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.
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Look ye also while life lasts...
Added at 11:40 on Sunday 30th April 2017
A few spring flower shots from the wetland.
Single Scale and friends.
Added at 14:05 on Saturday 29th April 2017
Congratulations to Paul Theckston on the capture of Single Scale last week at 52+. She was one of a series of good fish landed, including four beautiful commons of over thirty pounds.
Carp!
Added at 09:40 on Thursday 20th April 2017
I haven't been keeping up to date with the news... Last week epitomised what Ashmead is all about for me; a group of like-minded anglers meeting for the first time to share the fishing and natural beauty of the Ashmead wetland. The carp never give themselves up easily. In fact, with the abundance of natural food in the lake it sometimes surprises me that they get caught at all.
This week, the carp were grazing rather than feeding hard but some good angling saw the capture of six commons, including four over thirty pounds, and four mirrors, including Opal at 36lb + and Moonscale at just over 47lb (a new best for the lovely Taff from the Isle of Wight).
I won't mention the mirror Kentish Stu lost.... Lovely times!
Wildlife
Added at 17:22 on Friday 14th April 2017
Some more shots from Paul Keeble's camera last week...
Ashmead spring
Added at 17:18 on Friday 14th April 2017
Some lovely wildlife shots taken by Paul Keeble last week...
Ashmead awakes....
Added at 12:57 on Sunday 26th March 2017
Cider (Brian Hannaford) with The Long Common at 41.08 and looking glorious in the spring sunshine... Hooked under the rod tip in one of Ashmead's many channels. Congratulations to my old mate on catching a new PB common and probably my favourite of all the large Ashmead carp.
A forty pound common to mark the arrival of spring.
Added at 12:58 on Friday 24th March 2017
I fished Ashmead last night. I set up in the Hut Bay where I had seen some fish but then went for a walk at last light to check the otter fence. In No Carp Corner, at the other end of the wetland I found a group of feeding carp that included a mirror I'm pretty sure was the Big Linear, uncaught for nearly six years. There and then I decided to move. It's a long old slog round to the Corner at the best of times but last night, moving in the dark through the thick wet clay I thought I must have been mad. Just as I finally reached the swim, a shooting star flashed across the sky; always a good omen!
All three baits landed sweetly and with hardly any disturbance and I sat back full of confidence. The night turned wild with a bank of cloud building from the North heralding the arrival of strong winds and driving rain.
The take when it came was dramatic and I knew straight away that it was a big fish; just that slow ponderous shaking of the head. The fish ploughed into heavy floating weed close in but I ran round the corner to change the angle of attack and the entire weed raft started to come towards me. Eventually the fish kicked free and set off on a long, surging run along the channel. I thought it was going to keep going under Wilson's bridge and I clamped down hard, rolling the fish over in the darkness. After that drama she came in easily and I soon had the golden scales of a huge common reflecting the torchlight in the net....
Forty Pounds four ounces... I couldn't be happier.
That's all folks! The final day of the Winter Syndicate.
Added at 18:50 on Wednesday 15th March 2017
The Ashmead Winter Syndicate ended today and we are readying ourselves for the arrival of the first spring guests on Friday.
It was a difficult winter but it ended with a flurry of captures as some spring sunshine roused the carp. The best fish of the final week was a 28lb common caught by Trev Sturgess but I was just as pleased to see some lovely mirrors coming through; these fish, spawned naturally in Ashmead over the past five years or so, are the future of the fishery and in ten years time they will be putting smiles on the faces of those fortunate enough to land them.
Keep up to date on the