Demise of traditional angling

[dant]

I can empathsise and agree with both the points that Anderoo and Colin W have made..

 

I think a lot of it is down to the 'evolution' of angling as a sport into distinct specialist pursuits.. It seems to be an allrounder isn't in vouge or desirable, it's gone off trend if you like.

Fishermen seem more inclined to make the choice to either be a dyed in the wool, matchman, Carp angler (i.e anything over 25 lb counts and a 10lb Bream is a nuisance), a specialist Barbel angler who only fishes certain highly syndicated stretches of certain rivers, a record chasing predator angler and so on..

The fishing tackle industry has changed and expanded solely to meet these specific demands.. We've lost many of the small local fishing shops to be replaced by 'out of town' angling superstores. It has similarities to a Tesco style scenario...

Commercialisation is happening right through all branches of the sport..

 

The description of a small Norfolk gravel pit being netted and filled with fast growing 2lb F1 hybrids is one that I know very well.. It has the benefits that Colin W has described i.e miles of river remaining underfished.. I can walk 5 miles on my local River Waveney through beatiful English countryside on a Summers afternoon stalking Chub without seeing a soul.. This is great in theory. But theres a flipside to this specialisation process. The demand for Barbel has led to many excellent stretches of river becoming out of bounds, no love nor money can get you near these banks...

 

A lot of these problems unfortunately for such a fine pursuit revolve around the £..

 

The estate lakes that have been mentioned are generally owned by the local large estate/landowner, who may be land rich but will generally be income poor and more likely than not isn't a dedicated fisherman.. If a prospective commercial fishery operator with £ signs in his eyes comes along and offers to increase the rent of the fishery from say the 5 or 600 pounds a year he gets from a local fishing club to 4 or 5000 pounds, with free stocking, improved access and the odd car park thrown in, the landowner will invariably always say yes..

 

I'm sure I could in theory do a similar thing on a Norfolk river. Firstly secure and increased 25yr lease for a weir to weir stretch from the landowner, secure some cash backing, tell the EA that I'm prepared to do lots of new gravel rifles and genral flow restoration work for free, then stock the length with 5lb Barbel and charge fisherman 100 fisherman £500 a year to fish it.. It makes for good business sense..

 

I must say I'm not totally opposed to these Barbel syndicate fisherys, it's frustrating if you're not a member but the benefits for the wildlife of the surrounding area increase greatly. At least you would be making something from practically nothing rather than the estate lake scenario which takes something and turns it into practically nothing...

 

A lot of the fishing catches you hear about in the fishing print media appear to be results based. 300lb of Carp in 4hrs match record, Henry 5 Fins caught at 62lb, Willy Whiskers caught at 21lb for the third time in a week, e.t.c e.t.c because this news is reported by the fishermen who are results based.

Theres very little mention (apart from on a site such as AN) of the chap who wanders 3 miles and manges to extract 3, 4lb Chub from a weedy, low Summer river... If you're the kind of fisherman who enjoys the latter rather than the former you're in the minority and maybe always will be?..

 

The only way to arrest the slide somewhat would be to join your local club, support them, help develop their exisiting fisherys and possibly aquire new ones. Either that or start your own club with like minded souls and possibly safeguard a couple of the venues you hold dear...

 

And breathe.....

 

Sorry for the record length waffle, I hope it's not regarded as way off topic as it's one that I have a lot of interest and passion for/in..

 

Thanks..

 

Dan T..

 

p.s. Anderoo which gravel pit was it in Norfolk? as theres a fair chance I'll know it....

 

 

 

Looks like theres been quite a few replies since I started writing that...

[Anderoo]

p.s. Anderoo which gravel pit was it in Norfolk? as theres a fair chance I'll know it....

Looks like theres been quite a few replies since I started writing that...

 

How refreshing to see so much passion surrounding this subject.

 

Dant, PM for you.

[chesters1]

"A lot of the fishing catches you hear about in the fishing print media appear to be results based. 300lb of Carp in 4hrs match record, Henry 5 Fins caught at 62lb, Willy Whiskers caught at 21lb for the third time in a week, e.t.c e.t.c because this news is reported by the fishermen who are results based."

 

almost true but its Henry 5 fins using "x" make of rod "y" make of reel "z" make of line etc ,the angler may get a freebie from X W or Z because its no more than blatent advertising as no doupt the mag will in a whole page advert alongside advertising that very tackle ,newcomers immediately see a connection between the tackle and the catch and some believe you can only catch that catch if you use that tackle.

real anglers ofcourse realise its themselves that catch fish not the tackle its just a very expensive modern day "stick" as its always been and just plain "sticks" catch now as they did in the past since trees supplied them.

rather than learnt watercraft some anglers seem to think its purely down to the tackle if they dont catch and thus feed the label frenzy! big profits to the suppliers who gladdly put their 2p stickers on so so chinese cloned rods and reap the benefits of it.

Edited May 23, 2007 by chesters1

[dant]

I agree Chesters.. It's all intrinsically linked...

[Leon Roskilly]

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

 

With Steve's permission, that was the way I tackled Wingham this year

 

 

Left at home was anything I didn't actually need, even the small organiser box with my useful bits and bobs; just some weights, a packet of size 10 hooks, 5 floats and home dug worms, and whatever usually resides in my waistcoat - disgorger, clamps, hook-sharpener, plumb etc, Oh! and of course a landing net and unhooking mat.

 

The initial plan was to targer perch and find the fish, rather than waiting for them to come to me.

 

Exploring empty swims, under the bushes and poked through the reeds at the margins.

 

One float road watched, whilst the other had only a baited hook cast and slowly twitched.

 

The plan started to come apart not from any failure of the plan, but from the weight of advancing years .

 

Yomping wearing waders, and carrying two rods soon had the aches and pains spreading through bones, joints and muscles and, after the barbecue, the twitched rod was jettisoned, and so were the waders, as I yomped around to the other side of the lake, lost a battle with a pike hooked in the margins and slowly worked my way back.

 

The plan to stay on until dark had to be abandoned because I was basically knackered come 7pm, and having to admit that,though I have enjoyed the active approach in previous years, happy to roam miles carrying a food drink and tackle, and although I consider myself reasonably fit through jogging and cycling, my bones are no longer up to it.

 

Still, I had learned a lot about a lot of Wingham, and the conditions.

 

Having just about managed to painfully put myself in the car for the journey home, I had abandoned all thoughts of coming back at the crack of dawn, and the new plan was to fish the improving conditions expected for late Sunday afternoon/evening, and fish one of the available low number swims to give my aches and pains a chance (I evened managed a kip after the BBQ!).

 

The new scaled down plan worked, and I left Wingham a very happy bunny.

 

I really didn't need all of those floats (most made from seagull feathers).

 

I love wandering the rivers with a pin or lure-rod.

 

I've been resigned to failing agility for a while now (climbing trees, and hopping amongst the coastal rocks have been out for some time now, I usually exit a car by rolling out these days!), but now it seems that 'long distance' walking with gear is another option that I engage in at my peril

 

Maybe I'll need to buy a bite alarm soon, so that I can nod off whilst fishing!

 

My advice to you youngsters is to make the most of it while the years are still good to you

[Ken L]

The loss of traditional angling skills is a bit sad. The rivers are largely empty these days because of the "success" of commercial fisheries and most of the other anglers i see are in essence using carp tactics to target the barble. Seeing someone work a float is decidedly rare despite this frequently being the most effective method.

I couldn't help noticing that I killed this thred http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?showtopic=74961 by suggesting the use of a float.

 

The potential consequences of having a very limited number of people fishing natural waters are not good. What happens when the lease values drop down to the point where bodies like the RSP B outbid fishing clubs and ban angling ?

[Andy Macfarlane]

Packet of hooks, tub of BBs, tub of maggots, 2 loafers, 4-5 spinners and a spinning setup. Get yer shorts and trainers on and go shuffling for Grayling and Broonies. That's fishing.

[Elton]

Different horses for different courses.

 

I don't see why, if other 'types' of anglers don't interfere with what you do, their chosen methods should cause any concern.

 

I do all sorts of fishing and appreciate them all.

[Anderoo]

Different horses for different courses.

 

I don't see why, if other 'types' of anglers don't interfere with what you do, their chosen methods should cause any concern.

 

I do all sorts of fishing and appreciate them all.

 

That's fair enough Elton, but what will the angling landscape look like in a generation? Very different from now I reckon! Will there be any natural and sensibly stocked lakes left? Will you be able to buy a float? Will anyone fish a river?

 

The seeds are being sown in this generation and angling will reap what it sows.

[Vagabond]

I do all sorts of fishing and appreciate them all.

 

Me too, but I'm happiest with some sort of sight fishing, be it saltwater fly for bonefish, permit, tarpon and the like, dog biscuits in the margin for carp, lift method for tench I can see "bouncing on their heads" as they feed in shallow water, stalking chub, stalking river trout, and so on.

 

Happiest too with a cane rod in my hand, and using centrepin or fly reel.

 

At the moment I'm happy to have miles of river to myself, but Ken L sounds a timely warning - what happens when club committees decide not enough members fish the river to justify the rent?