Demise of traditional angling

[Kappa]

What Rob Ward said on the Wingham catch report is so true, I used to really hate where angling was going bite alarms batirunners etc etc. But over the years I've found I can't stay up all night watching a float and still be able to work the next day (I could do this when I was 18-19). My long standing tench pb was caught on a float in the margins, my second biggest was caught using a centrepin! As the years have gone on though I've been lured by bite alarms and boltrigs. To be fair I think there are situations where these methods are the best option. However all my favourite lakes for tench fishing for example are either closed, the banks of the most beautiful lake I ever fished have been concreted and my big tench water is chock full or carpers everyday. The lake I'm currently fishing the margins are usually not as good as fishing off the bars (though they are beginning to move in I think).

 

I think the problem is mostly with lakes, especially when the great ones have all the tress cut down, weed pulled out and stuffed full of little carp. I long for the river season when I can really go back to basics, a hook, maybe a shot or two and a simple natural bait, touch ledgering in a roving approach and probably being the only angler in miles absolute bliss!

 

Have you found your fishing has changed over the years? Has anyone got a good antidote to modern fishing?

 

I think I'm going to fish the lift method for carp in my local canal with my centrepin, that should cure me I hope. If not a spot of dry fly fishing?

 

Rich

[RPM]

Aaah, its so nice to hear from likeminded people who have a similar viewpoint.

 

I too think that fishing has become stagnant in many ways. I would call myself a traditionalist preferring natural, unscathed habitat where you may catch a 3 ounce roach or perhaps a 5 lb chub - this is what makes fishing exciting for me. Like you, I used to visit a local pond where there was great tree cover, a really interesting mix of fish and nice little swims. The owners then cut down all the trees, netted the whole lake and filled it with 2-3lb carp - I dont go there any more. I cant think of anything worse than sitting behind three electrically hooked up rods for days on end catching 1 or 2 fish whch when hooked, have absolutely no chance because they are attached to washing line, beit carp, barbel or otherwise.

 

Each to their own I guess but for me its traditional all the way.

Edited May 23, 2007 by RPM

[Anderoo]

It's a shame, it happened to me too. It's the main reason I don't want a new pb carp - my current pb came from a small gravel pit in Norfolk where no-one fished for the few carp that were in there. I managed to catch a few using crust and float fished luncheon meat in the margins. (The lake was netted after that and the big carp moved to another water, and the place filled with small carp. Same old story.)

 

I think I've got a decent balance between traditional and modern fishing. The trouble starts when you want to catch BIG fish. For the biggies it generally helps to fish for longer periods, and the gaps between bites is longer, so it helps hugely to have bite alarms and rigs which mean you don't need a hand hovering over the rod at all times. Sadly, I think the type of fishing which has become the most de-traditionalised for me is tench fishing, and I'm sure that's because they tend to share their enviroment with carp - meaning it then helps to mimic the carpers' bait and tactics.

 

Carp fishing, when I do it, is a very mobile affair and only a few hours at a time. But I'm not usually after BIG carp.

 

The antidote for all the reliance on bolt rigs, boilies, bivvies, alarms, and the rest of it is fishing either river or lake with one or more of the following: a roving approach and very little tackle; a float or free-line; natural baits; not expecting a giant, but expecting to have to be stealthy to fool anything; a bankside free of other anglers.

 

If the lake I'm fishing for tench at the moment wasn't so heavily carp fished, I wouldn't be using the tactics I am using. However, would the tench then be as big as they are?

 

The reason I love stalking chub is because it has most of the elements listed above, culminating in the satisfying capture of a pristine, wild fish. Dry fly fishing for wild brownies in a little stream is a close second.

[ColinW]

I take the opposite view!

The more people happy to sit around commercials, most of which in my area at least are NEW waters dug specially for the purpose, the less pressure on the "traditional" fisheries. I noticed recently that a club I used to be a member of before moving, which you once had to spend a couple of years waiting to get into, now advertises an open membership policy! They have mile upon mile of superb water, but kids these days sulk if they don't catch thirty pounds of fish in three hours.

[Anderoo]

I take the opposite view!

The more people happy to sit around commercials, most of which in my area at least are NEW waters dug specially for the purpose, the less pressure on the "traditional" fisheries. I noticed recently that a club I used to be a member of before moving, which you once had to spend a couple of years waiting to get into, now advertises an open membership policy! They have mile upon mile of superb water, but kids these days sulk if they don't catch thirty pounds of fish in three hours.

 

As much as I dislike them, this kind of lake isn't really the problem (they are a problem, I believe, but for different reasons). The real crying shame is when a 'traditional' water is stripped bare and reinvented as a commercial, e.g. the old estate lake Gozzer mentioned recently.

 

Anyway, I think I've off topic...

[gozzer]

At last! I've been 'carping' on about this for ages, and at the risk of being called a Luddite with a Mr Crabtree fetish,(again) I'll keep on doing so.

 

This thread is connected to Anderoos 'River' thread, and is touched on in many others.

Angling today is all geared to 'instant' success, for the minimum of effort.

The time was when someone who wanted to take up angling, got a 'match' or 'general purpose' rod, and fished waters that contained a variety of species, of all sizes. Through catching small then medium sized fish, you learned about tactics, methods, playing and handling fish. (Through reading, watching, asking or, if you were lucky enough, going with an experienced angler).

This gave you a learning curve, (an apprenticeship, if you like). Over the years as your skill and knowledge grew, and you progressed onto bigger fish, or match-fishing, learning all the time.

Carp were a bit of a mystery, the dark shadows that cruised the edges of the lakes, and got the adrenaline going. If you hooked and landed one it was special, (there were pretty rare in my neck of the woods).

Now, if someone wants to start angling, then there are so many resources at hand, that it seems to cut out the need for any sort of practical tuition.

It's a case of, "I think I'll be a carp, pike, barbel angler". Watch a couple of videos, made by some 'celeb', get the tackle he recommends, (regardless of fish in your area), ready made baits, go to a ready made lake, catch a few, and 'Bingo', your an expert!

The fact that when you hook a fish, you don't know how to play it, so it's dragged in (on tackle more suited to sea fishing), with untold damage to the mouth of the fish.(see Budgies post on the 'Braid' thread). Then when it's on the bank, you've no idea how to handle or unhook it, so more damage is done. Take a few pictures, (got to have pictures), then put it back, because you care about fish, and someone else can enjoy catching it, (no matter what state it's in, or if it survives?).

 

I'm sorry if this thread offends any new comers to angling, I know it doesn't apply to all. (The fact that you join a site like AN, means you want to learn), but it is something I've witnessed more and more over recent years.

I can't remember when or why, the man made 'puddles' first appeared, (they seemed to creep up on me). They were probably made with match-fishing in mind, when the main match rivers, seemed to decline in the 80s. But they have spread like a cancer in angling, and I fear that they will cause it's eventual demise.

 

John.

[nick]

Spot on gozzer, but that is the problem with the "me now" society in which we live. You probably grew up in an era when good things were worth waiting for, when if you wanted a new <anything> you saved for it and then dreamt of the day it would be yours, and then savoured every moment of it's use for the first few times at least.

 

Now you get another credit card 'cos your others are all maxed out, buy what you want, and then bin it 'cos you find it isn't actually what you want.

 

We are a society in which patience is no longer a virtue, but an anachronism. Everyone wants it all now, and it's got to be bigger and better than everyone else's too.

 

If we can fix society then maybe we can fix angling

Edited May 23, 2007 by nick

[chesters1]

trouble is clubs have their hands tied if 70% of their members fish for carp then to keep them most of the waters will be carp waters.

luckily stockbridge is not known for specimen anything and theres few carp so only get bleepers occasionally when they cant get in elsewere.

in "traditional" waters theres plenty of traditional gear about and theres far more pins and stick rods and a good show of old mitchells to chat about on my rounds.

most of our weekday regulars come because there are few carp hence few carp anglers and their associated alarms (it very quiet around here and even one turned down can be heard all over the lake) i have no problem with carp anglers myself but hopefully our lake doesent get an injection of them because the regulars would certainly leave and they are far more entertaining than talking to an 18 year old who's balls have just dropped whatever tradename of the month his tackle displays ,they probably get enjoyment talking to or down to those with similar (or not) graphics but not i.

one chap turned up with an unhooking mat i kid you not was the size of a double airbed ,very good for the clubs 60lb cat but plain silly with 8 oz roach being the average and no tench over 4 ish lbs.

Edited May 23, 2007 by chesters1

[gozzer]

True chesters, the associations I used to be a member of, had some great 'traditional' lakes, as well as rivers. The lakes are now stocked to the brim with carp, and they have let many river fisheries go.

The membership has dropped dramatically over the last 20 years, and in one case where there was always a waiting list, (and you needed to be proposed by an existing member), there is now open membership, you just have to walk into a tackle shop and join.

 

But what came first? The need for this type of fishery? Or was the 'need' created by someone who saw a gap in the market, and cashed in?

 

 

John.

[chesters1]

mostly because its little more than camping with a bit of fishing as a sideline ,the bivvies border on luxury accomodation even in camping terms plus if your little johnie gets hooked you can get some peace and quiet at home for the weekend so parents probably help with the purchases.

no saying its bad we managed to keep one of ours fishing for nie a fortnight with regular food parcels.

it no longer satisfaction with catching just fish but catching "fred" or "harry" whilst waiting for that special fish "fishing" for mere pleasure and enjoying the scenery sight and sounds doesent seem to be the in thing at the moment in some circles and its big or nothing ;instead

Edited May 23, 2007 by chesters1