Crankbaits, bream

Barrie Rickards always seems to raise a few interesting points.

Years ago when I was very involved in bass fishing, the Americans introduced a range of crankbaits that rattled.

Now for those of you who are not familiar with what is called a crankbait, it is a floating plug that dives deep when you crank it in - hence the name. When we first got our hands on these baits, they were devastating and caught a great many bass, both large and smallmouth. So effective were these lures that some anglers wanted to ban them. But in time they became just like any other lure.

Maybe the fish had learned to avoid them.

Many years ago in Ireland, I came across a bream in the margins of an Irish lake - Lough Garadice I think it was - laid flat on it's side in the margins. Thinking it was a dead fish I prodded it with a bank stick. It suddenly came to life and high tailed it at speed back into the depths.

How strange.

If there is anything I cannot tolerate it is people who get upset if they catch a species that they are not targetting.

Some years ago in 1994, I went with Eric Hodson to a meeting of the BCSG which was held on a water in Oxfordshire.

The meeting took place after a carp fishing session on the lake. As the anglers packed up and made their way to the lodge where the meeting took place, I could not help but hear a very well known carp angler cursing his luck that all he had caught were tench.

I lost my respect for this person there and then.

Any fish that requires a landing net to put it on the bank is worthwhile catching and people who complain about "nuisance fish" are not real anglers!

people who complain about "nuisance fish" are not real anglers!

well said

I remember a Bream on its side in the canal a few years ago just downstream of a lock. I threw a rock within a foot of it and likewise it shot off into the depths, but not straight down, it circled and kicked up the silt for a couple of minutes before it disappeared, as though it was seriously disorientated.

Maybe the Bream had been washed through the lock and had been stunned or in a state of shock?

Years ago, we in the Northern Specimen Group did a bit of investigation into the possibility of fish sleeping.

We came to the conclusion that fish very likely do "sleep" but not in the way we perhaps imagine. These bream could of course have been asleep, until they were rudely awakened.

The classic was when I found a tench floating on a lake just south of Sheffield. It looked in distress so I lifted it out in the landing net. It suddenly came alive and nearly wet me through as it lashed about in the net. I let it go and it shot off to the depths at very high speed!

And talking of nuisance fish, we were after pike on the Fortyfoot drain some years ago. I had a run on 1/2 a mackerel, struck, and up came a very nice zander of almost 8lbs.

Was I upset?

Not on your nelly, I was dead chuffed!

I'll agree with your sentiments Ron except for one -

"Any fish that requires a landing net to put it on the bank is worthwhile"

ALL fish are worthwhile, it having the fun of catching them that makes it so.

Actually you are right Woody,

I've landed good dace before today by lifting them.

I agree with you 100% Ron. Any fish I catch gives me pleasure even if it's not my target for the day.
One the first day of this season I was targetting chub with lobworm as bait and my first fish of the day was a 9lb pike. Was I disappointed? No way! It gave a great fight on the 11ft quivertip and 6lb line and I was as pleased with that fish as I was with the 5lb chub I got an hour later.
To me it was part of the rich tapestry of fishing.

Exactly Frank. We must respect all species.

The worst I ever heard of was the story Pete Stone told me of the young carp angler who actually drop kicked a large tench, rugby style, back into the water.

He called it a green snot or something.

Then you get the young up and coming barbel anglers who classify all fish under 10 lbs as "schoolies".

I truly hate to say this but I have heard this from the lips of members of the BS!!

So you've never been strutted (minnows), bleaked, micro rudd/roach, poutinged out then Ron? I wouldn't mistreat them but they are still a nuisance! Maybe I just have extraordinary ability to attract tiddlers...

or ratfished out......

Moaning about people who use the term "nuisance fish" is just 21st century pc silliness.

As Mark says every angler get plagued by "nuisance fish" from time to time be they minnows, bream, carp, bootlace eels etc.

If you are chubbing and can't get through the bream it can be frustrating and I'm sure carp anglers feel the same when they get plagued by bream or tench.

I've been plagued by carp when fishing for other species but every last one of those carp was treated with the utmost repect. I was very pleased when I caught my pb carp whilst breaming. It was a lovely unnamed long ancient dark bronze common of 26 lb 1oz.

What does annoy me is the utter ignorance of some single species anglers who moan about every species apart from the one they are after. This usually stems from a lack of understanding of other species and sometimes results in them treating certain species poorly.

We should be worried not about the term "nuisance fish" but by these "nuisance anglers" whose ignorance can result in harm to our fish.

I really belive we are too single spieces oireanted. in my misspent youth we saw eny fish on the hook as a victory worth selibrating and enything over 5 lb was a mirical!!! now all you hear is double this twentys and fourty's and mostly Carp it's ruining fishing. Fishing is about the hunt in the old day's it was an importent part of the pesants food. Now we fish over stocked lakes with hungry fish whats the fun in that week after week. I go fishing in rivers lakes and canals, the fun is not knowing what you will catch.

I went to Ireland fishing for the first time this year. It was fun, but not as productive as I'd expected. That could just have been poor luck (or technique!), but what do people think has caused the supposed downturn in Irish angling?

as an English man living in Ulster I think I know.
In the north we have a licence fee and a permit to pay for most waters. There are some where you ownly need a rod licence and they are not managed atall.
Down south the system is weirder no rod license and not a lot of managed water atall, we have not gone down the comershall waters full of hungry fish yet, and we still have a large range of wild life living of our waters.

I have been angling in Ireland for over twenty years both in the North and South. The decline in catch weights has happened over this period, this can be put down to several problems; the introduction of non-indigenous species such as roach, the increase in the number of zebra mussels, but more importantly as Barrie points out the decrease in the number of large pike, these have been replaced by increasing numbers of jacks, that are a nuisance to the angler and the fish shoals alike, the Continued removal of fish over fifteen pounds continues, mainly by our European Compadres and until this ceases then stocks of silver fish will not return.
Continuing the downward spiral of poor quality angling in some parts of Ireland.