Fishing by Footpaths

[The Flying Tench]

I was fishing today at a swim on the Kennet next to a footpath. Third time there, but the first time I didn't need a landing net - I was mainly after chub and perch. Weather conditions were good, so what went wrong?

 

There were a few more anglers and walkers than usual, and I wondered if this put the fish off. It was only about 3 feet deep. It raises a wider question of whether fish get used to walkers, cyclists etc on canals, for example, or whether, for the better fish, you need to be there when the walkers etc aren't - early morning, in a thunder storm etc - neither of which specially appeals to lazybones here.

 

 

I was reading an article on carp fishing yesterday about a lake with plenty of swimmers etc (I'm not sure what the etc amounted to). The author said that carp like a bit of human activity! Surprising. Does it vary from species to species? Any thoughts?

[Peter Waller]

Nice 400th posting!

 

Yes, I think that they do. Pike, especially, will hang right under the bank where a footpath goes.

 

Up here on the Broads we get boat noise and that certainly doesn't frighten the fish away.

[Uncle Fester]

I blanked today too, on a small river near Reading, known to be full of chub and barbel.

Don't think anyone else caught either, not even the bailiff. It was very coloured and pushing through a bit. No walkers or other anglers to speak of. Had the place to myself, so tried 3 swims, couldn't get a bite. Got so much bait left that I'm going back tomorrow.

Here fishy fishy.

[argyll]

John, the ability to take pike right under the rod tip on jigged lures, between my boat and the bank never ceases to amaze me. Pike in the margins get very used to boats where its a constant common feature. In fact I think that they enjoy it. The boat kicks some useful oxygen into the water and startles baitfish into their path. It also stands to reason that they get used to walkers on the other side. I sometimes fish a marina with walkways that are noisy and bounce as you walk along them but my first cast is always along the edge of the walkway I've just crossed. Whilst it doesnt always work, there's sometimes a fish lying somewhere along there. I suspect some species are a bit more spooked, but probably less than you think.

[A Worm OOE]

In my humble opinion it must simply be conditioning.

 

I can think of one spot on the Thames at Oxford where a small bridge takes lots of walkers cyclists etc over a back water. Around the bridge you could often see large chub in shoals (large to me is still 5lbs). Once over the footbridge the people go of in many directions and not many go along the adjacent backwater. In the backwater the fish were very easily spooked at least some of them must be the same fish from the bridge. Where the fish are used to bankside activity they tollerate it where they are not they react.

I think this applies to most common species.

 

Now to contradict myself I used to fish matches on the canals of London including the stretch below Camden Lock. Now this must be the busiest piece of water fished by anyone in Britain. Cyclists, walkers, drugies, prostitutes, tramps from the four corners of the world walk that towpath on a sunday and in considerable numbers.

In a match there was no problem catching fish and often in good numbers. I remember catching a 2.5lbs perch 3 meters from the bank one busy sunday morning. However the odd thing was that if a member of the public stoped behind you to watch then usualy your catch rate would slow until they moved on. It seemed a very fine line between what the fish were and were not used to. People moving ok, people standing still a bit scary.

[waddis]

i use to fish a river going into my town which was great for roach. But i havent fished there for ages because so many idiots walk past and decide it will be funny to chuck stones in. :mad: :mad: :mad:

[waddis]

i use to fish a river going into my town which was great for roach. But i havent fished there for ages because so many idiots walk past and decide it will be funny to chuck stones in. :mad: :mad: :mad:

[Andrew Boyd]

waddis dom't you just hate it when you have typed in your thread and the computer eats it, so you do it again and the original one re-appears - magic.

[Alan Hammond]

We have a couple of public urban lakes/ponds around this area that are well stocked with fish but I have to admit I wont go near any of them simply because of the nuisance caused by passersby. Dog owners seem to be the worst just letting their beasts dive into the water regardless of the poor angler that they are upsetting. To make it even worse I own a dog myself and enjoy walking her around these places. I make sure that she stays on a lead but I still get tarred with the same brush from other anglers.

[Del_R]

I had a couple of hours out this morning - and to be consistant with some of the previous posters to this thread, I blanked too :-(

 

Back on topic, when I only have a few hours to kill I normally head for the canal where most of my (few) successes have come from right alongside the towpath bank. It's a busy towpath bank, too, with ramblers, cyclists, and dog walkers (and much to my annoyance the dogwalkers(*) seem to think that scooping the poop doesn't apply on the towpath - especially if they can get the hounds to do their business a few feet off the path in those nice little areas where fishermen sometimes stand) so I guess the fish don't mind the activity.

 

It was a beautiful location where I fished today - Saul Junction, where the Gloucester & Sharpness meets the old Stroudwater canal and there were a fair few other guys out fishing - all of whom had yet to catch anything by the time I left.

 

Regards,

Derek

 

(*) Some of them, at least.