Not A Happy Camper

[carpy888]

Well i would like to add that i paid £80 to fish Ravenfield this year and by all means was "lucky" to get a ticket. The club that runs this water should be ashamed of themselves the whole "pond" is choked from top to bottom with weed and for such a "well run club" for them just to sit back and say "oh its to late do do anything this year" or "its been treated - honest" is bordering on robbery.

I hope the Messers im refering to read this and by all means you can contact me direct if you wish but in the mean time GET YOUR FINGER OUT AND DO SOMETHING as you are conning people into shelling out £80 and thats enough money for the people of Rotherham.

[stufish]

Well, Carpy888, I couldn't have said it better myself - and believe me, I have tried saying it many times over the past six to eight months to anyone who'd listen.

I sent letters on behalf of most of the carp lads at Ravenfield to the fisheries committee at the Phoenix Sports & Social Club, yet not once have they had the decency to reply. Mention anything to Terry or Keith on the bank, and they are always going to do something - yet nothing ever gets done.

As a syndicate, we are forced to pay our fees in a one-off payment, up front. As such, they end up with our money and are in a position to say stuff the lot of 'em. The match lakes, however, as they take money on a weekly basis, are constantly having work done on them. Where's the 6ft high choking weed on them? The overgrown bankside vegetation? The waterlogged pegs?

To keep the money rolling in, Keith is forever pottering away with his grass strimmer and such like, whilst we on the carp lake are forced to fish in appalling conditions that can seriously damage the carp's welfare. I, like most other anglers, probably have a ratio at the moment of landing two fish to every ten that I hook through the carp getting weeded. Even setting up with a lead ejection system does little to help. And if you get a run whilst you're in your bivvy - forget it! By the time you've got to your rods the fish has gone twenty to thirty yards, is six foot under and in the midst of solid canadian pond weed that is almost as tough as leather. And to top it all off, we are forced to use barbless hooks, and whatever your feelings are about the use of barbed hooks, one thing is for certain - a lot more fish would be banked with their use.

I fear that it is going to be up to the minority again next year, just as it has been this year, to battle the weed problem. I hope that we can organise some regular work parties to combat it with rakes, for there is no way will the committee pay for any poison to kill it off.

I personally love the carp lake at Ravenfield, and will do whatever I can, hopefully with the help of all registered on this site, to keep the lake in a fishable state throughout all of next season. 

[Tiger Nuts]

Hope you dont mind carpy I moved this thread to a more suitable place.

I would like to add though, Keith follows instructions from elsewhere he just does what is asked of him so if his list doesnt say strim that carp lake he doesnt do it. At least that is my understanding of it.

[andyoak]

Form talking to Keith thats my understanding as well. He is only one bloke with 97 acre to look after and just does as he is told!

[stufish]

I have spoken to Keith many times and, I should have said in my post, he has told me on many occasions that he thinks the carp anglers are badly done to, but is only empowered to do work outlined on his daily worksheet. He has even given me advice a number of times about who to contact to get things done etc, and has told me to use his name as being one who agrees with the carp anglers legitimate complaints.

He is a decent bloke who I believe possibly gets the short end of the stick from anglers on the bank who aim their tirade against him. And fair do to him, he says he completely understands the animosity that is growing amongst the anglers, and would be more than pleased to do work on the carp lake.

I do apologise to members for coming across as though I was somehow holding Keith accountable for the lack of work done to the carp lake. It was not my intention.