Good grief.

Having replied to Gozzer's 'etiquette' topic saying that I was pretty much unaffected by angling's loutish element, karma clearly saw an opportunity to redress the balance. On Saturday I went to a local gravel pit with Richard Capper to fish for tench. The plan was to tuck ourselves away somewhere and fish overnight, hopefully catching a tench or two, and ideally one of the really big ones which live there.

Oh dear. Problem number 1. It is packed. It's not the biggest lake (about 15 acres) and has swims about every 10 yards, and virtually all were taken. We found a swim on the windward bank which we shared until our neighbour left, and then Richard moved in there.

Problem number 2. Everyone except for 4 people (including us) are carp fishing. The lake is full to the brim with the goodness of many spods.

3. It's noisy. Radios are on. People are shouting.

4. Boozing. Lots of boozing. Some pretty impressive burping too.

5. As dusk fell, a pizza delivery van arrived. A PIZZA DELIVERY VAN.

6. Alarm tinkering. The swim to my left - more of which in a minute - had 3 bivvies and 6 rods. Each rod has a bite alarm at a different tone. Barely a minute goes by when the camo-clad owner (the number of rods is clearly a fiddle, pretending that someone else there is fishing. It's a 2-rod limit) isn't fiddling with one of more of the damn things which, as you've guessed, are LOUD. There is more tinkering around the lake. The guy to our right sets up a float and I offer a silent prayer.

7. At about 8pm, somewhere nearby a party started. A party with drum n bass so loud the ground vibrated. It went on until 3am.

8. The Swim To My Left. Six rods, all of which at some point were cast into my swim, put on alarms for a minute of beeping, reeled in again, cast into my swim again, ad nasuem. Nice big leads too, so they landed with a 'ker-bosh'. All day and night. To reach 'my' swim he was courageous enough to cast over the other three swims to my left too. I did mention he was wearing camo didn't I? Subtle.

On a normally productive tench lake in good weather conditions, all weekend about 5 or 6 tench were caught. I think this may have been due to 'angler pressure'.

It was a completely joyless experience. I'm afraid I may not have been the best company (sorry Rich! ). I don't mind blanking, that's fine, I'm pretty good at it but this to me is the antithesis of what fishing is about.

OK, I've finished moaning now

How does that song go Andrew?


Ah yes.....Welcome to my world, tra la la la.

John.

Thanks, but I'm not stopping, just passing through

Would'nt care to let us know where you will be on the 26th May would you?

No. Actually, probably mending a fence and putting up shelves, so you should be OK...

Sounds like a nightmare of a place, the sort of place that makes you want to find another venue where the people fishing it have a little bit more inteligence than the fish.

This post has been edited by BoldBear: May 6 2008, 11:59 AM

It's not usually like that, otherwise I wouldn't fish there at all, I think the combination of warm weather and bank holiday brought everyone out. It's a really lovely old lake actually, with some cracking fish, but you're right - last weekend the fish definitely had the upper hand in the intelligence stakes! I think I'll see what it's like next weekend, and if it's crazy again limit my fishing there to midweek overnighters. (The tench there are almost entriely nocturnal, unusually.)

I had a great afternoon at a local stream fly fishing for brownies yesterday, so I feel better now It's amazing, a truely beautiful little river, completely unspoilt, clear, gravelly and fast, with lots of wild trout, available for anyone to fish (and far from expensive too), and I've seen 3 other fly anglers in three years. Meanwhile, the local lakes are splitting at the seams And instead of beer cans, BBQs and fag ends, you're surrounded by buzzards, water voles, mallards, lambs, and even the occasional otter.

Sounds Idyllic.

Bliss it was in that dawn to be alive...

Unfortunately, as that quote continues

... but to be young was very heaven.

When twenty first century "young" is experiencing his "very heaven", he tends to do so with complete disregard for everyone else!

This post has been edited by ColinW: May 6 2008, 03:04 PM

I certainly wish more lakes would do what Woodland View have done. They have delineated the swims by putting markers on the opposite bank. Fish in someone elses swim and you are warned and then, if you continue to do it, you are asked to leave - by the management!