chav professor
Well-known member
Just a thought from another thread. Has 'Carp bagging' destroyed a unique style of angling in the UK? I read Zaccaria's thread with interest that he plies his trade using the Bolognese method and perfecting this as it suits his venues in Florence. The skills in this country could be wanting to float fish like Billy lane, or ledger like Ivan Marks.
In the UK, I would argue that the match scene is dominated by 'Carp bagging' venues where tonne weights (as in 100lb +) bags are the norm. A local club had superb tench and silver fish lakes with a few carp. To be honest, the carp were welcome as they were over double figures and were a bit of fun. The tench fishing was superb! Multiple catches of tench in the 6 to 8lb bracket and rumors of doubles made it a place that made me spend hours on its banks. It was easy to put together 10lb of silvers in an evening!
In a bid to give anglers 'what they want' - their desire is to emulate the overstocked Comercial fisheries. Carp after carp stocking publicised on their web site..... Now all you could catch is pasty sized carp - the tench don't get a look in and are now a rarity.
The rivers don't get fished in part, because matches are not held locally - there is no reason for anglers to hone their skills.
I think its getting dire:
Overstocked carp fisheries are suspect on welfare grounds.
Lost skills such as trotting a stick float, or wagler, lost in preference to pellet bagging.
New and returning anglers can even come away and feel they have achieved - which is great - but its out of context:
Catching a few pound of roach and skimmers appeals far less than 4 or 5 carp pulling your rod in at around 4/5 pound apiece.
It may be what people want - but is it ethical to manipulate the land - dig a lake and fill it in with unsustainable quanities of fish just to sell daytickets. The result of this policy were obvious from the start - escalations of stocking to attract more and more match bookings.
My point is: we used to adapt our methods to suit a particular river or lake.
Now, it would appear venues are manipulated to suit a particular method/preference.
I could add:
Transfer of disease (Dipping nets in disinfectant) never had to do that before.....
Transfer of non-indiginous fish stocks from overstocked venues to rivers in times of flood.
Rediculous fish rules on spurious grounds of fish welfare.
In the UK, I would argue that the match scene is dominated by 'Carp bagging' venues where tonne weights (as in 100lb +) bags are the norm. A local club had superb tench and silver fish lakes with a few carp. To be honest, the carp were welcome as they were over double figures and were a bit of fun. The tench fishing was superb! Multiple catches of tench in the 6 to 8lb bracket and rumors of doubles made it a place that made me spend hours on its banks. It was easy to put together 10lb of silvers in an evening!
In a bid to give anglers 'what they want' - their desire is to emulate the overstocked Comercial fisheries. Carp after carp stocking publicised on their web site..... Now all you could catch is pasty sized carp - the tench don't get a look in and are now a rarity.
The rivers don't get fished in part, because matches are not held locally - there is no reason for anglers to hone their skills.
I think its getting dire:
Overstocked carp fisheries are suspect on welfare grounds.
Lost skills such as trotting a stick float, or wagler, lost in preference to pellet bagging.
New and returning anglers can even come away and feel they have achieved - which is great - but its out of context:
Catching a few pound of roach and skimmers appeals far less than 4 or 5 carp pulling your rod in at around 4/5 pound apiece.
It may be what people want - but is it ethical to manipulate the land - dig a lake and fill it in with unsustainable quanities of fish just to sell daytickets. The result of this policy were obvious from the start - escalations of stocking to attract more and more match bookings.
My point is: we used to adapt our methods to suit a particular river or lake.
Now, it would appear venues are manipulated to suit a particular method/preference.
I could add:
Transfer of disease (Dipping nets in disinfectant) never had to do that before.....
Transfer of non-indiginous fish stocks from overstocked venues to rivers in times of flood.
Rediculous fish rules on spurious grounds of fish welfare.
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