John Weddup

Now I know why you don't catch nuffing you fish too heavy.

Must admit you are far to clever for an old country boy

And we can all use fluoro traces as we are going to kill it anyway. LOL John

Quite agree watching them on the fens they are superb at what they do. After all they seem to have emptied the rivers in their own country.

My final words on pikers forum when I tried to defend the use of fluoro was "come on guys you will be telling me to use wire for roach soon" I was getting a bit fed up with the use wire at any cost trend. But hey we will all do what we want when we want. Even places with rules get those broken regularly. Fish welfare is a pointless issue these days mainly spoken by keyboard warriors who rarely fish anyway. Why any of us feel we have the right to tell someone else how he should indulge in his chosen hobby and what tactics to use is beyond me. Most in the predator world seem to be a "do as I say not as I do" philosophy anyway. After all its only fish and the non angling public think its a bloodsport and we eat the fish anyway. John

I agree a lot of old myths exist in fishing and some times need challenging. Having witnessed first hand some of our European anglers fish handling and welfare I am not sure I would take notice of their findings that highly. There was an article in total coarse fishing at the beginning of the year that advocated the use of fluoro for zander. It was obviously slated on the P.P. but the writer was quoted as saying he only occasionally got bitten off. I Tried, with no success, to put the case for fluoro but so many top predator anglers including some very prolific ones convinced me otherwise. I guess we will all do as we think fit in the end. It seems also that many predators die after being caught espescially the ones from very deep water that maybe it doesn't matter anyway. Certainly many on the fens die depending on who catches them and how they want to cook them.!!! Maybe as they are still on the invasive species list we should kill them all anyway. John

A very interesting debate was had on the pike and predator forum about fluoro. Strange they have a very different view. Maybe catching smallish zeds on lures or jigs etc from the reservoirs you are fishing they don't get the lure in their mouths far enough . Fluoro appears to be the in thing with some anglers with predators. John

I would look at this from a totally different view point than fish safety. Yes I would be happy occasionally leaving a size 6/8 in a fish but if it happened regularly would start to feel uncomfortable with it. However zander have very sharp teeth which can cut through fluoro very easily if they come into contact with it. They of course have many less teeth than pike which reduces the risk of contact. Presentation with small chunks might be helped using fluoro or braid but generally I, and other who fish with me, don't feel that zander are wire shy when using live or deadbaits. The worse thing for me would be to get a very good zander close to the net and that final head fling that they do results in a line break and the zed swimming away never to know how big she was. John

OK you know me I am always up for a row. But lets start with knowing what hook arrangement we are talking about. John

The PAC local guys and EA have been checking today and its passed were you are to candle dyke. It's up the bure to nearly horning. It's still at lethal level this afternoon. The fish may have pushed ahead but I fear many will turn up in next few days. Since the last big kill a few years ago there are many more pressures on the fish stocks now. The match results on yare and bure/ Thurne haven't been quite so good this year. I am afraid you will struggle for bites for a while yet. Know one could have foreseen this a few days ago. John

Some may have read on the "who's fault thread" my mention of salt tides getting into broads network. Well according to PAC guys on the ground there tens of thousands of fish seen gasping for air on river Thurne and helps scooping nets full of fish out. Could well be a major disaster. John

Good luck mate do hope the tidal surge last night has not pushed them all into boat yards or worse. John.

You are correct generally and from now on wroxham is a hotspot for bigger roach. The shoals have been slow to return to their winter haunts this year. I believe we are still that month behind from the cold spring. There is real concern over high floods yesterday and today with the winds from north. A salt surge could well have pushed in. With the fish still well spread it could be a problem. There are a lot of quality roach throughout the broads but so many small ones it can make finding them harder. St Bennets is a hotspot with many 1lb plus fish being caught in matches. If I was to go after then now it would be wroxham or beyond Potter Heigham . John

on the near bank there are rocks where the old abbey ruins fell over years ago before we were born. LOL There are also posts keeping cruisers away from the rocks. I think this stoney area is why its so famous for its quality roach. John Wilson did a program fishing for big roach in a boat here. On the main bank it is pretty clear of bankside vegetation but as anyone knows who has been in a boat its very difficult to see anglers on the bank when you are concentrating on other boats espescially yachts. I normally put up an umbrella which helps visibility. Perhaps I should get a hi viz one. I then watch them like a hawk when they are bank hugging. Its strange put a women in 4X4 and she drives down the middle of the road. Put her in a boat and shes hitting the side. With bank huggers I normally stand up and stare along the bank and they normally see you and move over. Since I learn't to share the river I have never had a problem. When I thought I owned it I was constantly in a battle. It ruined my fishing. I can now cope with the busiest days on the broads and have fun. John p.s. standing in what left of the old ruins makes me go all strange. Theres a prescence in all old buildings. Being a born again pagan it gets me. LOL

Disagree with this. I have fished the broads for far longer than I would like to admit to and always use 2 rods when tip fishing. Even in the busiest periods boat wise on main rivers there is no problem. The narrower Thurne or Ant are different but at St bennets there is plenty of room. 2 miles upstream of St Bennets. John

Totally agree with your first post and the replies. Looking at the actions of your company they will either catch nothing and return to the carp pool they no doubt come from, or they will catch loads in which case a reappraisal of tactics might be called for. Post 2 about trying to introduce rules such as many small stillwaters do is a no for me. I don't agree with the use of alarms on small sections of river because its silly and chucking in loads of bait as things are slowing down is just plain daft but trying to introduce rules and expect them to be bailiffed or even listened to is nearly as bad. The rivers, are in the main, our last places to fish where we can pretty much do as we please. John

Helped my friend run a PAC teach in today along with lots of others and all those who attended had a great time including us helpers. John

I found it strange Rich aswell. If the rules are applied properly and 15 roach are held in a net for the session then at the end they are put back. No different to a pleasure angler holding them in a net. If they die through being eaten or attacked then the remains thrown back will feed another predator anyway therefore saving a live roach anyway. John

Reading my last nights post it comes over almost as if I am anti piking. That's certainly not the case I am enjoying it very much. Its the pike forums that annoy me so much. I agree keep everything hush hush. There are many reasons I don't post catch reports anymore and one of them is for the reason others have said. As for the fens being dead and not worth pike or zander fishing I totally agree. Its not worth anyone bothering at all. I suggest anyone goes elsewhere for their winter predator sport. LOL I have decided to forgo my weekend plans to help the local PAC section do a junior teach in at Barham near Ipswich. This is on Saturday. Its a GAPS water and they ban coarse baits live or dead because in previous years pike anglers were breaking the no livebaiting rules and then continued bringing coarse fish onto the fishery from elsewhere and fishing them as dead although they were still kicking so coarse deads were banned aswell. Made perch fishing extremely difficult. This is what annoys me. John

In East Anglia I am involved with a few clubs and join many. Some allow livebaiting and some do not. When asked why they ban it as it spoils my perch fishing the answer is always that pike anglers abuse the rules and bring lives in from elsewhwere. Most then also ban dead bait fishing with coarse fish as its easier to bailiff. I used to think this was a bit over the top and anti pike anglers but believe you me they are right. Pike anglers seem to be the ones who are most happy to break fishery rules to get that big one. Pike forums even seem to condone this sort of behaviour as if its normal practice. Pike angler forums seem to have a set of rules. Don't name a water (unless of course you tell me as I am famous) Don't break rules (unless theres a big fish present) Don't fish in the summer let them rest and feed as oxygen levels are low. (but of course if I am famous its ok and I will get praised by everyone for catching a 30) So much hypocrisy in pike angling it makes carp anglers seem like really nice helpful anglers. John

The main thing mate is they are easier to fool in flowing coloured water. Obviously they also feel the need to replenish energy expanded whilst living in the flowing water. John

Sorry this is short but I am on the bank. My river stour in Suffolk has area,s very like you describe. It is the shallower stretches that used to be fantastic dace chub and roach heaven. Now devoid of fish. Obviously not pollution as downstream is healthy. We do have the usual suspects eating things but I put the blame firmly with the EA. the controlling of floodwater is the problem. What used to take days after a rain to occur now happens in 24 hours washing the river through with such violence and in our case leaving controlling gates open to almost empty the sections of river. John

Main res is for hardened carp anglers. It also has very good roach bream perch pike etc but you have to find them. There are tench in main res but again hard to locate. I haven't caught any in there after having a season ticket for a few years allowing night fishing. I have mainly been after the roach and bream. Wick lane has more tench per acre . It looks very tenchy too. The carp are not all moved just a few and when caught by the right anglers. Most anglers would not move fish unless part of the management. The only anglers allowed to night fish wick lane are the management john

Matt its me again I have fished the main reservoir a lot over the last few years and wick lane lake quite a few times. Both are very hard carp venues. The wick lane lake gets its bigger carp removed into the main res when possible and the main res bream along with a recent stocking of rudd get put into wick lane lake in order to make it a more mixed fishery. As a general fishery it can be good with some decent tench too but as you are relatively new to fishing it might be a bit of a challenge. If you want a few easier carp then join the colnes club and fish their pebmarsh lake. Its a very pretty venue and has plenty of good sized fish John

Hi Matt I fish all over east Anglia and for all species depending on the season. The stour and bures in particular are good for roach perch the odd bream and pike due to the number of roach that pile in there in the winter. There are also a few tench for variety. These show at the tail end of winter espescially. As you have probably seen the river is weedy clear and low in the summer so winter fishing is much better. If you are newish to angling and new to pike angling I would advise seeking help to learn the basics. Pike care is very important as they are the most fragile fish you will fish for and unhooking safely for you and them is very important. There is a Pike anglers club teach in at Barham pits soon that is open for anyone to attend. That's near Ipswich. You could get a lot of tips by attending aswell as learning techniques. John