Mixed Fisheries

Mixed Fisheries.
Are they a becoming a thing of the past? I know of one or two that fit the description.
I also know of more than one or two that are dominated by one particular species, but are still classed as a mixed fishery.

What in your opinion dictates how water is stocked and with what?
Is it angler demand? Personally I can?t see how that can be so. Has anybody ever been asked what species you want in your local waters? I think it is more to do with ease of purchase, or more to the point what is on offer.
We have in the past been dictated to in what we fish for by the fish breeders when you think about it, and it will be even more so in the future.

Cormorants play some part in what clubs etc will pay good money out for, stock up with year 1-3 silverfish and all you are doing is feeding the five thousand.
Try buying bigger sized stocks of silverfish and you could be in for a long wait, (if you are lucky). Why is this so? Is it because there is no longer sufficient demand? Or are we taking whatever is offered to us?

So it is easy to see why more and more fishery owners are buying the fast growing F1 strains of carp (match carp) and now we have the F2s on the way.

The balance needs to be addressed before it gets to far out of hand. There is no reason why we can?t have good mixed fisheries; ultimately it is up to us as anglers to voice our opinions and thoughts to the proper quarters as to what we want in our waters. Think of tomorrow before it is too late.

Any thoughts on the above, or am I living in a world of make believe?

yes

Baz, I think that most of the mixed fisheries are what they describe its just that most of the people who fish them just go with carp in mind.
Heyford fishies near to me has a mixture of lakes including a specimen pool, this pool also contains some nice roach but they don't eat 3/4 inch boilies very readily, therefore don't get caught.
Except by me with my small baits and light tackle

Do the roach breed? and do you or anybody else know what the survival rate is? Has anybody ever bothered to find out, and how would they go about finding this information out?
Are the roach stocks ever replenished, and with what?
These are the points I am making.

The Roach in the speci Lake that clickfire mentioned do breed weel as do the Rudd and the Tench. The silver fish stocks are never replenished by the club as there is no need to. The carp are the only fish in the Lake that dont seem to breed so they are the only ones to get replenished.

I think Clickfire has a very good point that most clubs that say they are a mixed fishery but appear to be prodomenently Carp fisheries because the majority of anglers go there to catch the Carp and dont bother with the rest.

Clickfire were you talking about Newland ACs Heyford lakes. or Heyford fisheries Northants.
both have similar names and both have lakes named Specimen Lake.

Fair point Joskin mate.
But there must be plenty of waters where the reverse of that certain speci lake happens.
I know for a fact that there are.

Now and again a water owner will get the rights to net another water for one reason or another.
So let's say that the roach are specimen roach in (not nececcarily) Heyford.
It recieves a stocking from elsewhere. The stocking of roach could be of a lesser pedigree than what is already in there and in the future could well affect the established roach, so now we are on the downward treadmill.
It can be argued that water owners should be more carefull or choosy where they get their stocks from, but how many are?

In my experience if silver fish were the resident species before carp were introduced then theres no need to restock them, introducing the carp will thin them out a bit because the carp will eat the spawn and some of the fry as well. What you will be left with in time is a head of individually much larger silver fish and less of the stunted fish. Most carp lakes have some very large specimens of silver fish and this may be attributed to their eating high protein baits, well thats the theory anyway.

Kingsbury water park near Birmingham had the right idea many years ago, they stocked their pools with fish that are not known to cross breed. In one lake you would have say roach and tench, in another bream and tench and of course the carp lakes. These were only allowed to be fished on a syndicate ticket and what smashing pools they were too, with many specimen sized fish in them.

I don't know whether these pools still exist today because I don't live there and the demand for instant fishing is so great that silver fish seem to have to take a back seat.

Thanks Graham.
If the same old gene stock were left in a water for many years,with no fresh stockings,surely that would produce a weak strain of roach or whatever? I thought it would be more beneficial to mix a new strain of silver fish in as long as long as they were the same species.

When as you describe a water is left with a head of much larger individual silver fish, they in turn have to die off sooner or later, so a stocking will need to be done. What I am saying is that before these remaining larger silver fish do die off, the stocks have to be replenished. But not with any old silver fish stocks, in order to keep the gene fish going.

Also could it be that these single owned waters will be the specimen waters of the future? because they can be more choosy. But what about the bigger club waters? These are the ones I am talking about.

I'm not too sure if silverfish have taken a back seat, but what I do worry about is if enough 'good' stock selection is being made, when possible, to preserve the bigger silverfish.

Baz, on the carp lake I used to run, the Rudd and Tench replenish themselves even with the carp eating the spawn and fry. What you generally get left with are very tough survivors which don't get fished for very often but with effort really can make your day.

Also has anyone noticed the number of large 'silvers' that are showing on the commercial waters? I wouldn't be surprised if the next record Roach, Rudd or Perch came from one of these waters. I know one water that if you go on a cold day when the carp are less active you could be in with a chance of a 7lb Chub; my best so far from this water is 6lb 2oz so there is scope for improvemant this winter.

No doubt mate, that comercials will be the ones to hold specimen fish, many clubs could put themselves in this position with a little forethought.

Joskin I was refering to the Northants lakes complex. Late posting sorry but life is a bit sh*t at the moment.

But I think there are many lakes in a similar position to these. I fished pimlico farm near me last weekend and caught some lovely roach upto about 3/4lb whilst others struggled to catch that target species.

Each to there own I think but for me if I catch something that needs a landing net im happy.