River or Commercial?

[yorkieman]

Generally which do you prefer River or Commercial fishing ?

 

[xenon]

never been on a commercial-rivers every time.

 

[stillwater blue]

Only ever really fish rivers these days as I find them more interesting than stillwaters. When I do fish stillwaters I tend to fish the bigger wilder venues. I have nothing against commercials but they're just not for me

 

[mikench]

I don't fish commercials ! A day ticket water is on my card but I doubt it's been restocked since it opened 15 years or so ago!

 

[peterjg]

River, lake or canal - I don't mind as long as it is quiet and secluded.

 

[Keith M]

Generally which do you prefer River or Commercial fishing ?

Out of choice I would never fish a commercial anyway unless I were fishing a match; and there’s plenty of others out there who are the same, and my choice would be Rivers every time.

However; if the choice was: Which do I prefer River or Stillwater fishing? then I would say that it depends on the time of year, the species I was trying to catch and the venue.

For example;

In spring I prefer fishing fairly remote stillwaters for Tench, Crucians and big Carp and on some waters I like chasing quality Rudd off the surface.

In the middle of Summer I start to fish both stillwaters and the smaller rivers and streams and I love them both, fishing for Tench, Crucians, Roach, Rudd & Carp on the stillwaters and the Barbel, Chub, Roach, Dace and Perch on the rivers & streams.

In the Autumn and winter months I much prefer the smaller rivers and streams and leave the stillwaters alone, unless the winter weather is exceptionally freezing cold and then I might fish a local stillwater which has some relatively warm underwater springs which keeps the ice away and the fish active, otherwise it would be moving water every time.

Keith

 

[dorsetsteve]

River without a doubt, I’m ok to fish still waters especially mature large lakes but a snake lake surrounded by other people with poles out, catching tiddlers a chuck isn’t for me. Not to say all commercials are like that but the ones that are, aren’t for me.

 

[flightliner]

Keith M has just wrtten my reply, thanks Keith

 

[steve2]

I last fished a commercial carp pond last September in a match. It made me remember why I gave up fishing this type of water.
Give me a river any day but living where I do and not having what I class as good rivers within 30 miles I stick to mainly to club stillwaters with the odd day on a locals stream.

 

[thecrow]

What is a commercial? is it a purposely dug water that is run for profit or is it a gravel pit (also not a natural water) that is run as a syndicate making a living for the owner/lease holder? or is it an estate lake run/leased out by the estate for a profit?

Some stretches of river are run on a for profit basis with day tickets or syndicate places being paid for by the anglers are they commercials (I hate that term they are ALL fisheries)

Do some clubs make a profit beyond what is required to pay for the lease of their waters? does this not make them a commercial?

Far to much of this "I wont fish a commercial" rubbish, they are all fisheries and anglers will choose to fish the ones they enjoy the most.

 

[steve2]

Like you say all club waters and others are all run for profit therefore are commercial businesses. If there were no profits the clubs and fisheries would shut down.
So we all in fact do fish commercial fisheries.

 

[itsfishingnotcatching]

Rivers for me, hopefully it's the Cleddau tomorrow but before everyone knocks "carp puddles" remember that one day they may be the only waters that you can safely access :wheep:

 

[sam vimes]

I would dispute the idea that most clubs, and their waters, are commercial entities. They may well face external commercial pressures (increasing rents etc), but they don't generally have the need or want to make money. Whilst they may need to make excess money to grow, most are quite content to break even, though a small excess is always welcome. Many clubs are just scrabbling by in an attempt to not lose money and endanger the ongoing future of the club.

 

[rayner]

I belonged to a club where all matches were fished on the Tidal Trent or Witham.
At the end of the nineties rivers were to hard for me to manage. I tried for a couple of seasons but depending on others is not me so I left the club.

The only fishing I can manage is where the banks are fairly flat, I fished canals but they were too much of a chore with the walking involved. that left me with commercials.
Commercials have helped me carry on. after about an 18 month lay off the first few trips felt a bit strange but a few fish and I soon got into it.
After a sort of forced change of attitude I'm now fully behind commercials.
Without them I would be stuck in the house.

I've said on this forum on numerous occasions the only reason I fish is to catch.I've had my time scratching through winters for a few ounces, even blanking on sunny days on the Witham. I can't remember blanking on the Trent but I'm sure I did.
Not something that happens these days.

Even when I was fishing rivers I don't believe I had such a negative idea of the newly formed commercial idea. I just preferred rivers.
I can't believe sometimes the total disdain some have for a still water.

Is there any difference between a commercial fishery or a farm that produces meat or poultry.
There's a call for highly stocked fisheries, and obviously a call for scarcely stocked rivers. For some reason.
It seems there's a proportion of anglers (not blaming anyone on here by the way) that hold themselves to an higher level because they fish "natural waters" and enjoy looking down on us mud puddle dwellers with our amenities and loads of fish, comfort and a contradiction in terms gravel paths with no sludge to wade through.

 

[Keith M]

It seems there's a proportion of anglers (not blaming anyone on here by the way) that hold themselves to an higher level because they fish "natural waters" and enjoy looking down on us mud puddle dwellers with our amenities and loads of fish, comfort and a contradiction in terms gravel paths with no sludge to wade through.

I don’t think it’s a case of looking down on commercials, well I don’t look down on commercial fisheries or the fishing skills of the people who like to fish them.

Providing fisheries which have manicured swims and which often have on-site cafes and toilets and which often sell tackle and bait, and which are usually stocked at a higher fish to acreage level and which sometimes have artificially bred species like f1’s which provide good sport all year round and often stock foreign fish like alien sturgeon and river species like Barbel etc.

All these things are a boon to many and a great thing to have, and I certainly wouldn’t think of looking down on commercially run fisheries which are run primarily to make money and in return provide enjoyment for their regular devotees and the match angler.

However some of us just prefer to fish more remote and more naturally stocked waters which are not manicured and overly stocked and which are not overly fished, where you can get away from the thong and enjoy using your watercraft to locate your fish a little more.

Fishing more natural waters doesn’t mean not catching many fish either, in fact I can only remember having one blank in the last five or so years (at least) but I just get a little more satisfaction when I catch my fish when they are not overly stocked, and I prefer to fish waters that are a little more remote where I can wander from swim to swim without passing too many other anglers.

One of my clubs has over 20 venues to fish (both still and running water venues) which include venues that hold or have previously held record fish as well as free access to one commercial fishery for members who enjoy this type of fishery. Many of the clubs more natural venues rarely see more than a couple of anglers during the day because they are so remote and you can wander their banks at will without seeing too many other anglers.

This club is not run to fill someone’s pocket it is run by its members for its members and all profits are put back into the club either for water improvements or replacing stock if and when needed.

My other club has a very restricted membership with a waiting list as long as your arm and for the last 75 years or more has leased a beautiful and remote private estate lake which has a very healthy stock of fish.

Membership numbers are limited by the Lord who owns it on the lease so that only a few anglers can fish the lake, keeping it a peaceful and tranquil place to be.

I don’t class this water as a commercial fishery either; even though we pay for the lease it isn’t enough to provide an income for anyone, and the subscriptions we pay barely cover the costs of the lease and the upkeep of the lake.

I think that there is a place for both commercially run fisheries and more naturally stocked and run fisheries, and it isnt a case of one being better than the other, it’s just what floats your boat and what type of fishing you enjoy most, and how gregarious you happen to be.

Keith

 

[thecrow]

I would dispute the idea that most clubs, and their waters, are commercial entities.

Probably a minority of clubs but there are those with absolutely huge bank balances.

 

[thecrow]

Is there any difference between a commercial fishery or a farm that produces meat or poultry.
There's a call for highly stocked fisheries, and obviously a call for scarcely stocked rivers. For some reason.
It seems there's a proportion of anglers (not blaming anyone on here by the way) that hold themselves to an higher level because they fish "natural waters" and enjoy looking down on us mud puddle dwellers with our amenities and loads of fish, comfort and a contradiction in terms gravel paths with no sludge to wade through.

As I have said previously imo its a type of angling snobbery and its something angling could well do without.

I don't think there is a call for sparsely stocked rivers as most river banks are empty most of the time, there is though the wish from some river anglers (me included) to see some small river stocks back to what they were even 5 years ago.

Nothing natural about rivers, man has changed them for his own needs over hundreds of years.

 

[Philip]

For me it would be a river.

That said I was always a bit confused by the term commercial for all the reasons already stated but I guess the general image that the word commercial conjures up when its mentioned is the over stocked hole in the ground with lots of amenities and often exotic species as well.

I have nothing against those waters & they fill a niche but they dont really appeal to me as the fishing is basically too easy. For that reason I would not fish them for something like Carp but I would fish them for things like Perch and perhaps Roach. I think a few others hold a similar outlook although the more I think about it the more I question myself why I would find a Perch meritable from such a fishery but I would take less personal merit from a Carp or Tench from these waters.

I am not sure…but there you go.

 

[S-Kippy]

Either.....though as has been said it depends what you mean by commercial. It also depends on what rivers you have access to within a reasonable distance. Where I live I wouldnt want to be restricted to one or the other but if the Trent was as close to me as the Thames I might very well have a different view.

I fish Bury Hill quite a bit which by anybodies definition is a commercial fishery but it is very different to some of the overstocked bomb holes round here.

I was brought up on rivers but I fish them less and less nowadays which is a great shame.

 

[nottskev]

I enjoy rivers most - but river fishing is more inconsistent and seems more vulnerable to changes for the worse, and on my local river is largely confined to warmer months. But I enjoy lakes, ponds, streams and canals, too, and I like variety and different methods. I'm not a fishing snob - I cheerfully fish in urban canals, suburban brooks, free fisheries, farm ponds...... as well as in more peaceful and pretty settings. I'm not a fan of newly-created, purpose-built, heavily-stocked fisheries - but I don't apologise for my preferences, for which I have all kinds of reasons.

One, that others may share but is not mentioned very much, was summed up by a bloke I bumped into a couple of days ago doing some bankside maintenance by a pond hidden behind a local technology park. He explained the pond was looked after by a group who ran it as a fishing and conservation project, and preferred that to visiting day-ticket waters because, to use his words "I like to belong to something". I knew what he meant, and I think it's a pity that the more collective model of waters run for members on the strength of their pooled subscriptions, which can give great value and ownership, has been supplanted to a great extent by the privatised model where we are just customers for the day, able to take or leave what's on offer, but with no stake beyond that. I do go to lots of day-ticket waters, usually older ones that have matured into interesting and pleasant places, and have a less raw and one-dimensional feel, but I like club waters, too.