me, 25 quid to get the chance to fish those waters alone is a bargain.

[salokcinnodrog]

As much as I like the thought of fishing Ashmead, I can't see the benefit of joining the Carp Society. 

The only single species group I am interested in is the Pike Angler's Club

[newmarket]

Just read an article in a recent , maybe the latest Carpology , featuring Tim Paisley that had a few pics of Ashmead in there .I’ll be honest I’d never heard of the place till this thread and it looks lovely , proper jungle hooks stuff .

Nick , as someone said above , for £25 SURELY Carp Society membership is great value just for a chance to fish a historical venue like that ?

 It’s like watching the ⚒’s in a European quarter final …

It’ll never happen again 😊

[salokcinnodrog]

21 minutes ago, newmarket said:

Just read an article in a recent , maybe the latest Carpology , featuring Tim Paisley that had a few pics of Ashmead in there .I’ll be honest I’d never heard of the place till this thread and it looks lovely , proper jungle hooks stuff .

Nick , as someone said above , for £25 SURELY Carp Society membership is great value just for a chance to fish a historical venue like that ?

 It’s like watching the ⚒’s in a European quarter final …

It’ll never happen again 😊

West Ham and European Quarter finals, could be a regularity.

There is quite a good write-up on Ashmead in Tim Paisley's More From the Bivvy, a few chapters on his fishing there. Yes it does look good, but sorry Mate, I can't justify the cost of the Carp Society plus around £140 (minimum) for 2 days/nights fishing, and a £100 security deposit.

Last year I paid to fish Redmire, but due to unforeseen circumstances couldn't go, I  couldn't get a dog sitter who Sky was comfortable with. 

My syndicate is £400 a year, and has produced some big fish to over 50lb, on natural food, along with at least 2 other 40's. 

I may moan at blanking but with 150 fish in 50acres...

I mention in response to a post, think it was Highy, it is hidden in plain sight.

My reason for being a member of the PAC is that the club does educate, even lobby on behalf of protection of the pike, both locally at club and venue level and nationally. They also arrange via Region, junior fish-ins and teaching as well as other fish-ins.

Do carp need that lobbying and protection? (Devils advocate)

If however there was a national angling group covering all species I might be interested. (Something along the lines of the old National Association of Specimen Anglers). I don't think that the Angling Trust is quite right, something I can't quite put my finger on.

[carpercs]

On 14/02/2022 at 12:09, Golden Paws said:

Sorry to change from the original poster a little but I never joined or particularly wanted to join the Carp Society. I suppose I've been put off by when they issued the 10 year tickets for Horseshoe and then the classified sections of the angling comics were full of people selling Horseshoe membership with 9 years remaining! A few years back there was some serious discussions regarding the (then) Directors and their plans for the future of the Society  (leave it at the that as I didn't get the full story and don't want to get sued!)

A quick look at the Website shows that apart from a President, they have 4 Vice Presidents and 9 people identifying as Directors! I don't know if it is a paid position or otherwise but it does seem a bit top heavy.

Horseshoe, Farriers, Little Farriers and Ashmead aren't that far from me and are places that I would like to fish (especially Ashmead) but it would mean joining. Farriers is a Syndicate and Little Farriers is only available for 3.4 or 7 day bookings.

So my question is to people who might be (or have been members), is it worth joining?

The original 10 year ticket was produced for the CS to raise money for the purchase of Horseshoe Lake, anglers then went on to sell their tickets after a year or two of fishing, in its start Horseshoe was a relatively new fishery partly used as a boating lake then changed to full Fishery, until the stock grew in quantity and size anglers were selling tickets and moving on, then the last 4/5 years the tickets went up in value as the fishery was more sought after. the 10 year ticket served a purpose at the time but tickets were not intended to be sold on, however that didnt stay the course.

The issues with the previously removed directors (well you can read alot more about it out on the www) but basically some of the then directors tried to reduce the mship to change the lake from a membership basis to them owning shares. since this was stopped the CS has returned fully to its company limited by membership status which is how it should always be. all the directors, vice president, presidents etc are fully voluntary roles. these people saved the CS from being sold under members noses and only want to see it protected for the future. whilst it might seem top heavy it is based on the original design as a membership organisation where the directors are overseeing the running of the business, the number was set when the members and arts were first written and serve to protect the companies assets, investments and have a broad range of experience. 

Is it worth joining, I would say so yes, but i am probably biased. the money from memberships goes back into the business, running the fisheries, events and future investments. currently members receive two carp fisher magazines a year and the options to fish our waters, along side attending our open day event for free. 

[Golden Paws]

Thanks for the reply, everything you say makes sense now.

[salokcinnodrog]

On 10/08/2022 at 08:30, carpercs said:

The original 10 year ticket was produced for the CS to raise money for the purchase of Horseshoe Lake, anglers then went on to sell their tickets after a year or two of fishing, in its start Horseshoe was a relatively new fishery partly used as a boating lake then changed to full Fishery, until the stock grew in quantity and size anglers were selling tickets and moving on, then the last 4/5 years the tickets went up in value as the fishery was more sought after. the 10 year ticket served a purpose at the time but tickets were not intended to be sold on, however that didnt stay the course.

The issues with the previously removed directors (well you can read alot more about it out on the www) but basically some of the then directors tried to reduce the mship to change the lake from a membership basis to them owning shares. since this was stopped the CS has returned fully to its company limited by membership status which is how it should always be. all the directors, vice president, presidents etc are fully voluntary roles. these people saved the CS from being sold under members noses and only want to see it protected for the future. whilst it might seem top heavy it is based on the original design as a membership organisation where the directors are overseeing the running of the business, the number was set when the members and arts were first written and serve to protect the companies assets, investments and have a broad range of experience. 

Is it worth joining, I would say so yes, but i am probably biased. the money from memberships goes back into the business, running the fisheries, events and future investments. currently members receive two carp fisher magazines a year and the options to fish our waters, along side attending our open day event for free. 

Thing is years ago I was a Carp Society member, and previous to that NASA, National Association of Specialist Anglers.

Of the 2 I found NASA was better value for money, not for waters, as NASA never ran any,  but in terms of information.

When CS bought Horseshoe with the scheme there was no way I could afford it, nor travel across the country to fish, except as a holiday, which other waters catered to with day tickets. I could join clubs in the area for less, in fact at one time I paid £20 for a season ticket on Horcott so I could camp over for Fairford Air Show and fish and have a holiday.

Ashmead is the same, and it has become an elitist water because of that.

You could argue that any syndicate is the same, but £500 syndicate membership (my lake) is cheaper than £500 in day tickets every week over the year. My £500 goes towards fish stocks, an annual weed cutter boat hire and owners etc. Of course not all syndicate prices are the same, some will be higher.