dezza
Well-known member
What fishing was like in the 50s and 60s?
Well for a start I am old enough to remember gut casts and whipped on hooks in packets made by Allcocks of Redditch.
Where I lived as a boy, gave me access to the Rivers Ryton and Idle. A little further was the Trent and the rivers in and around the Dukeries, such as the Poulter, Maun and Meden - south of Worksop. Then there was the Chesterfield Canal, which is still one of the best canals in England.
But in the 50s, all these waters teemed with fish. I remember watching large shoals of dace and quite a few good chub from the Bridge at Blyth, which crosses the Nottinghamshire Ryton. This little river was capable of producing enormous dace for a period.
These days the river is a fishless, weed choked trickle.
The River Idle in those days was a true gem. If you were reasonably competent you could often get 15 lbs of roach, each one averaging 1 lb, with the occasion fish over 1 1/2 lbs. In summer, creed wheat was the bait, and in winter - small redworms. I couldn't afford maggots then and casters were unheard of. And anglers using hemp were often treated with scorn. In fact hemp was often banned in many waters then.
The River Trent in the tidal reaches, polluted as is was, could produce excellent roach fishing, especially in the Sutton to Cottam stretch. Again, creed wheat was the bait, especially in September and October. The Trent would often go off with the first frosts.
And in those days, very few people used trotting tactics when fishing the Trent. Stret Pegging and laying on with long Spanish Reed rods was more the norm. One particular Trent expert who I fished with quite a lot, despised trotting and used the use a heavy bored out tonkin 14 foot rod with a spliced in split cane tip. This rod had a permanent set going to the left, as he mainly fished on the west bank at Cottam along what was known as the "Stone Heap". This length was heaving with good roach which often rolled in profusion just as the tide turned.
In those days you could mainly catch roach, dace and the odd chub from the Tidal Trent. Certainly no barbel or bream.
And turning to carp, this was a species that hardly existed in the area I fished. There were a few in a Gravel pit near Worksop, but nothing of any size. I think it would be true to say that in the 60s, carp in Yorkshire were confined to Hartwith Mill Dam near Ripley, a 2 acre lake stocked by Leney, and Foxon Dam near Sheffield, again stocked by Leney. Actually Foxon might be in Derbyshire. Certainly Chapel Wheel Dam was in Derbyshire, the lake where I caught my first carp.
In truth, in those days, I doubt if more than two dozen carp actually swam within the borders of Yorkshire. I fished at Hartwith and I doubt if more than a dozen carp were living in it.
So there you are, a little of what fishing was like in the 50s and 60 where I lived.
But what about you?
Well for a start I am old enough to remember gut casts and whipped on hooks in packets made by Allcocks of Redditch.
Where I lived as a boy, gave me access to the Rivers Ryton and Idle. A little further was the Trent and the rivers in and around the Dukeries, such as the Poulter, Maun and Meden - south of Worksop. Then there was the Chesterfield Canal, which is still one of the best canals in England.
But in the 50s, all these waters teemed with fish. I remember watching large shoals of dace and quite a few good chub from the Bridge at Blyth, which crosses the Nottinghamshire Ryton. This little river was capable of producing enormous dace for a period.
These days the river is a fishless, weed choked trickle.
The River Idle in those days was a true gem. If you were reasonably competent you could often get 15 lbs of roach, each one averaging 1 lb, with the occasion fish over 1 1/2 lbs. In summer, creed wheat was the bait, and in winter - small redworms. I couldn't afford maggots then and casters were unheard of. And anglers using hemp were often treated with scorn. In fact hemp was often banned in many waters then.
The River Trent in the tidal reaches, polluted as is was, could produce excellent roach fishing, especially in the Sutton to Cottam stretch. Again, creed wheat was the bait, especially in September and October. The Trent would often go off with the first frosts.
And in those days, very few people used trotting tactics when fishing the Trent. Stret Pegging and laying on with long Spanish Reed rods was more the norm. One particular Trent expert who I fished with quite a lot, despised trotting and used the use a heavy bored out tonkin 14 foot rod with a spliced in split cane tip. This rod had a permanent set going to the left, as he mainly fished on the west bank at Cottam along what was known as the "Stone Heap". This length was heaving with good roach which often rolled in profusion just as the tide turned.
In those days you could mainly catch roach, dace and the odd chub from the Tidal Trent. Certainly no barbel or bream.
And turning to carp, this was a species that hardly existed in the area I fished. There were a few in a Gravel pit near Worksop, but nothing of any size. I think it would be true to say that in the 60s, carp in Yorkshire were confined to Hartwith Mill Dam near Ripley, a 2 acre lake stocked by Leney, and Foxon Dam near Sheffield, again stocked by Leney. Actually Foxon might be in Derbyshire. Certainly Chapel Wheel Dam was in Derbyshire, the lake where I caught my first carp.
In truth, in those days, I doubt if more than two dozen carp actually swam within the borders of Yorkshire. I fished at Hartwith and I doubt if more than a dozen carp were living in it.
So there you are, a little of what fishing was like in the 50s and 60 where I lived.
But what about you?
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