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I was thinking about this during a long drive yesterday, its certaintly a tricky one! I was say I fish for enjoyment. It is indeed a selfish act, however, I feel it is justified by the fact anglers help conserve and highlight ecological issues. If there wasn't human pressure on the fish from us a likely byproduct of that would be other human activities which would could well exert even more pressure on habitat quality and in turn fish in some way or another.

Thanks for the response. I have sort of tried trotting. ITs not something I've ever done before so I'm ont really sure how to do it. The problem I was experiencing was the un even depth, the float would sink and then pop right back up over various parts of the swim. If I set the hook under depth, would this still encourage a bite? Or does it have to drag along the bottom? I have only tried maggot at this particular site, maybe I should try something new? I just can't imagine catching anything using sweetcorn! (for example). My main area of confusion though, is how my rod tip bends right down, and then 'pings' back up without anything attached the the hook .Confusing to say the least! Cheers guys

Hi everyone, Currently I'm fishing an area of the upper servern that is barely, if ever, fished. In my 20 years of living here I can't recall anyone going down to this stretch (I can see it out of my bedroom window). The reason I mention this is because 1) it's relevant to my question 2) It may explain my persistance in fishing this area. I have spent 30+ hours fishing the same peg, and have never caught anything. Now this may seem to suggest there are no fish there, but I'm certain there is. A couple of months back, I had a minnow every chuck (surely this suggests the water can sustain bigger species) which really got on my nerves. No matter what hook size/number of maggots I decided to use, I'd still get em. This has subsided now, but I'm still losing my bait within minutes of the hook being in the water. Basically, I'm using an closed feeder with a feeder rod. Once I've cast, the rod tip will bend round quite significantly, It'll even violently shake from time to time, but when I either strike (very rare) or leave it in the hope of the fish hooking itself I get NOTHING! Upon inspection, my hookbait has almost always been 'sucked' and the maggots are just a hollow skin. It drives me mad. How do the fish know how to 'outsmart' me on a stretch that has never been subject to angling pressure?! Also, I found a crayfish arm (and half a cray fish in the water) on my hook yesterday! I actually thought I was snagged so gave it a good pull and it looks like I musta hook a cray. Could my rod activity be explained by crayfish? I'm dying to catch SOMETHING from this area, I've never managed it, and after all this time I cant give in! Sorry, very long winded, any advice/comments would be great. PS the river has a large tree thats fallen in the middle, this creates one side thats very deep and fast, It has a deep pool connected to it with loads of over hanging willow (looks PERFECT for fish) and the other side the current travels round the tree back up the river. It ranges in depth from 1ft to about 10ft in the rapids. Cheers!

Andrew, the problem with removal, is its impossible for humans to stop the population growth again. Eggs can be transported in from miles away via water birds, as an example. And because these crays are not in their natural environment, they have little threatening their success rate. I imagine Crays can spawn huge number of eggs in a very short space of time. I commend you for at least trying, but in reality I dont see it being beneficial in the long run.

Thanks . My first 1 over 1lb, ha! That part of the river is NEVER fished, so I wonder what other beauties lay waiting!

Hi all, I caught this beast a couple of weeks ago, I didnt bother weighing it because I didnt want to make the fish wait whilst I found my gear in the dark. Out of all the fish I've ever caught, this was in the best condition. Its scales were perfect!!!! I caught it on a hair rigged bit of luncheon meat (the current kept taking the bait off my hook when I didnt have the hair on). My main question is with regards to the river severn record, I've had a quick look and couldnt find anything? The upper severn (mid wales) isn't know for its big fish so this was a real surprise! Regards, Olly

I caught what I believe to be a 7lb chub the other night on a hair rigged luncheon meat. I used a short hair because I was having problems with the meat coming off in the current - I was catching nothign previously, whether this is down to the bait coming off all the time, or the hair rig being more effective at hooking I dont know. I wish I'd weighed the fish, I have a pic though - anyone wanna guess for me?

If you think fish farms are sustainable. I suggest you do further reading on the subject! Agree with all your other points though.

Perhaps he was mental!