Exclusive fishing, right or wong?

syndication is all very well, providing it is run fairly... one of my local lakes, the sister lake to Dinton Pastures, is syndicated for night fishing only.... now i think, it's fair to say, that to get on the night syndicate is pretty difficult, because the people on it, stay on it,but there are often spare swims... in fact if the members dont get the choice of 3 or 4 hot swims, they dont bother.
This is a council owned pond, so is that fair?...
I think sometimes rota's are better, at least you know where and when you are fishing on a given date, the only thing you have to battle with is the weather!!

I have to say that fishing Adams Mill, as I did whilst a member of MKAA, and more times than not,being the only sole on the bank,I was a bit miffed that it was syndicated.
But,that may have been because I got no response to my applications,in fact the chairman denied receiving them.
I thought my face didn't fit and the Old Pals Act came into force.
That made me even more miffed!

I belong to a syndicate/limited membership club on 4 small lakes in North Essex. This is the only way the landowner would permit fishing as it gives him control over who, when, where and what. No fish of any great size present, but a pleasurable experience to be where there is no litter or disturbance, night fishing allowed, gentlemanly conduct predominates and car parking is secure.

[Tim Ridge]

That's the problem Fred, this sort of thing is common. I've had similar experiences with several syndicates. If your not in with the boys or not prepaired to kiss arse you often don't stand a chance.

A bill has passed through Parliament regarding the right to roam, which I fully supported. I would support a similar bill that would give free access to fish on any river who’s banks where classed as common or agricultural land. Agricultural land attracts considerable monies from taxation in the form of subsidies and grants and as far as I’m concerned it’s pay back time. I wouldn’t have a problem paying more for my Rod Licence if the money was spent on enforcing our existing laws regarding EA rules and controlling litter and pollution as well as stocking the rivers. I don’t have a problem with man made ponds and lakes being private but Britain’s rivers and lakes belong to the people.

John you old radical you! ;0) ;0) ;0)

P.S. 'Fame is the Spur' and who’s land is it anyway?

[GrahamM]

I don't have a problem with syndicates providing they were acquired openly and not at the expence of a club that, for instance, couldn't afford extortionate fees.

Graham,
I'm afraid that for the most part angling in this country is far to cheap.
Syndicates have been around since the 1950s as have Closed Shop Clubs, with their'' Black Ball '' system.
Small farmers in this country are really struggling to survive, and if can maximise a return on fishing rights, why should they not do that ?
Unfortunatly river fishermen are not use to paying top rates for the oppertunity of fishing Top Venues.
But its here to stay, and about time they got into the REAL WORLD.

Bob

There tend to be several reasons for closed membership syndication:

1. To enable fishing to takle place.
2. To enable fishing to continue.
3. To enable a limited number of anglers to acquire the rights for themselves.

It's the third of those reasons that causes all the problems.

Syndicates like Broadwater and Queenford came into being for reason 1.

It has been claimed that the Kickles syndicate came into being for reason 2 but many believe that it came into being for the same reason as the Adams Mill syndicate i.e. reason 3.

Anyone who fished Adams Mill on the Club ticket and now can't fish has a right to be miffed.

I have never been a member of any closed syndicate but I have lost access to one water "Stormin Normans" as a result of the creation of a syndicate for reason 3. The owner expressly stated to me that the only reason he was selling the fishing rights,and would no longer issue day tickets, was that he had an offer he could not refuse.

Syncdicates are clearly necessary sometimes but where the reason for creating them is motivated essentially by greed those responsible deserve only contempt.