A days fishing ruined and lesson learned

Now I want to share this but also want to point out that my use of the phrase ‘eastern Europe’ is not racist but descriptive and accurate and also my use of the phrase bivvy boy is not having ago at all carp fishermen but descriptive of the type of people in I met

Last weekend I decided to have a drive out to a few fisheries and see what was around, the last one I went was idyllic. A series of three lakes the centre one being very natural looking with large fishing toping and cruising, set in a very natural woody area
The place looked ideal. I spoke to two guys fishing and the bailiff they all told me it was a great place to fish and was always nice and quiet. The middle lake seemed to be the most active .

So this Saturday my father in law and I visited, oh my god what a difference a week makes. I got there at 8 o’clock , one whole bank was taken up with eastern Europe bivvy boys , all had multiple rods out and the noise of the bite alarms was deafening
One guy told me that the bank had been paid for by them and I was not welcome. I told them I had called the bailiff the night before and he told me the lake was free for fishing by anyone , he then in language I did not understand shouted out something and within minutes every peg was filled with rods
One peg that was free had a gas stove on and I asked if I could fish it and was rudely told that it was in use. They had beer cans and food wrappers all around the place and they seems to have moved in for the weekend. Radios blaring , kids shouting and screaming and all in all very unwelcoming and unfriendly

So we moved up to the next lake , here there were two kids shouting across the lake , screaming at bees and been a total pain in the a$$

The noise from the other lake was just as bad , with shouting , buzzing , etc.

The next time I try a new venue I may pay a few visits, the fishing was okay but the company and surroundings were not !

Fishing for me is a tranquil past time and I try not to disturb others, it’s a pity everyone is not like that!

I always take a wander round a venue before getting gear out. In that scenario I would have returned to the car, left my gear in it and gone elsewhere, as quickly as possible.

Sadly, such shenanigans are more likely on day ticket water or cheap club waters with little bailiffing. Precisely why many folks avoid such fisheries like the plague. Syndicates and exclusive clubs might not sit well with a socialist ideal, but there are good reasons why they proliferate. Many also work out an awful lot cheaper than day ticket fishing in the long run.

Like Sam says, a wander first can certainly pay dividends.... it's very rare for me to get a whole day when i can do nothing but fish, but if i was to then I think I would always have a "plan b" or even c and d before setting out. If i could find a local one that appealed, I'd have no hesitation whatsoever in joining a syndicate for this very reason....

I've had exactly the same problem with "anglers" a lot closer to home than Eastern Europe.
Crates of Stella, yapping on mobiles and a bewildering inability to avoid hooking ducklings. Litter all over the place.
As you say- live and learn.
Roll on Winter!

Not only bivvy boys- but Eastern European ones at that-can it get any worse? BBQ,D Carp anyone?

A disturbing story Brummiephil.

I would probably have left almost immediately as others have said, but additionally I would have posted the name of the venue to prevent others from going to the trouble of visiting.

The owner needs to take responsibility here.

terry m said:

The owner needs to take responsibility here.

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Agreed.

Reading between the lines I rather suspect the owner valued the prospect of filling a bank with paying "anglers" rather than filling fewer pegs with the same.

Yes Phil let us know the venue so that we can be wary, if the owner knows they might be out of pocket in the long run it might spur them into better regulating their waters in the future?

I agree too but I also sympathise with the owner.
There's a good 50 or 60 fisheries in a 10 mile radius from where I live.
That's a lot of competition. Times are hard.
Have a chat with the owner. Things may improve.
All the best.

terry m said:

A disturbing story Brummiephil.

I would probably have left almost immediately as others have said, but additionally I would have posted the name of the venue to prevent others from going to the trouble of visiting.

The owner needs to take responsibility here.

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it was willow farm fishery near Evesham

Broadlands lake near the M27 in Hants is a bit like that on one bank. Not EEs but your typical bivvy boy x 40. All with crates of Stella, smoking weed and generally making the place look a right mess

But money talks louder than litter it seems

Find a river to fish, plenty of very quiet places to be found where you wont see anyone all day.

Yes. Bit like going to the zoo then complaining that you saw a lot of animals....

Simon - that, along with the continuous motorway rumble are two good reasons why I steer clear of Broadlands.

Paul Boote said:

Yes. Bit like going to the zoo then complaining that you saw a lot of animals....

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not at all , if I went to the zoo and saw lots of animals fine, if while I was there were lots of noisy, chavs smoking drinking and playing loud music I would still be ****** off

You want to try running a fishery yourself.
It's no walk in in the park. You've named and shamed on the basis of one single visit.
This is someones livelihood we're talking about.

Very much so, ngb. Many of us have become emotionally incontinent, tweet the world, "Name, shame & sheet on", teenager these days. So you make a mistake ... things don't work out ... but does everyone else have to hear about it...?

Running a fishery is simply another service business, but like all service businesses your success will depend on you giving the punters what they want.

My guess is that doped up chavs playing radios, swim hoggers and inconsiderate anglers are not what most people want when they go fishing.

nogoodboyo said:

You want to try running a fishery yourself.
It's no walk in in the park. You've named and shamed on the basis of one single visit.
This is someones livelihood we're talking about.

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Give over mate,the fishery should be run properly in the first place,if behaviour like this is going on it should be policed,and the offenders removed from the fishery,theres no way its a one-off,it would be a bit of a coincidence that it only just happened on the day Phil went there,the owner should get off his arse and do something about it...........

I agree with Chef, you shouldn't have to put up with that kind of nonsense. If the owner is happy to provide poor service then vote with your feet and tell him why you're not staying and why you're not coming back.

Those who have flicked a fly for more than five minutes will remember the "Small Stillwater Trout Fishery" bubble, begun at the upmarket level in the immediate post-War years by Alex Behrendt with his fine Hampshire fishery, all Forces Top Brass, Judges and the English Great and the Good, 'Two Lakes', exploding and proliferating in the early 1970s, running hard through the '80s, then dying by slow then quickening degrees in the 1990s, to a situation now where many of those put-'n'-take pay-4-play trout waters having died (the punters died or moved on or gave up) and become - guess what? - coarsefishing commercials.

"It is happening again..."