What's your favourite type of venue?

[Anderoo]

Whatever type of water it is for me, there is one major factor, and that is balance. I like waters (rivers and stillwaters) which hold a wide variety of species. This may have been achieved by nature or some stocking to help it along, but it's not overstocked. If it's in balance, there are lots of species, and there's space enough for some of them to grow big.

 

For running water, my absolute favourite, and where I spend most of the summer, is small streams. Wild, intimate and overgrown. You're unlikely to catch a giant but it takes real skill to catch anything! For stillwaters I adore those quiet, 'lost in time', silty, shallow, weedy estate lakes which seem to be becoming more and more rare. There's magic sitting beside one of these at dawn fishing for the tench or carp. My other stillwater obsession is a nice big(ish) clear gravel pit, with a good marginal shelf and plenty of bars and weedbeds. There are few fish which don't grow big in these pits, and they can be very tricky customers. I like a water where it's really exciting to catch anything, especially if there's a chance of something big or unexpected (like a good perch or barbel from an overlooked stretch of stream).

 

The other major factor is lack of pressure, i.e. hardly any other anglers - easy on the rivers, not so easy on the lakes!

[Neil G]

My favoutite venues have to be rivers and large reservoirs/pits

 

These venues usually have plenty of room and you don't have to get up at silly hours to try and beat the carp boys to the bank to get a spot.

[Dales]

Small gravel pits and lakes, with plenty of trees & shrubs lining the banks. The more reeds, lily pads and weed beds the better. Can't beat watching the mist on still water in the morning or watching the sun come up. The fish are a bonus.

 

However have become very fond of blue water fishing in tropical destinations. Most of my fishing has been fresh water, so the ocean holds a great fascination to me. Its a great feeling scanning the horizon and only seeing blue ocean and dreaming of what lies in the depths. But obviously as I live in the UK and holidays and chartering boats are expensive, the small lakes will do for me just fine