The Carp Society has now been running for well over twenty five years following the inaugural meeting back in 1981.

The need for a new national carp organisation was originally suggested to Tim Paisley by Rod Hutchinson in the late seventies. As the momentum for the project gathered pace Tim enlisted the help of Greg Fletcher, George Sharman and Colin Dyson. The result of this collaboration saw the inaugural meeting of The Carp Society take place at the Kenwood Hotel, Sheffield on the 24th May 1981. It was agreed subsequently that the objectives of the Society, on which its constitution was founded, should be threefold:

• To entertain members through publications and meetings.
• To take some of the competitiveness out of carp fishing and influence carp anglers to adopt a moderate attitude and fish for pleasure rather than prestige.
• To make an effort to protect carp fishing, and angling generally, through a collective involvement in angling politics.

From the outset the Society was a success and received tremendous support with over 1800 carp anglers joining in the first twelve months. By the spring of 1986 membership had risen to in excess of 2000. In 1993 membership had grown sufficient to make the Society the largest specialist-angling organisation in Europe.

PUBLICATIONS
Carp Fisher was the Society's quarterly members' only magazine, which was first published in November 1981 and set new standards in specialist magazine production due to the efforts of Mike Wilson and Dave Watson. Since then the carp angling market has become the target for a large number of specialist magazines run by larger commercial enterprises. In order to retain the appeal of its own magazine, the Society then published Carp Fisher quarterly as an exclusive members magazine. Then, from March 2006, with the increased popularity of websites as the more efficient means of communication, the Society is no longer producing a publication.

EVENTS
The Society stages several events during the year. We stage a Junior Carp Camp each year which is based on educational and social principles and always oversubscribed! Annually we hold an Adult MasterClass in the Spring and a Pike & Predator Masterclass in the Winter at Horseshoe. Our flagship event is the annual Winter Show held at Sandown Park in Surrey, which has established itself as one of the major events in the angling calendar, for both the industry and anglers.

Juniors: The Society is committed to encouraging and developing young carp anglers which led to the introduction of junior membership available to those under the age of sixteen. Our ever-popular Junior Carp Camps are run every year.

Benefits: As a member of the society you will benefit from a number of exclusive offers and fishing.

ADMINISTRATION
At an EGM convened in October 2001, the members voted for the Society to become a company Limited by Guarantee. This enabled the club to legally own property on behalf of its members, and, with its own 'legal' personality, it could take actions in its own name against its creditors. The original complex structure of three companies, The Carp Society, Horseshoe Lake Limited and Carp Society Enterprices were therefore replaced with The Carp Society Limited. The Memorandum and Articles are provided below. A printed version can be made available on request to the Head Office at Horseshoe Lake.