If you could fish for only one species of fish?

[Anderoo]

I really should try mullet fishing one day, they have such an awesome reputation.

 

Far Bank Stalker, I'm afraid I have to disagree with you about the trout; on trotting gear I think 'pushover' is too kind a word! I do love trout - they are great fighters and look beautiful - but on coarse gear they're just too stoopid.

 

Looking out of the window today at freezing fog, hoar frost and ice, I'm glad I chose chub. There's not a day in the year when you can't catch a chub

[far bank stalker]

I really should try mullet fishing one day, they have such an awesome reputation.

 

Far Bank Stalker, I'm afraid I have to disagree with you about the trout; on trotting gear I think 'pushover' is too kind a word! I do love trout - they are great fighters and look beautiful - but on coarse gear they're just too stoopid.

 

Looking out of the window today at freezing fog, hoar frost and ice, I'm glad I chose chub. There's not a day in the year when you can't catch a chub

hmm, i suspect my ineptitude plays a part but the bit about water craft and knowledge of feeding lanes, fish holding spots and behaviour etc is right? probably dry fly is the only sporting way, but no one does that around here, just wet fly, or spinning as i like to think of it

 

you can spend a lot of time casting at nothing in a 40' river, i see a lot doing just that, or you can spend spring summer and early autumn taking the dog up and down the river, in flood and low, marking spots, rocks, pools etc...establishing estimated feeding lanes and weather, water condition watching. then i'm with you, it is indeed easy, but it's all this extra stuff that makes it a challenge for me.

 

in america trotting for trout is a big deal, i suspect they look at it more pragmatically than us brits' who tend to look at everything through a very particular lense

 

'Bait fishing' is an insult in some circles

[Worms]

Too many choices but, today on a frosty foggy day, I'd like to go back to the summer and be trotting ultra-light tackle for dace.

 

Trotting in 6-9" of water with a tiny porcupine quill, hitting the bite and experiencing the savage rush of an 8oz fish hooked on 1.1lb mainline with a 12oz hooklength with a 'pin attached to a 12' Spanish reed rod with a split cane wand at the end........great fun.....not big but it can be furious sport and furiously frustrating at times as the dace take can be (and I jest not) at least a billion times faster than that of a lardy old roach .

 

Sheer unbridled fun and of course the odd chub or barbel hooked whilst doing it livens the day up!

 

The other benefit of dace (there were two but apparently they are off the menu now ) is testing your reactions using a dry fly! Then....when you've got to the top of the swim, attach a wet and walk back down again!

 

Pretty fish too!

[far bank stalker]

Too many choices but, today on a frosty foggy day, I'd like to go back to the summer and be trotting ultra-light tackle for dace.

 

Trotting in 6-9" of water with a tiny porcupine quill, hitting the bite and experiencing the savage rush of an 8oz fish hooked on 1.1lb mainline with a 12oz hooklength with a 'pin attached to a 12' Spanish reed rod with a split cane wand at the end........great fun.....not big but it can be furious sport and furiously frustrating at times as the dace take can be (and I jest not) at least a billion times faster than that of a lardy old roach .

 

Sheer unbridled fun and of course the odd chub or barbel hooked whilst doing it livens the day up!

 

The other benefit of dace (there were two but apparently they are off the menu now ) is testing your reactions using a dry fly! Then....when you've got to the top of the swim, attach a wet and walk back down again!

 

Pretty fish too!

off topic i've turned down a few spanish reed rods because they sound so fragile, but they seem to go for no money (ish), would you recommend one? i spend a lot of time fishing for dace and roach. i agree, hooking dace gamely is difficult but when they are they fight beautifully

[Vagabond]

Tried to respond in the spirit of the question, changed my mind umpteen times, then decided the thought of being limited to just one species was just too depressing to contemplate.

 

Let me remind you of the story of Mr Theodore Castwell, doomed to fish for and catch identical two-and-a-half pound trout repeatedly for all eternity. The story is told in G.E.M Skues's "Side-lines, Side-lights and Reflections"

 

"Heaven but the vision of fulfilled Desire" - Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.

[ayjay]

Barbel are my main target species but I think I would have to choose Chub, they will feed in just about all conditions in a wide variety of environments and come to many different methods.

 

...............but I'll probably cheat and fish for barbel in a big flood, the worst conditions imo for chub.

[Worms]

off topic i've turned down a few spanish reed rods because they sound so fragile, but they seem to go for no money (ish), would you recommend one? i spend a lot of time fishing for dace and roach. i agree, hooking dace gamely is difficult but when they are they fight beautifully

Mine's a Milwards Featherlite. The Spanish Reed section probably isn't overly strong but the twin tapered split-cane tip is the bit that does the work. It's an ideal quick actioned rod for small, fast biting fish and, very light. I've taken chub on it up to 2 1/2lb no problem though!

[tiddlertamer]

I think the Pike's "savagery" is grossly exaggerated and I think the description does them no service at all

 

 

Hmmmmmmmmmm

I think I had better elaborate and explain what I mean.

 

I am not using the word savage in a pejorative or negative sense. My dictionary states that the word savage means wild, untamed, fierce and vicious.

Which I think is true and part of the pikes' beauty and appeal.

 

It was not a comment meant to denigrate pike as ‘bad’ creatures. Neither was it intended to infer they were indestructible and I’m sure all pike fishermen would want me to emphasise the need for careful handling of them on the bank in order to be returned safely.

 

I’ve only ever landed one pike whilst legering lobworms for chub and barbel and somehow hooked the pike in the scissors of its jaws.

But I do come across them occasionally when trotting. And in their element of water they are pretty awe inspiring creatures. One minute I’m reeling in a dace or some suchlike fish and the next moment there is a huge swirl of water followed by a brief tug of war which I invariably lose.

Seeing a 20lb monster suddenly burst across the swim is jaw dropping stuff. It sets the pulse racing. It may be only doing what nature intended it to do as it seizes its prey but I think the term ‘savage’ is apt. Such power. Such ferocity.

 

And knowing there are potentially leviathan pike lurking deep in the water when I fish it only adds to the mystery and ultimately the pleasure of fishing.

Edited November 16, 2010 by tiddlertamer

[Dales]

Hmmmmmmmmmm

I think I had better elaborate and explain what I mean.

 

I am not using the word savage in a pejorative or negative sense. My dictionary states that the word savage means wild, untamed, fierce and vicious.

Which I think is true and part of the pikes' beauty and appeal.

 

It was not a comment meant to denigrate pike as ‘bad’ creatures. Neither was it intended to infer they were indestructible and I’m sure all pike fishermen would want me to emphasise the need for careful handling of them on the bank in order to be returned safely.

 

I’ve only ever landed one pike whilst legering lobworms for chub and barbel and somehow hooked the pike in the scissors of its jaws.

But I do come across them occasionally when trotting. And in their element of water they are pretty awe inspiring creatures. One minute I’m reeling in a dace or some suchlike fish and the next moment there is a huge swirl of water followed by a brief tug of war which I invariably lose.

Seeing a 20lb monster suddenly burst across the swim is jaw dropping stuff. It sets the pulse racing. It may be only doing what nature intended it to do as it seizes its prey but I think the term ‘savage’ is apt. Such power. Such ferocity.

 

And knowing there are potentially leviathan pike lurking deep in the water when I fish it only adds to the mystery and ultimately the pleasure of fishing.

 

Indeed they are wild and untamed and when they grab your hooked Roach, Perch or Dace it can be a very savage But not so sure about the fierce and vicious as you point out they are very fragile creatures and do need careful handling. I have always found them to be rather well behaved once netted and other then the mechanics of unhooking they tend to be one of the best behaved fish on the bank but that may be due to the fact that you have a good grip on them. It's just that I have never seen them as a very fierce fish, they may look pretty mean with the teeth and grin and I guess they are top dogs in our waters, but I think it's a case of there bark is worse then there bite.

[Anderoo]

Pike are amazing creatures, I think savage, fierce and vicious are apt descriptions. Britain's biggest native coarse fish, and an apex predator. When I lived in Norfolk they were my favourite species, and if I'd been asked this question then, pike would have easily been top of the list.

 

Now I live in chub country

Edited November 17, 2010 by Anderoo