Latest news
This page will be regularly updated with latest news from the fishery and our consultancy work, whether it's catches, wildlife sightings, a new project or anything else of interest.
If a news item includes a thumbnail image, click on it to open a larger version.
Did somebody mention Spring?
Added at 12:22 on Saturday 31st March 2018
Spring certainly hasn't arrived in Somerset yet! Torrential rain for the past two days and the wetland is, well, wet and very very muddy. It's still cold as well although not as cold as a fortnight ago when Ryan Thomas awoke to find his brolly had become part of a snow drift... In between, when the sun has shown its face, the odd carp has been caught and they are moving. A lovely young Ashmead mirror caught by Adam Hicks and a 26lb common to Martyn Lloyd were amongst last week's captures but the fishing is hard going to say the least. Hopefully spring will reach us before too long, the wetland pathways will dry and the carp will awaken.
New arrival....
Added at 17:51 on Sunday 04th March 2018
It's not all about fish. Introducing Munro who was born on the smallholding this morning at first light. We love our Highland's which help us keep the fishery and our fields in good shape. They also provide fantastic tasting beef but this probably isn't the time to mention that!
Three years!
Added at 09:46 on Sunday 04th March 2018
Three years ago we announced in Carpworld that we were opening the Ashmead gate the angling world. Three years! Time flies...
Since then , we have shared the wetland with anglers who have become regular guests and friends.
We hoped that there were anglers out there who would appreciate the natural beauty and fine carp that Ashmead has to offer and that has proven to be the case...
We would like to thank all of our guests for their support. We look forward to welcoming you onto the banks of Ashmead this year and in 2019.
2019/20 Bookings.
Added at 12:26 on Wednesday 14th February 2018
The calendar showing booking availability at Ashmead in 2019/20 is now live on the website.
We are grateful for the continued support of our regular guests who have already requested dates and we look forward to welcoming some new guests in 2019/20. A limited number of dates are also available in the week 26th to 31st October 2018.
If you want to apply for a booking to fish Ashmead, please check the calendar on the website and drop us an email at enquiries@ashmeadfishery.com
Last Huzzah!
Added at 19:17 on Sunday 05th November 2017
As another successful season of bookings draws to a close and we start the Ashmead Winter Syndicate, Shona and I would like to thank all of our guests for their support over the spring, summer and autumn. Despite a drop in temperatures and the first frost of the year, a few good fish were caught last week, including Ashmead's biggest fully scaled mirror, Patch, at 33lb 8oz and Moonscale at 48lb: a lovely way to end the Ashmead season for 2017. This is the last week of bookings, so there is still hope of a last fish or two, although the drop in temperature over the weekend has made the fishing difficult... There's always a chance!
Autumn Glory...
Added at 12:19 on Saturday 30th September 2017
I fished Ashmead for a few nights myself in the past few weeks and enjoyed every second...
On my first night I found some carp in the back channels and landed a lovely 22lb 8oz mirror at dawn, after trickling a little bait along the margin and lowering a hookbait under the rod top. Then on Monday, I found a breathtaking group of fish in Tom's Pond. Single Scale was in there, with three huge commons (that all looked like they could be 40+), as well as about a dozen other carp that all looked to be over twenty pounds. Better still, they were feeding and churning up the silt in the shallow end of the bay. I fished the deeper water on the opposite side of the bay, hoping not to spook the fish and to intercept them as they moved in and out of Tom's along the deep margin.
On the first night I had two takes, one from a ten pound common and then a second from a two pound tench! A bit of an anti-climax after seeing so many huge fish... On the Tuesday, the majority of the carp had gone but I chose to stay put for a second night, thinking they may return to feed. Just before dawn, I had a lovely take and hooked a powerful fish that weeded me, so I had to take to the boat to land it. It was a really beautiful, heavily scaled mirror of 31lb 10oz and she just looked incredible in the golden light of the early autumn dawn.
It was the first time this carp has been landed at more than thirty pounds and I have watched her grow through from her first capture at 11lb in 2009. Bred and grown on naturally in the wetland, she epitomises everything that makes Ashmead so important to me; a lovely carp that reflects the quality of the rich and natural environment in which she has thrived.
It's about more than catching fish....
Added at 11:01 on Saturday 16th September 2017
I will post up some recent capture shots later but for now, as we slip into Autumn, I thought I would share some scenic and wildlife photographs taken recently across the Ashmead wetland by our guests...
The Crown Jewels of carp angling...
Added at 13:29 on Sunday 03rd September 2017
Last year, Chris Yates brought his Walker-built carp rod and Bernard Venables own Aerial to Ashmead. This year, another Walker-built carp rod graced the banks of the wetland, in the company of one of the first batch of MKIV carp rods built by The Captain (Bob Southwell) for B James and Sons. In the first two photographs, The Captain's rod is on the left, the Walker-built MKIV in the centre and a later B James MKIV on the right... It's lovely to see these iconic rods in action at Ashmead; still catching carp after more than sixty years, rather than gathering dust in a collectors rod rack!
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