About a year ago my club lost one of its still waters when the landowner decided to sell. This upset the carp fishermen as it was our only specialized carp lake, all the other waters being mixed fisheries.
During the summer we lost another water as the carp had a disease probably brought in by some koi which were released there. The Environment Agency was involved and lots of decent size carp were found dead and removed. The upshot was that we lost that lake as well through no fault of our own.
Things looked up with the acquisition of a large lake near to two of our existing waters and it was fished successfully through the summer. This week came the news that the landowner is not renewing the lease for it or the other two nearby lakes. This was a bit of a bombshell as it was unexpected, especially as the guys had arranged a work party a couple of weeks ago to clear swims, prune overgrown trees etc. They were not happy and the club’s Facebook page had some well-expressed views on the subject.
The upshot is that the club has lost half its waters in the space of a year and there is no sign of any vacant still waters to replace them. I imagine that the AGM in a few week’s time will be lively! The trouble is that the overcrowded south east of the country has a demand for waters from syndicates who are prepared to pay more for the rights to fish. For the landowner it is a win win, more income and fewer people traipsing over his land. For angling clubs it is becoming a problem, they are being priced out of the market. Is this the thin edge of the wedge for them? Are we going to end up with having to fish commercials or join a syndicate? Only time will tell. One of the things that I liked about the club was that I had a good choice of places to go and as this has been restricted I thought that I would Google other fishing clubs in the county. I was not surprised to read on a club website that they too had lost a water, one which they had been fishing for fifty years! No doubt it will soon be on the market at a price local club’s can’t afford.
So, what do I do? A couple of the lakes we have just lost are within five minute’s drive of me and with easy access when you get there. I used to fish there more than anywhere else. Of the others, I like one of the waters but it is a drive away and a long walk when you get there, another one I have visited but not managed to catch, another is a specialist fish pit and I need to improve my angling before trying it, which leaves three mixed fisheries of various kinds and the rivers. Other local clubs have waters which are at least a half hour’s drive from me and so far in my re-born angling career I have been spoilt in having waters on my doorstep. I will have to have a think and see what I can come up with.
Richard Walker said that the future was in “commercials”. We’ve gone a long way down that path and unfortunately it’s not a great road to travel. We can only hope that eventually the money will dry up and the syndicates will disappear. What I find difficult to understand is this obsession with catching the same few fish, all named, at a few ounces heavier (possibly).