Sport & Leisure Fisheries Ltd.
High Farm
Kemberton
Shifnal
Shropshire
TF11 9LL

Tel: 01952 585002
Fax: 01952 585540
Mobile: 07860 564966
E-Mail: info@slf.uk.net

For more information contact
David Rance

Carp

We grow fish at the Farm from one week up to three years of age, which translates into fish from 2 inches up to about three pounds. Typically, one year fish are up to six inches, two year fish are 6-10" and three year fish from 10" up to three pounds. To keep things simple we grade fish into a number of sizes, 2-4", 4-6", 6-8", 8-10" and 10 " plus by weight. These fish are measured from nose to tip of the tail. To help you select the right size for your needs typical samples of each size are shown in the pictures below.

The smaller sizes are all sold by the hundred with discounts for larger numbers. For example, the price per hundred fish for five hundred fish is less than if you are buying 100 but more than if you were buying a thousand.

The 10” plus fish are sold on a weight basis. Typically we have a range of 10” plus carp, which will weigh from 1-3lbs depending on the stocking rate at which we have grown them. If you have a preference for size then we can grade them accordingly.

For some time we have primarily been growing fish on for three years or to around three pounds. However we are now routinely grading out many of the best fish and growing to produce bigger fish.

If you are interested in larger carp you might be interested in this. For every 10,000 small carp we grow, we get maybe 100 truly extraordinary individuals, which at the end of one summers growth can be up to ten times the average weight of the rest. They are simply genetic exceptions that have the ability and potential to grow really fast and to huge proportions. The two fish in the picture were both hatched on the same day from the same parents and are two summers old. The smaller fish is average for the batch, the larger fish is clearly an exception and we sell these as Fast Growing Specimen Carp.

If you are looking for larger fish to grow on for your big carp fishery, we think these are the ones. They have clearly got off to a good start and our experience suggests they just keep growing really quickly. We reckon that an average growth rate is 3lbs per year but given space and food, the growth rate on these fish seems to be much higher.

Unlike our smaller fish, which remain 99% of our business, these fish are not available all year round. We usually start to harvest them from November onwards and they are available then on a first come first served basis. Once they are gone that's it!

They aren't cheap, but then the best rarely are.

Please note that we do not have any 20lb plus fish. Yet.

Tench

My Favourite Fish. We started growing these three years ago and are pleased to have a good crop of these little beauties for sale. There can't be many sights more pleasing than a net full of tench. We have 4-6", 6-8" and some 8-10" fish available.

All prices are exclusive of delivery and VAT.

How far can we deliver?

Every year we deliver fish from the South Coast all the way up to Scotland. Because we have all the right kit and twenty years of experience at successfully moving fish around, the fact that we might not be local to your fishery is really not an issue. Not at all.

To Order Fish

To order fish all we need is a phone call. We will take your contact details and discuss the fish you require and confirm their availability. I will need some information about the water so that we can apply for a Stocking Consent on your behalf (please look at the section regarding EA Consents). We will also agree a day and rough time for your delivery about two weeks ahead and then all you have to do is sit back and wait. We will call you the day before delivery to confirm that the EA paperwork has arrived, check directions and agree a time to meet. The driver will bring an invoice and a copy of the EA Consent with him and once you are satisfied with the fish, we simply ask you to pay the driver. Simple and straight forward.

All our fish are sold subject to our normal Conditions of Sale, which can be found HERE, on the rear of your invoice or in advance on request by snail mail.

Grading and Counting Fish

All our fish are graded for size and quality by hand before they are delivered to you. The numbers are also counted by hand. We do not test weigh a batch and hope the numbers are about right. You are more than welcome to check count the fish when they are delivered to you. If you are buying fish by weight, your fish will be weighed on certified scales here at High Farm before we load them onto the delivery vehicle, not when they are harvested from the growing ponds ( they can lose 10-15% in weight between harvesting and delivery a couple of days later). If you are interested enough and you are buying more than a thousand pounds worth of fish, you are also welcome to see your fish at High Farm, before we deliver them to you.

Cormorants

These birds have largely changed the nature of coarse fisheries in the UK. In my experience, they will happily eat anything less than a pound in weight. Certainly fish up to 10” are a bit like one bite size mars bars. I don’t think cormorants will take carp of 2lb plus. If you have a real, rather than an occasional problem, then we suggest you spend your money on less but bigger fish.

Minimum Order Size

We do get a surprising number of calls from folk wanting a few fish for garden ponds and so on, often from the other end of the country. The smallest order so far was for two 2-4" carp. When you take into consideration the work and logistics for harvesting and delivering these fish, it will become apparent that this really isn't viable business. To avoid disappointment, we are introducing a minimum order size of £250 in the Midlands rising to £350 plus delivery and VAT elsewhere. If you wish to collect fish from us, the minimum order is £150. For smaller numbers of fish, particularly for garden ponds, we suggest you contact Ripples Waterlife who specialise in small quantities on 01952 200199.

Thousand weights for Carp

We are often asked how much these fish weigh to help with planning stocking rates. Once carp, in particular, get to a few inches in length, a one inch increase in length can result in a much heavier fish because for every inch increase in length, they grow upwards and outwards as well! As a result the thousand weights of different batches are bound to vary but for guidance only, the weight per thousand of these carp are approximately as follows:

What's yer price, mate?

We do get a lot of calls along the the lines of "What's yer price, mate?" Which isn't perhaps, the brightest approach for buying fish that you are going to have in your pond for many years to come.

If you buy from our farm, we have complete control over the selection and genetics of the parents we spawn. We control the feeding, water quality, harvesting, grading and transport of these fish with a team of full time professional staff and a business that has been growing and selling coarse fish for the last twenty years. None of these facilities or expertise comes cheap and after spending up to three years getting the end result ready for you, it can be very frustrating when the only thing folk are interested in is the price.

If you are looking for the cheapest then you will be looking for some wild caught fish, probably from a pond where they have outgrown their welcome, almost certainly stunted and well fished for so that they know what the inside of a net looks like and have all the scars and damaged mouths to prove it. You will almost certainly be buying from a dealer who won't actually have the fish you want when he takes your order (he won't tell you that, though) but will hope that he can find them. He may actually demand money up front ( so that he can afford to buy them if he does find them but once he has your money, hell, it doesn't matter anyway) and if they actually turn up and are accompanied by any paperwork, it will probably actually refer to a different batch of fish but nobody will know (least of all you). And Hey! You just saved a few pence per fish over buying those fish from a reputable source farm.....

All joking aside (and actually there wasn't much), as the largest producer of carp in the country, we have so many fish to sell each year, we have to price our fish competitively if we are to sell the quantities we need to sell to make the farm work. Our fish are great value and fantastic quality. They cannot be compared with wild caught fish. Just like Chalk and Cheese.

Remember also that carp live for a very long time. What you buy now, you will have to live with for a very long time. If you are buying on behalf of a Club think about your reputation and all the hassle you will get if you get stuck with some rubbish. Make life simple for yourself and buy the Best.

Carp for the Table

We are receiving increasing numbers of calls from folk wanting to eat our fish. I am afraid we will not sell these fish for consumption.