Vagabond

Good advice. Bin there ,still doing it.

I like Ted Hughes' (former poet laureate) answer. "FISHING IS MY WAY OF BREATHING"

Welcome back.

What "smart" meters are telling those of us smart enough to understand, is that we are paying too much for our energy. Examine the reported profits of energy companies - then add what they may have stuffed under their toadstools.i

Very true. I don't understand how those who build on flood plains (and the politicians who grant them permission) can sleep at nights. Our family building business only builds on brownfield sites free from flood history. BTW I assume you are a different Chevin than the one from WA who used to post on here , or you would have asked if I still put lugworm on my top hook!

A couple of points I left out. One or two guides claim the loach is poor eating. Continental (mainly French) sources say the Spined loach is excellent eating but the Stone loach is poor. That makes sense of the more muscular make up of the wriggly Spined loach compared withe the Stone loach, which spend so much of its time skulking under rocks or debris. Another feature is the tail - rounded in the Spined loach, slightly forked in the Stone loach.

Thanks Chris for reminding me of Mark Everard, have some of his books on my reading list. Back to loaches. Several guides imply the two fish are similar in form and habits. Misleading - the Stone loach is "gudgeon-shaped" ie shaped for sitting on sandy/silty/gravelly substrates. By contrast, the Spined loach has a more cylindrical body, in fact it is slightly oval in cross section with the long axis top to bottom. Ie adapted to wriggling through things such as weed beds and sandy sediments. The spines by the eyes are not "weapons" (Tate Regan) but simply a means of anchoring the fish in a algal or weed bed in a moderate current. (If in biology one can relate form to function, one is probably on the right track). Like Chris, I found my Spined loach in a clear stream - in fact the upper reaches of the Great Ouse. Initially the fish were spotted in weed beds and captured by netting a load of weed with a landing net, but later I caught them on "rod and line" (top joint of roach pole, 2lb line, spade end 24, piece of gammarid shrimp). I kept some in home aquaria (cold water) for some years -they lived about 12 to 24 months after capture and were very lively. I supplied plenty of dense weed (Niias spp) and the fish spent most of their time in it and showed no desire to burrow in the coarse sand on the bottom. What I should have done is remove the weed for spell, and see if burrowing took place. Ah, the benefit of hindsight! The kuhli loach in my tropical tanks, like Martin's, were always burrowing. I have never found a spined loach in stream or lake sediments, and I have trawled/netted quite a few, in search of baits from bloodworm to crayfish All this was back in the 1960s and 1970s . There was a closed season then, so where the loach were in spring and early summer I know not. They were certainly in weedbeds from late June to September. Athough spined loach are found across Europe and Asia to China, they seem confined to Eastern watersheds in Britain. I haven't seen one for nearly 50 years - would be pleased to hear from anyone who has.

At Chris Plum's request and for the benefit of anyone else interested here's a revision of a few points about the Spined Loach, Cobitis taenia, as there is a lot of misleading stuff out there. Let us start with Isaac Walton (165 3) Honest Isaac does not differentiate between the two British loaches, and everything he says is true of the Stone Loach, Noemacheilus barbaratulus Next up is Parson Houghton (1879) who tells us the habits of the two loaches is "probably similar" Leaving out the detailed works of the⁹ Georgian and Victorian ichthyologists Gunther, Yarrell, etc, the next popular guide is Tate Regan (1911) He tells us that the spines on the head (about 1 to 2 .mm long) "are used as weapons" (!). He also dismisses the spined loach as worthless as food, no value, " and it's scarcity need not concern us". Lazy thinking. Travis Jenkins (1925) is sort of rewrite of Tate Regan and adds nothing new. Schindler (1957) tells us a little more, that the eggs are laid on water plants, and that it spends the days buried in silt, emerging at night to feed. Wheeler (1992) tells us that little is known about its biology or diet but repeats the story of it being buried in sand Maitland (1992) At last we are getting somewhere. Stomach contents of spined loach from rivers and gravel pits compared, daytime feeding observed. I recommend Freshwater Fishes by Maitland and Campbell.. New Naturalists Library I will do a piece on my own experience of these fish in a day or so.

Yes, OK Chris, but it will take some time to put together. Will start new thread.

Martin, Everyone. Go to a model toy shop ( model Air craft. model railway etc) Ask about rubber and silicone tubing. Buy about foot of any size that looks useful. Cost should be under a tenner. Borrow the kitchen scissors. Ten minutes work will set you up in float rubbers for life

Wind is one factor. Water is another. Consider fish weighed in sopping wet net. Now consider net reweighed ten minutes later after unhooking, admiring,photographing, showing Fred and returning fish. Water now drained from net. "A pint of water weighs a pound and a quarter " Go figure.

In 1938 I was 4 years old. As a reward for learning to read I was given a four volume encyclopedia published in 1936. It contained a more comprehensive description of the eel's life cycle than the article quoted. That is nothing compared with the rubbish plagiarised about the spined loach in almost every "field guide"

If it is raining (or cold - I gave up winter fishing this year -arteries failing) I don't go. If I am already fishing I just swear at the rain until it stops . Have been soaked often enough in a lifetime not to care too much. Getting cold is different - I pack up immediately, retreat to warmth, whisky laced hot coffee and whatever other comforts are available.

About ten years ago one of our daughters booked a fortnight on farm on the R Wharfe. Norma and I were invited to join them for a week. I fished three methods, fly, spinner and float. I was a bit surprised to catch nothing but half pound trout . No grayling, no dace, no roach etc. Met a local the last day, he proudly told me he had helped stock the river with trout. That and the story of coarse fish removal above explains why I felt like the Mr Castwell of Skues's story . Google it if you haven't heard it before.

Bola. One of the greatest fishing guides ever to grace this planet. (Subhan was another) Bola was our guide for our week on the Cauvery after mahseer. Under his guidance we fished ragi, chilwah and freshwater crab ,catching many mahseer but nothing over 16 lb. Saad Bin Jung fished with us for one day, but fared no better. I saw enough of what Bola could do from crab-catching through mahseer-finding to cooking delicious curries on the river bank to realise this was a master of his craft.

In 20 months time I will be for real. I went fishing this morning. Local pond, perch to just over pound. I felt about 9 .

True Ken, but the deep,slow rivers of East Anglia is where they WERE caught in the past. AFAIK there has never been a report of burbot from any "deep cold lake" in the Briitish Isles - do you (or anyone else) know otherwise ?

It would not surprise me if that has already happened and failed. Many years ago I fished with John liaison in a water near Chatteris allleged to be the last stronghold of burbot. Three of us fished a long weekend of 72 hours tried everything - worms maggots,minnows,anchovies,meat, in deep holes, deep runs,undercut banks, open water etc. Every method and style we could think of - all we got was perch bream and multitudes of eels - bootlace eels, snake size eels, and a few rodbenders We had a long discussion about the presence of Burbot I n Scandinavia, Eastern⁰I Europe and Canada compared with their demise here. Restocking is easy - claiming "success" is easy - fish take a long time to die. Providing conditions in which fish will breed and become self sustaining is something else.

Depends on the severity of the drought!! Over the last three months l have caught fish from lakes, small ponds and from rivers. Numbers and sizes not significantly different from previous summers . Given that mobility issues limit where l can fish l cannot say my catch rate has diminished - except that everything takes longer as l need frequent rests after even the least physical effort.

I remember one post of Den's re a thread about spadeend hooks and a subsequent discussion on ready-tied versus tie-on .Den reckoned he could tie on a spade end whilst the ready-tied supporters were still trying to open their packets. Class !

You don't get too old to fish. You get old if you stop fishing.

Neither Great nor Hairy, but Dark Mullein VERBASCUM nigrum and spell checker don't keep "correcting" it Bernard expressed sur0prise at seeing it in the Central Weald because it is a chalk lover. You need to know some railway history as well as botany and geology. Thel railway when built used chalk from its cuttings in the Downs to build embankments in the Weald. Bernard as made upwith that.

When l was a volunteer railway fireman on the Bluebell we often used to have a "celebrity" down to our "Special" days. In return for declaring the gala or whatever open they got a free lunch and a trip out and back on the footplate. I found the average "luvvie" rather tiresome - fullof themselves, their next film and name dropping (you could guarantee they would claim to be personal friends of "Larry" ie Sir Laurence Olivier.) Bernard Cribbins proved to be a notable exception. We chatted about the working of steam engines , and the flora and fauna seen during the trip (Bernard proved very knowledgeable on bird and plant recognition) Green Woodpecker, White Admiral and Mullein being three examples.. l didn't discover he was an angler until late in the day, which was a pity - l would think he would have been an excellent fishing mate.