Got to disagree with that. I believe that the first priority is to provide a safe site, safe for kids and elderly, with nice surroundings and a good healthy looking lake. Then you can stock with with good hard fighting tench, some fine rudd, and good crucians. Perhaps a few perch to keep everything in place. Then you have a good fishery.
If you have two similar fisheries then the other can be for roach, bream, and carp, but I will bet the carp dominate all the catches after the angler has baited and fished his swim for an hour or two.
One of the problems we have with the BIG carp anglers now is they believe we should all fish with the kit they use, 42inch nets, high-sided mats, and use medication - EVERY time in every hook hold. It's not necessary, carp are one of the toughest fish of all with a good immune system the fast healing skin. Only if the hook hold is very blooded or you see a wound that has been picked up on the fight in should you use any antiseptic (that came from Dave Chilton, owner of Kryston who made Klin-Ik.)
And now they want to use dip tanks as well, but I just wonder how often they're going to renew the solution. The old use of iodine solution was that on the day it worked well, the day after it was perhaps only 70-80% effective, the following day only 60%, then 50%, and 40% etc. And you don't just dip your net for 5 seconds, you leave it in for 2-3 HOURS! How about that? When do you get to fish? This is what the EA do if they have to dip their seine nets. Otherwise, a full day in bright sunshine kills all know diseases on nets, so dry them, simple as that.
It's worth bearing mind that disease is more likely spread by the transfer of fish stocks. The chance of a damp net carrying a disease is most unlikely, millions to one. (This from our local EA Fisheries Officer.)
I think you may have got the wrong end of the stick. The vast majority of your post bears no relation whatsoever to my post, or subsequent posts. The comment was simply in response to the assertion of there being loads of folks wanting to fish for tench, nothing more.
However, it's a simple fact that supply and demand is dictating that the majority of folks want to fish commies. Many clubs are losing out on income because of this. The majority of commies are full of carp. Even the big carp world is seeing a proliferation of very commercialized waters. The fact that plenty of the regulars on here, including myself, would generally prefer to avoid both commies and carp is immaterial. We are simply not representative of angling as a whole. If we were, there'd be an awful lot more out and out carpers or match type commie anglers within our ranks. If that were the case, I'd probably not be here, and I suspect that a few others would feel the same way.
Quite a few on here seem to believe that I'm defending the proliferation of carp. I'm categorically not doing so. I'm simply trying to defend the committees of clubs that are doing their best to survive. The road to hell may be paved with good intentions, but I've no doubt that their intentions are good, even if I, and others, think them misguided. The clubs that will definitely survive, without at least some carp in their waters, are those lucky enough to have something exceptional in their portfolio of waters, be they stillwaters devoid of carp or river stretches. My own perfect stillwater fishery probably wouldn't have any carp at all. However, with my club hat on, or if it were a commercial venture, it would probably have to.
My own club is primarily centred on flowing water. We had a decent tench water (for the area), but had to give it up because the rent increased out of all proportion to the number of members actually bothering to fish it. The most telling aspect of this particular water is that it has been unfished since, despite being offered to all and sundry, sometimes for less than we paid pre-price hike. We managed to get access to another stillwater that has nothing remotely exceptional about it. It's a purpose dug fishery, not unlike the average commie, just without masses of fish. However, it does have carp. Lo and behold, club membership increased. That pains me to say, but it's the truth.
My syndicate lake has both bream and tench that are exceptional for the area. It also has a fairly low number of carp to a decent size for my part of the world. It is deliberately billed as a mixed fishery. However, without carp, and carpers, we couldn't afford to do what's been done. The number of members that deliberately target anything but carp can be counted on one hand. The number of people prepared to pay for a crack at these good tench and bream is disappointingly small.
I understand entirely why so many don't like the proliferation of carp. I'm really not that keen myself, especially when a good water is ruined by it. There are hundreds of decidely average waters that people inexplicably flock to fish. The one common factor is usually carp.
