Pilgrim?s Progress

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Ron Clay

Guest
Good Article Sedge. Size has got very little to do with a fish being a specimen.

For example, would you call an obese gut bucketed bloke the perfect specimen of humanity.

Some rather obese gut bucketed carp are often referred to as being specimens.
 
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Keith Miller

Guest
I have caught several chub of 4lb from the Wye, Severn and Teme and considered them to be a nuisance as they were not the target species. However I would be delighted to have caught such fish from my local Essex Stour, Colne, Pant or Brain as in these rivers they would be specimens. I can also think of a couple of local lakes where in one a tench of 3lb is a rarity but in the other 6lb+ is not uncommon. The 3lb fish are considerably harder to catch.
 
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Peter Morton

Guest
For myself i have to say it is any fish that puts a smile om my face..........
Every one of them !!!!!!!!!!!
Peter.
 
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Rodney Wrestt

Guest
Sedge is a man after my own heart, I made some of the same comments only last week when discussing the criteria the angling press put upon the "quality" of a fish in another thread. I also share Peter's sentiments, I couldn't care less what size the fish is. If it takes the bait and I land it, it's a good day.
 
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Neil Wayte

Guest
I agree Sedge that a specimen is slightly bigger than the average size from any venue.I guess we are lucky down here in the south in that we have access to waters with large specimens of most species.Even if it means a 90 mile drive for me.
I did a piece on the RMC forum saying that the Weeklies are giving a false impression of Angling when they print pictures every week of huge specimens.
The huge Barbel of the Ouse could well make the average angler think his local river is a lesser fishery because it only does the odd double.Mind you I would love a 10lb Barbel.the same is happening with the Bream a couple of waters are producing 17lb plus fish but a 10lb fish is still a massive bream.
 
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Paul Thompson

Guest
Neil,
You are right about the barbel situation. It helps if you can keep it in perspective, but most anglers have never had the opportunity to fish different waters. Personally, I have been selectively fishing for barbel on the Swale, Severn, Teme, and the Great Ouse for a good ten years now, but only because I have lived close to those rivers. My biggest(not my best) is just over 9lb, thats from the Gt Ouse.Mainly due to time constraints etc I find it a problem to target bigger fish. I plan to move to Herefordshire soon, and am so looking forward to catching those Teme barbel again. They might not be the average size of the Ouse fish, but theres something special about them, as its where it started for me, plus they fight like no others.
 
Murray Rogers

Murray Rogers

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Not all anglers fish for "specimen size fish", But some do. At the end of the day we are all anglers who take part in this pastime for differing reasons. Some just fish for fun as in a "Pastime". Others fish for competitive reasons as in match fishing, and there are those who fish for something special, and will put themselves out for it. I'm sure there are loads of reasons why fisherman fish!!!! But why are people having a go at the ones who put loads of effort into their particular brand of the sport ?.
 
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Rodney Wrestt

Guest
Hi Murray,
I don't think we are having a go at the anglers specialising and being selective, more at the angling media for failing to recognise exceptional fish from difficult waters with low stocks or smaller sized specimens. The giant fish pictured are and always will be admired but shouldn't an angler who catches a 9lb fish from a water which only holds a small number of fish to 10 or 12lb be rewarded or acknowleged for the time, effort and commitment to the water they are targeting rather than the same fish being caught by the same group of people with the fish fluctuating in weight by a gradient of ounces and drams being given preferance week in week out?
 
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Stewart Bloor

Guest
Murray, can I ask you a question? Did you read the article that prompted the current thread?

If you did, and then take the postings so far in the context of what was written, you'll see that no-one is having a go at specimen anglers (or any other anglers for that matter).

The whole point of the article and the subsequent postings that have endorsed what was written, is that we shouldn't get caught up with the 'big is best' mentality.

Which, actually, is what you're saying in your posting. Which again, brings me to the assumption that perhaps you didn't read the article?
 
Murray Rogers

Murray Rogers

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Hi Stuart.

Yes I did read the article and very good it was too. I agree that we shouldn't get caught up in the 'Big is best' mentality, however, it doesn't change the fact that there are anglers who only fish for specimen 'Sized' fish. If this is what gets them going then why knock it. Personally, I find most aspects of angling interesting and it reflects in the type and style of my fishing.
 
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Stewart Bloor

Guest
Murray, I'm really sorry, but I've gone through the article again, and the subsequent threads, and I can't see anything that is knocking specimen anglers.

In fact, in the opening paragraph of the article, I introduce myself as a 'self confessed specimen angler'.

I actually agree with everything you have said in your previous post, which puzzles me as to how that could be a statement levelled against what I wrote.

If I have not communicated myself very well, let me say, that I have nothing against specimen hunters, or indeed anyone for that matter. Live and let live, I say.

Thanks for the comments about the article, by the way, and to the others who expressed similiar comments.
 
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Terry Mann

Guest
Stewart,
Must back you up here and no I,m not after a free BAA card, I can,t see anything in the article where you are having a go at Specimen hunters. For myself I greatly admire the dedication of some specimen hunters . I know I could'nt do what they do having tried it and found it was,nt for me. You see I just ENJOY fishing ,I hope the fish I catch are going to be big fish and I use some specimen methods but in the end it,s a personal thing. When the time comes to hang up my rods the fish I am going to remember catching are not always going to be the biggest,some will be remembered because of where they were caught,the conditions caught under and the company I caught them in,they will all be specimens to me.
 
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Steve Burke

Guest
I can't see anything in the article or the postings that is knocking specimen hunters either, and I'm one myself as well.

Having said that, what I most like is catching difficult fish in pretty and uncrowded surroudings. It just so happens that the most difficult fish tend to be the biggest.

The "best" fish I caught was a chub of under 3lbs from a stream less than 10 feet wide. It wasn't the biggest I'd had from the water but it used to occupy a very difficult lie that was almost impossible to approach even creeping along on my belly.

Eventually, after umpteen abortive attempts, I finally got it. I measured out the cast to a position well back from the bank and, returning later, cast blind to it.

I was more chuffed with this fish, that I nicknamed Oswald after the difficult trout in "Drop Me a Line", than I was by a bigger fish I caught later that day. I was just kicking myself for taking so long to work it out!
 
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Stewart Bloor

Guest
Steve, your mail reminded me of my 'best' fish, which was a brown trout of 3 lb 5 oz. It was a totally wild fish, caught from a small spring fed pool in the Radnorshire hills.

It may not be the biggest fish I've ever caught, but it will take a lot of beating bringing all the other factors into consideration. Indeed, it was a real specimen.

Terry, the card's in the post...only joking....

Must get back to the mince pies, pringles and roses...I feel sick, must get out on the bank asap...

Have a nice Christmas everyone.....
 
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