Crystal Baubles.

wanderer · Dec 24, 2015

I am fishing for info and predictions of effect of this amazingly mild winter on next years catch expectations and how it has affected your success rate so far compared to normal winter conditions for this time of year. I stopped fishing the colder months some years ago due to arthritis and the fact that i am a percentage angler and have never found it productive enough. Do any of you take water temps and have historic data for your venues, if so please share and draw your conclusions, has the insect life disappeared from your venue, are the fish more active than usual, and what effect do you expect if any, on the fishing during 2016 do you think this will have.

binka · Dec 24, 2015

I'm not overly scientific in my approach such as taking and recording water temperatures.

I do know the barbel have continued to feed well in these parts with both multiple catches and big fish still coming out with relative ease.

The one thing I do count as important is what's happened with the winter river levels in my part of the world, in my case being consistently but only moderately higher through the winter and not to a point which would likely endanger the fry populations as opposed to the monsterous floods of the past.

This will obviously have a positive effect on seasons to come just as it's showing now with the amount of silvers, particularly chublets, dace and gudgeon, that are in the river due to the last three winter levels not reaching extraordinary high peaks.

I think as a generalisation the longer we enjoy mild weather then the longer fish will feed which will inevitably have an effect on top end weights, especially over the period of a number of similar years.

wanderer · Dec 24, 2015

This is the kind of observation that i ask of you nationwide, life is a learning curve and this info benefits us all, thanks pal, i was especially interested in the Barbel info.

Bob Hornegold · Dec 24, 2015

wanderer said:
I am fishing for info and predictions of effect of this amazingly mild winter on next years catch expectations and how it has affected your success rate so far compared to normal winter conditions for this time of year. I stopped fishing the colder months some years ago due to arthritis and the fact that i am a percentage angler and have never found it productive enough. Do any of you take water temps and have historic data for your venues, if so please share and draw your conclusions, has the insect life disappeared from your venue, are the fish more active than usual, and what effect do you expect if any, on the fishing during 2016 do you think this will have.

wanderer

My mate Simon King use to take the Temperature every time he went fishing in the winter before I met him, he asked me once why I never took any notice of such things ?

I replied, I only get limited time to fish, if it's mild I fish for Barbel, Perch or Pike in the winter, if it becomes cold (as it surely will) I fish for Chub or Grayling.

Simple really, Simon stopped taking the temperature.

Bob

john step · Dec 24, 2015

A mate of mine has taken 2 tench in December. There are still insects about. The pike have been fighting harder than I can ever remember. I don't take temperatures but what I do know is that when I have had my winter warm gear on I have cooked!
Oh yes...and I am sick and tired of the mud

wanderer · Dec 24, 2015

Bob Hornegold said:
wanderer

My mate Simon King use to the Temperature every time he went fishing in the winter before I met him, he asked me once why I never took any notice of such things ?

I replied, I only get limited time to fish, if it's mild I fish for Barbel, Perch or Pike in the winter, if it becomes cold (as it surely will) I fish for Chub or Grayling.

Simple really, Simon stopped taking the temperature.

Bob

That is a true guide to approaching your fishing Bob, and i agree with it, what i am looking for is are we at the Genesis of a new breed of giant fish of whatever species courtesy of the weather or are we merely experiencing an extension of Autumn conditions. Water temps are critical for breeding, Carp, 4 degrees is the window, Tench, Sywell my home ground, Bob Church gives a two day window in July for spawning. Could last years spawn reap a new breed of giants, what does next year hold, water holds its temperature longer than land, these historic data patterns may point to something that answer a lot of questins on peaks and troughs in fish records, dont dismiss it so lightly.

Bob Hornegold · Dec 24, 2015

Many believe that the Long hot Summer of 76 produced the huge chub we are catching now.

I have a Goldfish in my pond that is ready to spawn, but what if the predicted cold spell arrives in February and goes on to March ( it's happened before ).

Or if it continues to be extremely mild until next Spring, then we may have in 40 odd years another set of Huge Chub to catch ?

Not that it is in the least bit interesting to me, as I would be 110 years old and doubt I would be catching 9lb Chub then.

Bob

wanderer · Dec 24, 2015

So be it Bob, merry christmas mate, it is of interest to me and the immediate effects are more relevant, so forgive me my indulgence but i will try to equate historical fish weight peaks to birth years, just an interest, no more.

Bob Hornegold · Dec 25, 2015

wanderer

We have at the moment the Greatest ever chance of Huge Perch and Chub in my lifetime, if predation does not occur there are other species at their biggest ever weights.

Anything is possible with this mild weather, good spawning years usually coincide with long hot Summers.

It's my opinion that you can only catch what's in front of you and benefit from good spawning years.

Bob

chub_on_the_block · Dec 25, 2015

Bob Hornegold said:
Many believe that the Long hot Summer of 76 produced the huge chub we are catching now.
Bob

Dont think they live that long - maybe 15 to 20 years at best for Chub?

The mild winter is good for growth over winter (thats why some Koi keepers heat their pools so the fish pack on weight all year round) and may partly explain why fish have got bigger over the years if the climate has warmed. Bad thing though is that mild winters are often very wet - and spates and floods are bad for fry survival.

barbelboi · Dec 25, 2015

The big thing I remember from the 70's was the perch disease - hopefully we never see the like of that again but, as the cause appears never to have been determined, I'll keep my fingers crossed................

lambert1 · Dec 25, 2015

I remember that time too Jerry and when I returned to fishing a few years ago, one of the things I noticed was how many more Perch there were compared to when I was a kid in the 70s. Now I can catch more Perch than Gudgeon and it was very much the other way round in my youth. I very much hope that there is no return of the disease as they are truly beautiful fish!

Crystal Baubles.

wanderer

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