About

Ashmire is a picturesque gravel pit of 9 acres. It was dug in the 1950s with average depths of 12 feet with the deepest areas being 18 feet.

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In the early years it was operated as a trout fishery but, since Ron & Betty Middleton acquired the lake in 1989, it has been a mixed coarse fishery with a strong emphasis on carp. Many of the carp stocked by Ron are now stunning old fish, making up a good head of ‘original’ fish up to the magical 40lb barrier. When Rob Hoskins acquired the lake in 2017 he added 75 fish from Simon Scott & Viv Shears of VS Fisheries.

 

Every one of this fabulous strain of fish was different in scale pattern (with only one common carp) and have matured fantastically in the rich waters of Ashmire, averaging 24lb by 2021, with a number of them now exceeding 30lbs. In addition, Rob has been lucky enough to hand-pick a good number of very special fish, including a good head of commons, when on netting sessions with Mike Hawes and his team at Fenland Fisheries. These are the UK reared ‘Dor 70’ strain of carp which are the off-spring of fish from the mighty Holme Fen fishery. As such these fish promise to grow on to become some of the largest carp in the UK and having been over 20lb on average at the time of stocking they are already reaching specimen sizes.

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