About

Mark Simmonds is the sole proprietor of Heather Fisheries with 38 years’ experience in fish farming and management of specialist carp fisheries and commercial coarse fisheries. The fish Heather Fisheries supply are all top quality young healthy unfished for stock from fish farm sites in Hampshire, Wiltshire and Dorset and I pride myself in the belief that the fish supplied by me are of the highest quality and will give my customers years of tremendous value.

THE STRAIN

The carp supplied by Heather Fisheries are Fishers Pond strain supplied by John Paton of Fishers Pond Fishery at various stages of their lives. The strain is without doubt the most recognised fastest growing available in the U.K and are the most widely stocked carp in the country’s leading waters.

GROWTH RATES

Carp will only grow to the capability of the water they are stocked into. Size of the venue, amount of carp in the water, available food and part of the country the venue is located in all dramatically influence growth rates. Amazing growth rates in Southern based gravel pits which are very lightly stocked have been achieved with up to 7 lb plus in a year, however the average is around 3 lb. In the North of England average growth would be more like 2 lb. Fishery managers and syndicate bosses are more and more becoming aware of the tremendous influence supplementary feeding can have on the growth of their stock. I am always available for advice on supplementary feeding and can also supply top quality feed that our carp are reared on at trade prices.

WHY PURCHASE OUR STOCK

In today’s day and age stocking new fish into waters can be a minefield and very often expensive mistakes can be made by putting the wrong stock into a water or stock of a dubious nature that can kill your existing stock. With years of experience in all aspects of stocking I can advise my customers on the best type of fish and sizes to stock into their waters to give them the best results and benefit their fisheries long term. We don’t deal in other peoples unwanted stocks and we don’t do outside netting work minimising the risks of our fish picking up diseases. What’s more all of our fish are of a known age so you can be sure you know exactly what you are buying. A large percentage of the stock offered for sale in the UK are supplied by dealers who net fish from here, there and everywhere and take them back to holding farms where they are mixed together before being sold on. The 5 lb carp you have just purchased may look fine when it arrives and may be £1.00 per lb cheaper than a Heather Fisheries supplied fish but for all you know it could be 15 years old from a farm pond and might never grow, where as you know the three summer carp you have purchased from Heather Fisheries is exactly that. It has been picked out as the fastest growing percentage of its year class, and it will grow to the potential of the food source available. Ten years after stocking your dealer purchased fish might still be 5 lb or even worse dead while your Heather Fisheries fish could be a mid-thirty. The same applies to all our bream, crucians, roach and tench. They are all young and fast growing farmed fish not somebody else’s cast offs.