To have loved and lost

[theartist]

Do you look back on once prolific waters with a sense of regret and sadness at how they are now?

Or do you look back fondly and think those were the days, what wonderful times we had there?

I must admit as the years go by I'm erring towards the latter, and really enjoy reminiscing with dad about the 'good old days' at certain places, yet having a trip back to these waters always has a tinge of sadness.

How do your memories fare?

 

[sam vimes]

I have a nasty habit of revisiting old waters. Fortunately, whilst I'm nostalgic enough to do it, I'm not so nostalgic as to get upset when they are a pale shadow of their former glory. I usually know what's coming anyway. The sad fact is that all waters suffer from cyclical peaks and troughs. Even those that are quite tightly managed are not immune.

The trick for me is to have a core of water that I'll fish regardless of anything but total fish kills. I tend do so because I like the location and/or it's not far from home. Beyond that, I'll pick local clubs to work through depending on how the waters they have are doing. At certain times, I'll throw in a longer distance trip away or a local day ticket water.

One club and a syndicate stillwater are my core fishing. I'm currently a member of two more clubs. Neither are likely to be really long term fixtures, but they've both managed more than one season.

 

[mikench]

Er no. My favourite water ( relative to fishing experience and those available) is not what it was. Through no fault of the owner he has lost all his silver fish in one lake and most in the others. He hasn't restocked, he hasn't made his new 4th pool remotely attractive or fishable and so, until he does, i won't be going back.

He was going to carry out all of the above a year ago but hasn't. Typical of anglers , rumours abound about restocking ranging from 5,000 fish per pool( 4) to 500. There may well be reasonable excuses why but I'm not aware of any.

I know of two anglers, on hearing the rumour wasted a day fishing for non existent fish.

 

[nottskev]

I can think of a couple of waters that make me think "If only they were still.....".
But generally, waters come and go, and it has always been a question of finding new places that will give you the fishing kicks you enjoy.

Having moved around the country a few times, I definitely miss some waters - the Dee above Chester, a reservoir in East Lancs, the Dane and Weaver in Cheshire.

But I don't really get nostalgic pleasure from recalling them - it tends to just remind me I miss them!
If I'm inclined to nostalgia over anything, it's not for a water. It's more for the level of pleasure I got from fishing (although I love it now, too) in the days when I knew less, caught less and could more or less carry all the gear I owned to the bank.

 

[nottskev]

Er no. My favourite water ( relative to fishing experience and those available) is not what it was. Through no fault of the owner he has lost all his silver fish in one lake and most in the others. He hasn't restocked, he hasn't made his new 4th pool remotely attractive or fishable and so, until he does, i won't be going back.

He was going to carry out all of the above a year ago but hasn't. Typical of anglers , rumours abound about restocking ranging from 5,000 fish per pool( 4) to 500. There may well be reasonable excuses why but I'm not aware of any.

I know of two anglers, on hearing the rumour wasted a day fishing for non existent fish.

Is that the one you took me to, Mike? I hadn't realised it had gone pear-shaped.

 

[mikench]

Yes that's the one Kev. An overload of fertiliser on an an adjoining farmers fields coupled with heavy rain did the damage. The water closed completely for two months but innuendo and misinformation followed and has continued for a year. Stalwarts, like me, no longer go, and those who do rarely catch. It's a shame but truth would make anglers more understanding as opposed to being let down by untruths. It may never recover.

 

[john step]

When I think back to how good some of the waters were in my youth I realise that I spent an awful lot of effort trying to catch without success due to lack of knowledge.
If only one could go back.

 

[steve2]

Too many, they have been lost either through bans, restrictions, over abstraction or in some case filled in and built on.

 

[no-one in particular]

I am nostalgic for waters I fished in my youth with dad, however, the Thames being one is now fishing better than those days, reading Martins Salter's articles on here reminds me of that but I don't get the chance to fish it these days.