Predator fish kept illegally

[gozzer]

At the end of the day if exotics are stocked into a purpose built pool in the right place to prevent them leaking into our wilder waters then what 's the problem. Personally I don't fish for them but one thing I can't stand is people dictating to others and putting the dampers on their pleasure.

In all honesty john I find your obsessional hatred of carp is quite annoying as carp are a fish that's been present in our waters for many long years and are a great addition to fishing. Lets face it they're not exactly breeding sucsessfully and so arn't a threat to other species. The only point I do agree with you on regarding carp is my dissaproval of the way people stuff them into natural waters and wreck them just to make a quick buck. I don't think the introduction of a small number of carp to a natural water is a problem but I think purpose built pools should be made for high stocking levels of them.

 

You are definitely reading me wrong Ian. I don't have an 'obsessional hatred of carp", just a hatred of the way that they are portrayed as the be all and end all of angling, all for commercial interests. I have no problem with fish being stocked into a secure water, (if such a thing exists), but not in the excessive numbers that they are, again, all for commercial interests. But we know that there are many (too many) waters that are built by rivers or becks, on flood plains (for convenience), and are liable to flooding, and thus more than likely to have escapees. If they are kept in crowded, disease friendly conditions, as many are, then escapees can and do cause problems. Think of the KHV found in one of the southern rivers, (I can't recall which one).

My only obsession, (yes I agree it is one), is trying to make more anglers aware of the potential dangers. I assure you that there are plenty out there that don't think past what rig and bait do I need, and, how do I catch more.

I have campaigned against these stocking policies for the last 20 odd years, and have been called an anti, a member of PETA, and many things I can't repeat on this forum. I will continue to speak against them as long as I can. If in doing so I make a couple of people think about the bigger picture, (even at the risk of "annoying" others such as yourself), then it will be worth it.

 

John.

[SpecimenSean]

I wouldnt say Carp are portrayed as the be all and end all of fishing. Sure Carp fishing is very popular due to them being the second largest fish us Brits are able to capture and with the vast majority of anglers whose goal it is to catch the biggest fish they can. And whats wrong with that? Also remember that carp have been in the UK for nearly a thousand years. Ok there not truely native, but they've been here a hell of a long time and are very much a massive part of UK fishing.

 

But back to Carp being portrayed as the be all and end all. I dont think they are. Most of the tackle shops round here only have small carp fishing sections. Fishing around here is dominated mainly by the match scene and pole anglers. Pole fishing being my black thorn, i hate it haha. Every tackle shop has MASSIVE selections of pole floats, winder rigs, brightly coloured match gear and poles with strange graphics on them. I hate it, but i know some people love it, and each to their own. Everyone has there own buzz Gozzer. I personally appreciate a 2lb roach as much as a 40lb carp but i know a lot of carp anglers (including friends of mine) couldnt give a toss about the roach. But thats their view, their opinion and i wouldnt argue it. Im sure somethings i do other people wouldnt bother about.

 

Carp fishing is a different game to say river fishing. I consider it a bit more social. You get setup, get the rods in the water and chill out with a beer as the sun goes down, having a good (quiet i may add, i know there are the carper louts!) chat with the boys and catching up with people i dont get to see as much and jumping up in the middle of the night to fight a good fish. I love it. BUt i also love a quiet 3 mile trot down the river on my own with no one bothering me on a sunday afternoon.

 

Fishings fishing at the end of the day. We all do it, we all love it. And we all do it a bit differently.

[Dick Dastardly]

I consider it a bit more social.

 

 

Of course when Sean speaks of the modern carp scene he is totally right...................but who would have seen this even 30 years ago!

[Renrag39]

I know its not carp fishing we'll be doing at wingham, but I certainly look forward to the social side of the fish-in as I'm usually much more of a loner.

 

Renrag

[Ken L]

I've no problem with stocking sturgeon - so long as they stock our native (and critically endangered) variety. That way, if a river floods and washes some into a river, no harm done - the breeding programe might even provide stock fish for wild release.

I like Gozzer though have grave concerns about the seeminlyly uncontrolled stocking of carp, ide, barbel etc in places where they don't belong - and in the case of barbel, that means any west flowing river.

[Worms]

Ridiculous because species like zander are in hundreds of waters and it's very unlikely that the owners of those waters ever put them in. Does this mean that the owner of every piece of bank on rivers like the Severn has to have these licences?

No, because nobody owns the rivers or fish in them.

 

The law is to stop new introductions to the hundreds of waters without zander or other non-native fish that keep appearing. As I said earlier though the law does allow for their legitimate removal by anglers.

[ColinW]

Why ridiculous?

 

Ridiculous because species like zander are in hundreds of waters and it's very unlikely that the owners of those waters ever put them in. Does this mean that the owner of every piece of bank on rivers like the Severn has to have these licences?

Edited May 6, 2011 by ColinW

[Anderoo]

Gozzer, people like you and me lost this argument long before we were even aware of it. It's all over and is irreversible. All we can do is find a quiet little corner somewhere and try to ignore it

 

'Angling' is now full of deaf ears, nothing gets through. We're well on the way to banning ourselves completely, hopefully not in my lifetime but you never know.

 

God bless the quiet, overlooked rivers populated by nature and a just a few boring old native fish.

[Tigger]

God bless the quiet, overlooked rivers populated by nature and a just a few boring old native fish.

 

 

 

Then surely carp that have been residents here in the UK for 800yrs or more have gotta be classed as boring old native fish

[Renrag39]

I'd go as far to say that the 'native' Carp are the ones in our rivers, not re-stocked in any way but as small and self sustaining groups with little expansion. We don't have the climate in our country for them to expand in territory and population like has happened in Spain. I think the same goes for the Wels, the climate isn't quite right for them to 'take over'. Zander are another 'problem' entirely, being better suited to our climate and so populating the areas they were introduced to, to saturation, as Pike are wont to do, and then expanding quickly through much of the rest of the watercourse in a population explosion, before settling down at a stable prey/predator balance. I think I'm right in saying that Carp haven't done this, at least not in recent times (that I'm aware of) and have now become an important part of the ecosystem where they have now become resident.

 

Renrag