The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

I've been re-reading Kev Clifford's original 'A History of Carp Fishing' and on page 17 came across the following paragraph........'Perhaps one of the least appreciated aspects of Donald Leney's work was the sheer number of waters stocked with carp by the Surrey Trout Farm whilst it was under his auspices. Many thousands of ponds, lakes rivers and canals were stocked, in every conceivable part of the country.'


The paragraph goes on to name areas from the Isle of Wight, Devon and Cornwall, from Worcester to Runcorn, Todmorden to Dartford etc as having been stocked by the S T F.

Interesting, maybe we are catching Leney progeny more than we think ?

Hi all,

... I know of one "small place" in Surrey, where I really wouldn't be surprised if they were from D.L's stock!

Caractacus Potts wrote:I've been re-reading Kev Clifford's original 'A History of Carp Fishing' and on page 17 came across the following paragraph........'Perhaps one of the least appreciated aspects of Donald Leney's work was the sheer number of waters stocked with carp by the Surrey Trout Farm whilst it was under his auspices. Many thousands of ponds, lakes rivers and canals were stocked, in every conceivable part of the country.'


The paragraph goes on to name areas from the Isle of Wight, Devon and Cornwall, from Worcester to Runcorn, Todmorden to Dartford etc as having been stocked by the S T F.

Interesting, maybe we are catching Leney progeny more than we think ?

Undoubtedly, but most will be well diluted from other stockings. Remember there will be plenty which were moved to new pools as well as the originals by DL. I have a day ticket water near me which I recently found out was stocked with 14 Redmire fish in the 50s by Eddie Price and are presumably still there or their descendants.

Every carp caught in the late seventies to the mid-eighties seemed to look like a Leney. It was the norm, it seemed. I remember seeing pics of fat Italians and Dinks etc in the Angling Times for the first time and thinking, "odd!"

I just happen to have Mr Leney's stocking records at the moment - I'm looking after them for Chris Yates. There isn't a single part of the country that didn't have a stocking of carp from the Surrey Trout Farm at some point during its operation.... It's not just the direct stockings either - for example Leney stocked the Lumm AC waters and according to a good friend of mine, Nick Elliott, who was a big part of the northern carp scene years ago, young fish from Lymm Dam were transported to the Isle Pool ner Shrewsbury, which is where many of the original mangrove and Fennimere carp came from.... It's fascinating once you get into it....

Leney's trout stocking record is just as interesting. He was one of the first to import rainbows and cutthtroat from the US.... He also had a contract with the Foreign Office to set up trout fisheries overseas for diplomatic staff to fish and he exported trout ova and the entire ecosystem needed to support them to Kenya, India, Nepal, Ceylon, South Africa and The Falkland Islands amongst other countries.... So the huge Falkland Island and Tierra Del Fuegan sea trout are possibly Leney stock....

Skeff, very interesting Sir ,regards Woolly Bear .

Skeff wrote:I just happen to have Mr Leney's stocking records at the moment - I'm looking after them for Chris Yates. There isn't a single part of the country that didn't have a stocking of carp from the Surrey Trout Farm at some point during its operation.... It's not just the direct stockings either - for example Leney stocked the Lumm AC waters and according to a good friend of mine, Nick Elliott, who was a big part of the northern carp scene years ago, young fish from Lymm Dam were transported to the Isle Pool ner Shrewsbury, which is where many of the original mangrove and Fennimere carp came from.... It's fascinating once you get into it....

Leney's trout stocking record is just as interesting. He was one of the first to import rainbows and cutthtroat from the US.... He also had a contract with the Foreign Office to set up trout fisheries overseas for diplomatic staff to fish and he exported trout ova and the entire ecosystem needed to support them to Kenya, India, Nepal, Ceylon, South Africa and The Falkland Islands amongst other countries.... So the huge Falkland Island and Tierra Del Fuegan sea trout are possibly Leney stock....

The carp records would make a really fascinating read for most traditional anglers.

Agreed....any chance of scanning a few pages Skeff??

You bring the vintage port Stu, I'll get the books off the shelf and we can share both as we search for an unknown Redmire.... I have some scans of pages of particular interest that I made for the Leney chapter in my book - Waggoners Wells, Frensham, Woodchester, the Somerset waters I've fished since childhood, the Falklands sea trout and so on.... Also I've been researching some of the northwest carp waters for my friend John Seal - Farmwood, Lymm, Roman Lakes and Capesthorne.... i'll post some when I have some time..

Was Woodchester a Leney stocked water then Skeff ? (I suppose it was probably the nearest bit of water to Nailsworth.) Any more Gloucestershire/ Herefordshire waters you'd like to divulge ?!