What does the close season mean to you?

[Lord Paul of Sheffield]

Is it swapping coarse rods for fly rod?
Or having a break from fishing

Or like me does it just mean that anglers and only angler can't enjoy the rivers

 

[Wobbly Face (As Per Ed)]

Trout Fishing.
Work Parties.:w
Spring Sunshine. Already sunburnt (and wind burnt), foregot the cream.
My mate itching to get some tench.

 

[Fin the Fish]

Breaking the fly rods out a bit more, but not often for trout! Theres one little stream I fish that has a few rainbows and a some rare grayling and brownies in it but I use these as an excuse to target anything and everything in there with a light fly setup, theres some lovely rudd dace roach and chub to be had too I also usually fish a few stillwaters for rudd and perch, mean to have a go for some carp on the fly this year as I've been putting it off for yonks!

Surface stalking carp - Recently discovered the joys of hunting them down in canals, small often clear pounds on the Grantham canal sometimes have the odd carp in and it makes for fantastic fishing as its all about using watercraft and locating the fish rather than baiting and waiting.

Definitely work parties! I love em, really enjoy being by the river even if im not/cant fish and its great to help contribute something back to the places I love so much with a group of like minded anglers, as well as picking up the obligatory stories from everyone about each and every swim you visit! Hauling trees out of the trent and macheteing the nettles out of old swims is good exercise too haha

And then of course, theres the wonderful early morning sessions for Tench. Getting up at O.God O.Clock (as Little Oik put it haha) to gaze longingly through the clinging mists at your float. Lovely!

---------- Post added at 05:09 ---------- Previous post was at 05:09 ----------

Oh, and pike, lots of pike!

 

[oldnick]

It used to mean going to various waters, checking them out, observing the fish and wildlife. Getting all the tackle cleaned, replacing those odd bits lost or damaged and spools filled with new line ready for the 16th. Arriving early on the 15th to get a good pitch and trying real hard not to cast before midnight.
Now it means no break on all but rivers. Our local council have a closed season but many fish anyway. So now it's fishing when the new season opens knowing there was no point waiting and the wonderful 16th is no more.
I really do think removing it was a terrible mistake. If it's not applied wholesale, it is for the most part useless. Bring it back, I say. There was something special about opening night I really miss.

 

[Jeff Woodhouse]

Just edited your thread title, m'lud.

It is 'close season' no closed season. Not sure why, because closed seems more logical.

What does it mean to me?


Time for CARP!

 

[alan whittington]

It explains the ridiculous nature of coarse angling rules and regs.

 

[little oik]

The passion for angling sequence comes to mind when they are on Redmire and they let off a firework to celebrate the start of the season.The problem is its like Xmas ,as soon as you stop believing in Santa it all goes starts to down hill from then on ,but hey thats life

 

[flightliner]

What does the close season mean to you?

Lots of painting and decorating in the main.The odd trip fly fishing, working parties (well, sometimes), and lots of frustration not being able to fish rivers.But Hey- the powers that be say its so things can have a rest from us poor anglers. But while we are away from the banksides all the fish eating predaters and robbers both animal and human are having a fielday in our enforced absence doing more damage than a few anglers footprints could ever do. Makes me see the old red mist, it really does. ARRRRGGGGHHH

 

[Ray Daywalker Clarke]

What does the close seasom mean to me,??

Absolutely nothing anymore, because its a total joke.

I am going to get my gear sorted ready for the Tench Monday..........

 

[little oik]

I am going to get my gear sorted ready for the Tench Monday..........

I know exactly what you mean

 

[alan whittington]

We argue the toss every year with the traditionalists here on FM about the rights and wrongs of the closeD season(dont you dare correct it,lol),i say similar every year,if you dont want to go fishing,dont,the trouble is many of these people go onto stillwaters without a thought,hypocritical or what,so if the closure was lifted on rivers,i take it they would fish,many anglers have a close season from September till mid-April,six and half to seven months,you know the fellas,the sunshine brigade,no one says you must go,in fact please dont,more for me.:wh

 

[theartist]

The old close season used to drive me nuts. Time was spent either finding new rivers to fish or awkwardly flyfishing for Chub (i mean er.. Trout) on a local stream.

Nowadays it means popping down the canal catching fat stripeys before the Tench start feeding on the ponds.

Glad theyve done away with it on stillwaters even though i'm on rivers most the time during the season. Yet if you go down your local free stretch of river you'll see some dubious folk fishing there this time of year which makes it hard to take sometimes. Maybe the river close season should be down the the discression of the owning club as free stretches are fished all year round as we know.

 

[William Pastuszka]

We argue the toss every year with the traditionalists here on FM about the rights and wrongs of the closeD season(dont you dare correct it,lol),i say similar every year,if you dont want to go fishing,dont,the trouble is many of these people go onto stillwaters without a thought,hypocritical or what,so if the closure was lifted on rivers,i take it they would fish,many anglers have a close season from September till mid-April,six and half to seven months,you know the fellas,the sunshine brigade,no one says you must go,in fact please dont,more for me.:wh

How do, Alan, long time no speak, the thing is we have a season that's now closed, like you say, but it's always been known as the CLOSE season & don't you forget it.


RE: what the close season means to you...


Cannot wait to have a go on the canals during the close, Something that I've always done & continue to do so.

& probably have a dabble at some of the commercials.

Cheers,
William.

 

[S-Kippy]

Trout Fishing.
Work Parties.:w
Spring Sunshine. Already sunburnt (and wind burnt), foregot the cream.
My mate itching to get some tench.

Yep...that's it for me too though not in that order.

 

[waggy]

Depends where you live. If you've a garden it's the ideal excuse to break a turf or two and get those veggies in and started. My Grandad never wasted a day of the Close. He was well ready to collapse onto his basket by the Open.

 

[alan whittington]

Hi William,i dont know if it happens on your rivers,but some down here get the odd poacher,on the lower Thames i heard of bivvies last year,with people reporting them to the EA with no response,good eh?Just feels wrong to me that i should have to pack up river fishing for three months,but can supposedly 'rape' the fish on lakes and canals and please dont anyone mention the banks regrassing,my kids run on my grass,still bloody grows though.

 

[Ray Daywalker Clarke]

The joke round here is the canal runs into the river, you can fish the canal, but you cant fish the same water that runs into the river, now thats why angling and the close season is a joke.

 

[chav professor]

It means carp, tench and hoping for a good spring run of cod.....

Also pining for June the 16th. I will probably visit the river at least twice if not three times a week and observe the river as it continues waking up from its winter slumber. Lots of fish spotting - probably the most effective improvement I have made to my general fishing was learning to observe fish and how they behave....... It helps you build up a mental picture of the fish present in different swims. Dog biscuits floating downstream will help me to build up a mental picture of the chub population and possible new areas to try etc. I love the close season - probably just because I love June the 16th all the more for it.....

Oh, and moving anglers on if they take advantage of fishing during the close on my lovely river......... Or else the dog gets a swim in an inconvenient place......

 

[William Pastuszka]

Hi William,i dont know if it happens on your rivers,but some down here get the odd poacher,on the lower Thames i heard of bivvies last year,with people reporting them to the EA with no response,good eh?Just feels wrong to me that i should have to pack up river fishing for three months,but can supposedly 'rape' the fish on lakes and canals and please dont anyone mention the banks regrassing,my kids run on my grass,still bloody grows though.

Ah, but you can still fish the rivers for eels if you like, of cause with an half inch gape hook.... Yeah we get plenty of them poachers, up our neck 'o the woods (Trent), trouble is it's rife everywhere now, Alan the grass is always greener on the other side :j :wh

Personally, I don't really see any need for a close season on our rivers any more, IMO it's just not meaning anything at all is it?

 

[alan whittington]

William,we're not allowed to fish for eels down here,they bivvie up with a big pellet or boilie,good init.