Why are fish growing bigger?

[fenboy]

I've been to southern Ireland about 50 times in the last 21 years, and drank in a lot more pubs than I ought to, but I've yet to see a cased perch. A lot of big pike (usually very badly badly mounted) and quite a few decent brown trout, but never a stuffed perch, roach, rudd, tench or bream. SO I don't think the killing of perch is responsible for the low average size. I'm sure they simply don't do very well in Ireland, despite the apparently ideal conditions.

[robisme]

Bruno Broughton:

Can anyone name (say) half a dozen rivers where the roach fishing, or the dace fishing, is better than it was 20 or 30 years ago. I don't mean  odd swims or short stretches; I mean substantial stretches of rivers. I'm blowed if I can. Yet I can do so for both barbel and carp.

Hi, maybe a couple of our Yorkshire rivers hold more roach than ever before ? Calder & Aire, but this is probably due to the improvements in the water quality over the years.

I know for a fact that there are more roach in the calder on the whole than ever before, whole stretches or river are now fishable than ever before, roach probably in the whole of the lower reaches now, when they where not there say 10yrs ago, great sport & getting better, though the calder has a history of bad news, just when things are looking better (fingers crossed).

The environment agency have done a lot to make welcome improvements in the water quality.

cya

[Bradford Angler]

Hi ROBISME . . and welcome to the forum . . I don't want to argue . . .

 

sorry mate though couldn't dissagree with you more on the Calder and Aire . . .

 

the river is cleaner . . but the roach population is dwindling fast . . what you are seeing is shoals of Roach being forced downstream becuase

 

(a) the water is little to clean for their liking

 

( trout and grayling are now more widespread than before in the pre-Roach areas

[Peter Waller]

malevans:

Answer is obvious to me.  The nice one don't end up mounted on walls in glass cases so they grow and get bigger.  But whilst the protien baits etc contribute,  they would have no effect if most 6lb tench ended up on their captures dinning room wall.

Yes, my avenue of thought as well. I would add that non other than Barry Rickards himself agreed with this theory, and he knows a lot more than I do!!

 

[ 11. February 2004, 10:15 PM: Message edited by: Peter Waller ]