Two New Records

[Simon Vicos]

So the Carp and Barbel records fall to more repeat captures.

The Angler who caught the Carp now says he will leave Conningbrook having caught the biggest fish in the lake. How very sad.

And that poor Barbel trapped in a small stretch of even smaller river, it needs to eat sometime.

Too much pressure on these fish

 

[Ron 'The Hat' Clay]

Personally I feel there is something not quite right about the continual purposeful capture and relentless persuit of a known record or other very large fish.

The Seige of Mafeking comes to mind.

Take Bluebell Lakes for example. At any time, Summer and Winter, the Kingfisher lake is surrounded with maybe 35 anglers.

That's 35 x 4 = 140 baits. Plus all the other bait devoted to the eventual capture of dear old Benson.

Money is the thing you see. When a record fish, especially a carp is caught, you can bet your life that every tiny little detail of the rod, reel, line, hook, swivel, hooklength, lead, boilie mix... ad infinitum will be noted down; and the manufacturers will be telling the faithful how their swivel, hook etc caught Benson or Two Tone...Yaaawwwnn!!

Life does get tedious doesn't it?

 

[mark williams 4]

I always thought it was hardly the spirit of adventure chasing after the same fish night after night. When it was Mary at Wraysbury, at least she was canny enough to use the 100 acres of water to not get caught every year. But Bluebell ain't Wraysbury.
What's saddest of all is that's why the circus goes there; who could doubt the existence of a record barbel in, say, the Severn or the Wye or even the Hanpshire Avon? But they're big rivers, and you could fish half a lifetime without catching it.... but what a lifetime you'd have!
I'm minded of the 'sport' of South African game parks which buy in a few old lions, put them behind wire, then sell licences to shoot them. The hunters know they are there, and it's only a question of time - not TOO much time, you understand. They've only got the weekend to realise their dream!
What was it Yatesy said about selling coach trips to heaven....
A 30lb 'virgin' carp sought, spotted, fished for and caught has, in my mind, got to be double the achievement of calling in on old Benson

 

[Ron 'The Hat' Clay]

I agree with you fully Mark.

I thought as an angling journalist you might have strongly disagreed with my philosophy.

They are hardly "game parks" Mark, more private farms who actually make lots of money. And do you know, they even offer certain people giraffes to shoot!!

Who the heck would ever want to shoot a poor gentle old giraffe? You can't miss andtThey are not even good to eat. And I have done a bit of shooting in my life too.

 

[Jonathan Whitham]

What are we all worrying about? Soon there will be a whole host of man made puddles with integral camp sites (gas and electric hook-up points for bivvies included) containing pond-reared record fish for those anglers who wish to "have a crack" at the record. Maybe they could rear some huge barbel too and stock them in "closed off" rivers so that finding the fish isn't too hard for those who don't like that sort of thing. Fishing has certainly come a long way.

 

[Ron 'The Hat' Clay]

I think the media could change things for the better.

I hope they start to play down such captures, perhaps not even report them. Cut them out of competitions like the Drennan Cup.

Bring back real angling skills.

 

[Ron 'The Hat' Clay]

The more I think about it the more I become more convinced.

Who the heck would want to shoot a poor gentle old giraffe?

Who the heck wants to catch poor old gentle Two Tone or Benson?

To put it crudely, it's a bit like shagging a second hand dart board!!

 

[Steve Spiller]

Not for me Ron, they can keep it!

 

[Ron 'The Hat' Clay]

I'd rather persue a wild dace on the River Thet and by crikey we found a few didn't we Richard Farrow?

Or try for a pound roach on my local canal. There are many there that may never have seen a hook.

And thank goodness the Trent is big enough to hold a few secrets, swims that have never been fished in years.

This website is called Fishing Magic.

Let's try and bring back a little of that old magic into our fishing.

 

[mark williams 4]

It does bother me that so many anglers never fish anywhere but the carp baths. That's where FM does such a good job - a website largely populated by old farts who have values and principles. We live in a world where everyone knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.

And Ron's got a point about the Drenna Cup. Pete Drennan's passion was always wilder places - he wouldn't be seen dead on a carp puddle. Maybe he could instil a bit of common sense into the ravening horde

 

[Ron 'The Hat' Clay]

Peter Drennan grew up fishing with Peter Stone. They were in the old Oxford Specimen Group in the 60s. I first met both of them at an old NASG meeting in Melton Mowbray.

Peter Stone hated carp puddles and the concept of named fish.

I think Mark what a lot of anglers are after today is not the great pleasure to be had from catching a difficult fish, more some sort of dubious overnight fame. These are people, who maybe will never make it in their jobs, or even other human endeavours, turn to angling to achieve what they couldn't achieve elsewhere.

They couldn't care a toss about values and principles. Results at all costs is what matter. It's not the fish, nor the way it was caught that concerns them. It's what they will achieve by catching the fish.

Hence the circuses we see today.

 

[Ron 'The Hat' Clay]

One thing I did like is the concept of the "Mission" as popularised by the magazine - Improve Your Coarse Fishing.

In other words, dedicate a couple of trips to catching a target species. And here I'm not talking about something monsterous.

For example - catch a 1 pound roach.

And wait for it - from a river.

That mission is not so easy I'll tell you.

What's happened to Martin Ford these days buy the way?

 

[Graham Whatmore]

I agree with most of what has been written about these record fish being pursued relentlessly but what I do take issue with is the the suggestion that the Drennan award is being given to an angler that just happens to catch a big fish or only ever fishes one venue for a particular fish, I don't think thats the case at all.

Most, if not all of these Drennan award winners are totally dedicated to their sport and their particular style of fishing and are generally good all round anglers as well but happen to be targetting a particular species or venue at the time. Andy Nellist is a prime example of this and there are few people on here that can match his skill or dedication to angling, and, although not knowing them personally, I wouldn't mind betting most of the others are the same.

 

[Steve Spiller]

Ron, I remember many years ago the A.T ran a competition called "Junior Rodbenders" I think...
It listed every single secies of fish and the specimen weight for nearly every river in England.
If a junior achieved or bettered the specimen weight he or she would win a Rod Benders sew on badge.
Every week they would publish pictures of the winners, all those smiling faces proudly displaying their river caught fish.
Unfortunately I've lost my badge and cut-out, for my two and a half pound chub.
They should bring the competition back, it was always the first page I turned to.
It also put a lot of kids on the river banks, learning real angling skills.
Maybe a phone call to Greg is in order?

 

[Ron 'The Hat' Clay]

One thing I can assure you Graham I'm not getting at people like Andy Nellist.

Andy is a worthy winner of the Drennan Cup.

More the people who find out where Andy is fishing and then go and lay siege to his swim. These people do not have the skills to go out and locate their own fish.

 

[Blunderer]

I think they call this "deja vu"!

http://www.fishingmagic.com/forum/forummessages/mps/dt/4/UTN/17150/V/6/SP/

 

[mark williams 4]

I used to run the dubiously-named Rodbenders Club, so I echo the sentiment that what the media needs is something to dissuade kids from PS2 and instead try for a small but worthwhile prize from catching a worthwhile fish.

There's a kind of 'media engineering' exercise that's possible to keep people thinking about their dreams rather than weights of fish, one which I think hasn't happened for a few years.

Big up the river massive, I say!

 

[Ron 'The Hat' Clay]

By the way I hope many of you read Angling Times this week. In it on page 7 is a report of my friend and fellow member of the DVSG with a couple of roach taken from the Wiltshire Avon near Salisbury.

Well done Andy.

Such fish are a thousand times better than a hundred Two Tones.

And well done AT for the nice write up.

 

[Lonewolff]

Shooting fish in a Barrell!!

 

[Ron 'The Hat' Clay]

Sorry - Andy Townsend that is.

Real wild fish aren't they.