Went down to t'club water just before 5am, apart from a couple night fishing in the middle of the lake I had it to myself.
Barrowed 150yds before finding some carp having a right old munch on the edge of the marginal weed. Big patches of fizz, rolling from 2 rods to 20 yds, in and a out of the weed with their backs out of the water.
Had to be a guaranteed fish.
Calm, collected I set up, dropped two rods out, solid bag in the weed and a single just over the top about two rods out..
Sat back and put the kettle on, liners but no takes. Can't be long before I get one

Then the first of the Van-glers drives by, well over the fishery speed limit and half a dozen fish bow wave away disappearing across the lake.
I recast the l/h rod with a stringer about 25yds on the edge of the marginal shelf where I'd last seen one show and fired out 20 freebies
Still a couple about and almost straight away one rolls over the spot..

Van-gler #2 creeps up the side of the lake and just as he draws level with me a bloody carp rolls over the l/h rod again

Drives past..and reverses his high top Transit into the swim next door--10 yards away.
Big white van glowing in the sunrise.
Can't believe it, sure skip a swim but literally right next door.
Sets up, full blast alarms, two handfulls of tigers or pellet each side and casts his middle rod virtually on my l/h rod roughly where he's seen the fish roll.
My l/h rod isn't even off to the side, dead ahead.
'Steady on mate'
'Oh sorry are you fishing there?'😡

Game over, it's dead, the near fish have spooked, he's recast another bag about 5 yards from his first lob....and 15 minutes later recasts again with another ba-doosh

I'm chilled, well I was.
it's too early in the morning to get stressed but I really want to go round and tell him he's taking the P.

So half an hour later he's on the phone to his mate...yeah yeah I'm in X swim, fish all over when I got here.
Van-gler #3 who is crawling along the opposite bank stops, turns around.
5 minutes later he parks in the swim on my right- three rods ba-doosh, ba-doosh, Blip...1oz lead drops down the margin just short of my r/h bait😂

I'm stewing with disbelief. Amazed at the level of ignorance these idjuts expect to get away with.
Held out too long for the chance of a straggler, finished my second brew, packed up, wound in and was by tucking into a bacon sarnie by 8.30.

Obviously still stewing.

In reply to Post #1
It is a proper shame what carp fishing has turned into.

In reply to Post #1
Im in two clubs,one is like a circus full of absolute helmets.The other im in is different but have noticed this year a couple of new members think the road is a race track and got one new member who sets up right next to you even if the rest of lake is empty.To make it worse hes a right grumpy ******* and hes constantly coming and going doing taxi runs

I had this happens years ago around 2005/06 on a canal I had a 20lb mirror and a 19lb common in the edge and I stupidly told a guy what I caught when walking round my local lake(I knew him from the canal)any the stretch of canal is round 1/2 mile I’m only one there in my next session,as it gets dark he turns up with all his gear and Ste’s up right next to me and shines a big tit h over to trees(around 12’ away) with rod in his other hand so he can underhand cast to the branches…….i blanked.
I mean the bridge where I was fishing wasn’t a long stretch but the next one after that was around a mile or so long so he could have gone up the.
No where’s the head banging emoji when I need it.

I rejoined a club this year, not fished it yet but the e-mails coming out make me not want too, same also for another club.

Litter, human waste, fishing half way, late night take away orders, booking day & night slots to make sure night spot is less likely to be fished during the day...the list goes on!

In reply to Post #5
Sounds familiar that

In reply to Post #2
I'd like to think its quite possible that there is a cross section of the membership that have crossed over from fishing puddles 10 yards from the next man and get lonely if nobody else is within sight.😂


Unfortunately its just zero etiquette,, earlier in the year I walked around the bottom of the lake just to ask the angler on the point opposite if he was fishing out towards my intended swim.
Said it was the first time anyone had asked, usually people just lob a bait out and wait for the OI !!.

You need to find a better club/water 😂😂😂

Three weeks ago I did the 4 hour trip to my syndicate lake.
Arriving at 10 o’clock on a Monday morning I got out of the car and stretched my legs (and the dogs) by walking the bit of bank that contains the 2 swims on dry land. Once legs unstiffened and the dog had a chance to run off some pent up energy I unshackled the boat, fitted the motor and went on a leisurely tour of the deserted 26 acre lake for a bit of fish spotting amongst the pads before deciding on a swim. Once picked I set up camp for the week.

Left in the car was a light weight spare skeleton bivvie so if I decided on moving on fish I could leave base camp with all the long stay gear and visit a new spot. I baited quite heavily off the pads and the first fish came during the first night. I fished Monday to Saturday morning without seeing another angler until Friday, except for the syndicate leader who came down on Tuesday evening for a chat and kindly brought some ice and cold drink which were very welcome.

Friday evening a member came on the lake with a guest and set up on the far bank, probably 3/4 mile away on a double swim ( with guest only double swims allowed).

Saturday morning I slowly packed up after having a few fish despite the heat (I only could fish this week despite conditions - same if it was the middle of a gale) and on leaving stopped for a quick chat with the other sole occupant and his guest. He’d had one overnight on a zig ( good tactic with the weather) and was surprised I had fish on bottom methods. Dropping him off some leftover maize and birdseed particals I departed for the 4 hour drive home.

Nice account maybe?
Sounding smug maybe?

No. My heart bleeds for the OP. Been there etc. I really feel for people who have to suffer idiots when just trying to relax, re-connect with nature and indulge in their passion. Having suffered the same ****, I decided many years ago that I would opt out, fish only venues that I could relax in and enjoy. Of course the downside is I have to travel a fair distance to do it. I have been a member of this syndicate for nigh on 20 years, watched it grow and change into the lake it is now. It’s not a big fish lake, our own stocked doubles now reaching mid thirties with a 40 probably a chance in two/ three years time. It’s a lake leased off a farmer by us the members, no commercial interest whatsoever, just peace and quiet.

So as I said to the Op’s original post - I really feel for him, it’s a **** situation and getting worse. There is an outside chance of Nirvana though but it takes time, patience, research and being willing to travel long distances when outside your area. Doing a 8 hour round trip for a work party where you can’t fish is a ball ache but you need commitment to gain access. This is one of 3 similar syndicates I’ve been involved with over 40 years. All similar, all pretty deserted but all requiring effort to seek out, be prepared to travel and be a bit different in your outlook. All of them taking into account time and inflation, have cost under £500 per year at today’s prices.

Unfortunately that’s the reality of carp fish8ng these days unless you are just one of the few lucky ones to have Nirvana on your doorstep. One in a million chance perhaps🙁

In reply to Post #8
lol, could ask myself what do I want/expect for £60 ?

There are a handful of club waters within reasonable distance - under 10 miles.
Do I want to sit on a low stock pit chasing known fish that come out once or twice a year to far better anglers with more time. Well more commitment.
Or have 6-7 hours on a moderately stocked 20s water?

I enjoyed my syndicate time after 20 odd years of clubbing and ticketing just don't want to get into that big-bigger-biggest mindset again.
Plenty of those along the valley but very few really float my boat.

Unfortunately club waters seem to attract the noisy ones. Probably partly to do with the price, if you're only paying £50 to £100 for the years fishing loads will join.

When it's more serious syndicates at £500 to £800 a year (or more) it can filter out a lot (but unfortunately not all) of those who lack etiquette.

I hate day ticket fishing, it's even worse than club water fishing. I don't mind the fact that the lake is busy, I just hate the way that any piece of water some of these guys see from their swim is fair game.

Had a guy spodding from the 'Smelly Bank' at Farlows, he couldn't have been clipped up. I was on the Factory Bank and some of his spombs were landing in my swim, some flew straight past me, past my mate next door and into another mates swim.
It almost turned into a betting opportunity where my mates and I could bet which of our swims the spomb landed in (some fell short too).

Here we go: I was in 47, mates Andy & Tom were in 48 & 49.
Mr Mega-Spomber was in 44 with a backwind!

Commiserations to the OP, hope that's an exception rather than the rule for you.

In reply to Post #10
I travel 1 hour each way to fish a lovely club water. £120 a year 50 fish ( biggest is upper 30) in 7 acres, 8 fish in a season is considered a good year, I caught 3. So it keeps a lot of the modern carp anglers away because they can't spomb the granny out of it and catch 10 30's in a weekend 👍

I've also got a canal ticket £35 a year, and other than match days, I never see anyone else there.

Then finally my treat is my syndicate 90 mins from home 30 mins from where I work. There were 2 other people on Friday night, both down one end, so I went up the other end and got lucky. Biggest in the lake I was on is a upper 20/low 30. So again keeps the glory hunters away👌

So I guess if you don't mind a bit of travel and not be chasing biguns there maybe some quieter places around you too

In reply to Post #1
What I don't get these day's why does everyone have to have a van I get all my stuff for 3 nights in a focus it's as if your not a proper carp angler if you ain't got a van or maybe I don't get the newer generation with my nearly 40 years experience

What's it like down the valley nowadays?

Green Gatesville and beyond!!!

In reply to Post #13
My solar bedchair and my fox medium
bivvy need a van on their own.. Sadly 😢

Carping has turned into a bit of a circus ..I joined a local water recently and its certainly opened my eyes for sure..its not just lack of etiquette, but a complete lack of angling ability, I was shocked to be honest ..

I normally fish fairly quiet places,but fancied a change ,when my tkt finishes I'll be back on those quieter places..


As for vans ,I mean the big jobbies which people use to fish out of instead of bivvying up Inext to the lake,that needs to be nipped in the bud ,it ruins it for others ,crunch ,,crunch ,light on,lights off ,the whiff of weed ,etc...its not fishing is it.....

In reply to Post #14
To be honest I don't really know, I stopped carp fishing for 12 years.
Used to pick up a bit of to gossip but once I'd made that clean break none of it was really important.
So yeah kit went into the loft I'm just clearing the cobwebs and getting a bend in my rods without (etiquette aside) taking it too seriously.

In reply to Post #1
There's your problem, your using a stringer, different era now lol.

Work on percentages, amongst the good guys there always a percentage of cock ends. No different to driving on the motorway every day, everyone lines up for the junction then some selfish ignorant **** cuts in, makes everyone jump on the brakes and nearly crash because they are late for work. The percentage is increasing though!

Fishing is a relaxing pastime. the thought of going and getting stressed is not an option for me. Find somewhere quite.

I could see this coming a long time ago and i said, it will be exclusive well managed syndicates that are the way forward dues to the popularity and cock ends that come with it.

In reply to Post #18
There's your problem, your using a stringer, different era now lol.

I know, the tape I'm using was purchased sometime before 2010 😂

Having learnt my fishing on club waters that my dad took me to, it has changed massively - the older boys would always help us out and I learnt so much, but now Carping is the entry point, and not a dart float and size 18 hook to nylon, ‘‘twas always going to be this way.

I still have a very valuable club ticket and fished yesterday afternoon, clubs and carp fishing means that Sunday afternoons are my biggest edge, once the bivvy boys pack up you can get a great pick of swims without too much worry about matey boy setting up next door, if they ain’t fishing by 3pm they probably aren’t coming. On yesterdays trip, there were 3 people on 20 odd acres. One was packing up - I spoke to him and was very pleasant and friendly and told me what he’d seen, caught etc. i carried on walking and there was a bivvy in the mouth of a bay, down the bottom of the bay, where the angler couldn’t have fished (and he had plenty of good water) is a day swim and I saw my first fish, a few just nosing about, nothing massive, I stood there thinking , if I was matey i would hate it if I went here, that I only had 4 hours to fish and had rocked up in the bay where he may have been intercepting fish from, so I walked on.

It turns out the guy was a bailiff and later came round to check my ticket and I told him the above, he was amazed that I’d even considered him and said it’s a swim, you saw fish, absolutely would have been ok with it - if I’d have really wanted to - I probably would have spoken to him before but I had 20 odd acres to go at. Clubs are the lifeblood of angling, and the problem with many are the cliques people try and create and the jealousy they breed, the best advice I could give is about having that conversation, if you get a sniffy response, walk away life is far to short. I learnt more chatting to the 3 anglers (including the bailiff) than I did from my 4 hours actual fishing. So yes club waters can be a circus, they often are, but there are ways to get enjoyment out of them.

The one thing that does wind me up more than it should is the stink of pss in some of the swims - take a short walk or throw a bucket of water over it, it’s like fishing in a friggin sewer.

In reply to Post #20
I'm the same, 16 acres - one other angler I'm not going to put my baits in aposition to cut him off.
Unlike the van clan making laps waiting for one fish to show I'll walk the bank and chat.
Can learn more in half an hour than jumping into a swim and sitting over silent alarms for six.

Yeah well. dropped into a few p*ssy swims this year, not somewhere you'd want to be placing the mat for pictures. Whats the efffort in walking 10 yards to the tree line.
And the groundcare volunteers have come across a few more solid gifts when strimming,
Promises of permanent bans have been issued.

In reply to Post #11
It still baffles me why we call privately owned lakes "syndicates" when 99% of them are anything but. Instead they are just glorified day ticket waters.

In the strict, traditional sense, a syndicate is a collective arrangement where members have some degree of shared ownership, governance, or influence over how the resource is managed. Historically, that would often involve a committee, member meetings, voting on rules, agreeing stocking plans, setting budgets, and making decisions collectively.

However, in modern angling, the term "syndicate" has become much broader. It is often used for any fishery that operates on a membership basis with restricted numbers, even when it is privately owned and controlled by a single individual or company.

So if:

The owner sets all the rules,
Members have no voting rights,
Members have no financial stake in the fishery,
Management decisions are made unilaterally,

then from a purist perspective it is arguably not a true syndicate, but rather a private members' fishery or exclusive subscription water.

Ahhhh ….but the 1% that are………..sheer heaven 😎👍

And as per my post 9 they are still out there if you put the time and effort to find and cherish them…………which was the whole point of my post. I could have named 3 I’ve been involved with ( which would get me banned) and you’d never have heard of them.

I knew there was a reason I fish a 300 acre reservoir where it’s not uncommon to have the whole place to myself 😁

In reply to Post #23
@singlebleep - Yeah that 1% is magical. I rarely fish the uk nowadays but i've kept one particular ticket for the last 12 years now. I may get there once or twice a year but its absolute bliss. A true syndicate in every sense. They are out there, but like rocking horse **** to try and find. I count myself as very fortunate.

1% places they do exist trouble is when you've fished some of them like I've done for many yrs ,in one case 40 yrs plus,and you've caught the fish watched them grow, get predated,regenerate and fade away ,where do you go, from paradise to reality..

In reply to Post #22
You are absolutely correct on the dictionary meaning of syndicate, but the two earliest fishing syndicates that knew of were Redmire and Ashlea Pool. Both of those had one man's name on the lease, he made the rules and chose the other members. Certainly in the case of Redmire the guy running the syndicate could fish twice as often as any of the other members.

In reply to Post #22
And a " Syndicate " in truest sense of the word. Would mean that the annual fees incurred by the Sydicate leader would be shared equally between the members. A none profit organisation as it were.

These days most " Syndicates " are just glorified clubs with even less say in how they are run. And at a premium.

In reply to Post #28
Another incident I remember a few years back,I was on my favourite public lake not fished it for long when a guy fishing a few swims down from me came round and said”oh do you mind not spiodding anything out due to disturbance”(there was only me and him and he was at least 3 swims away(not many on there anyway)I hadn’t got anything resembling a spotd rod with me and I thought well he wouldn’t be spodding/spinning out anyway if he wants to keep the disturbance to a minimum,he then came round and asked if I’d seen a spod/spomb as he lost his after thrashing the life out the swim.
I now just ignore what anyone tells me what or not to do and do my own thing.