Manhattan63

One day I had an idea to build a fishery on some land owned by a friend. As with most of my life, my brain was the second thing to engage - normally after my mouth, but this time after my fingers as I joined AN and posted a stack of daft questions. I was warmly received and some of the links I was given have proved very useful and it looks like this idea has some legs and we're taking baby steps in the right direction. Very long journey and we want to do it right, but just thought I'd say a big thank you Nick

Many thanks Steve, have pinged off a couple of extra emails - hadn't considered those heat-pumps before, great stuff.

So, the first sketches have been drawn, the first wayleave canceled, the first umpteenth pub-lunch meeting held, the first quotes acquired and the first, tentative, steps taken towards building a fishery. What seems to be becoming clear, is the land-owner isn't especially keen (if there are alternatives) to a high-traffic scenario (ie day tickets). I think he would prefer low-volume fishing, as there's no pressing need for the lakes to bring in an income - although of course it would be nice. I think we've already pretty much decided to stock smaller fish and let them mature with the lakes over a decentish period, which of course would be reflected in time scales of 'opening' anyway. One option seems to be a lake with log cabins that you rent for a few days/week and get to fish the water. We're looking at about 13.4 acres of water, or over 20 if I can move some old hedges which apparently have 'rights' in this strange world we live in. Trouble is, I look around the web and some of these fisheries with accommodation don't seem to look great. Many have the mobile-home style cabins (sorry, but I'm not a fan), and even the ones with nice cabins have them squeezed close together. I'm sure there are nice ones out there as well. I guess it would be a shame that *everyone* wouldn't be able to come to the site and see what we've done, maybe an open day once in a while. So, to a fisheries-building-noob, what are the pros and cons of such an idea? I really appreciate all the help and input I've received from you guys. If the plans come together, an AN open-day is a prerequisite!

For a couple of days now, I've been firmly in 'green' mode. I even rung the institute of fisheries management to see if they had any info or advice - nope! I have to say I'm surprised at the lack of eco-friendly fisheries out there. Or maybe they are there, just not a big deal made out of the green issues (I guess you're more interested in what's in the water ). solar power borehole pump for water supply (not lake filling), solar panels on the cabin, burning eco-friendly briquettes to keep warm in the winter! I think I could build a completely self-sustaining fishery with barely no impact on the environment. But surely I can't be the first to think this way?

This week I had a visit from a fisheries management consultant and an expert in 'creative use of clay' (basically, funding the project through earth-movement) and so begins my VERY long journey trying to build a fishery. I read somewhere recently about a green-powered fishery being planned in the north-west and wondered if there were other fisheries running entirely on renewable energy? There's no power supply close to my proposed location and while it's possible to run power there and even affordable due to the volume of earth-movement, I started thinking about solar and wind power as an option. At this moment in time, I don't know what the final plan for a fishery will be. It's unlikely to be a day-ticket location, but beyond that, we have many hurdles to overcome before we start planning the end-game. I figured the local authority would be interested in a green-powered location, so if there are any fisheries with green-power, I'd be interested to know where & how etc. Cheers

Yeehaa! Full of beans is an understatement! Had a visit today from the fisheries management consultant and the earth-moving expert and they both seemed to love the site. There's some SERIOUS money to be had from importing clay. Would end up with a body of water of about 13 acres - probably a single lake due to the nature of the land. Can probably find a contractor who would take on the whole project 'on risk' including planning, but the cash going in the land-owners pocket would be reduced (but still considerable). Or we could take a punt and put-up the initial costs and have the earth-movement cash to play with (crazy numbers). Need to try and get some leccy poles moved, but can work around them even if they can't be. Looks like (subject to months/years of surveys/planning) we could have a lake built, stocked and fenced for free and have some serious change left over. Clearly, there'll be hundreds of hurdles to overcome, I'm not imaging it's as easy as throwing numbers around. Land-owner is buzzing and certainly looking like this project has some legs. The long journey starts today!

Yup, we certainly scuppered those poor dinosaurs

Years ago a neighbour had a very old outdoor swimming pool that had fallen into disrepair. A little chinese chappie used to come along and collect fish from it that were some kind of delicacy. There is a moat around the garden but well below the level and very unlikely flooding ever was that bad and no fish were introduced to the swimming pool by man. So there must be a way nature can intervene and move fish around.

After a previous last-minute cancellation by my fisheries consultant chappie, I've got him (and an expert in creative use of clay) coming to the site on Wednesday. I have to say I've chilled quite a lot since my first batch of excited posts and have had other things to distract me and get my teeth into - including having a 'proper' job for the first time in 13 years (ok, it's only one day a week). I *think* I'm being drawn towards the private fishery route, or they'll remain un-fished for the first little while and let things mature nicely. Maybe the fisheries consultant (and land-owner) will have other ideas. As the day approaches, I'm getting back into the mood and am really looking forward to it - here's for some decent weather! I'll let you know what comes of the appointment. I'm really hoping the idea does have some legs and I can start carp stocking the week after

I subscribed to one of the weeklies recently as Elton posted a link for a free fleece and bite alarms. Freebies have arrived but the subscription start dates were a way off - so much so, that I've forgotten which one it was I've subscribed to. Other than that, I'm not a subscriber. I have a flick through the shelves and see if anything takes my fancy. Agree with Anderoo, the Cemex mag is nicely put together and not rammed with adverts. They're probably big enough to not have to sell-out to a particular brand and plug it all day long. Coarse and carp seem to go mostly hand-in-hand when it comes to printed media.

Haha, that's quite a rant. Maybe a 'blog' section or something is needed rather than sitting on the home page. I guess it's a heart-on-sleeve rant.

My original 'hello' thread got moved into the coarse fishing section as I guess it was a bit too specific for the new members section! So... this is my (belated) hello thread. I'm currently in the very early stages of planning some lakes in a valley in the home counties. Gonna be a long journey (if it gets started), but should be exciting! If it happens, in part, it will be thanks to the input from this forum, so maybe I'll even name a lake after you guys Have an appointment with a fisheries management consultant in a couple of weeks (original meeting was frustratingly cancelled), so will keep you all up to date if anything looks likely. anyway, hello! Nick

Neither of those links work for me

..peeks head out of the course fishing section Hey guys. I'm currently in the VERY early stages of looking into building a fishery on some land nearby, but after looking at one member's website (where he had shooting as an interest), I wondered how many of you guys shoot as well? There's a pheasant syndicate on the farm where I have some units, plus all this talk of building lakes has got the "must have a duck shoot" banter going rather quickly. Just curious really, if you shoot, what you shoot, where you shoot, how you shoot etc

Appreciate all the comments. One 'issue' (probably just in my mind) is I see all kinds of people with disabled badges parking in Tesco. I'm sure they might be disabled, there are many disabilities, but 'getting about' clearly isn't one of them for the most-part. I'd hate a scenario where an able-bodied angler (but with another disability) claimed priority over a disabled priority peg. I learned British Sign Language a few years ago and really glad I did, but I have a deaf mate who runs marathons and is umpteen times as fit as me! If he nicked the decent pegs 'because he can' I'd have to throw him in and see how well he can swim!