British vs American fishing

Hi,

I am watching quite a few fishing channels on youtube and they are all mainly American. Apparently there is major difference in fishing over here and over there. You rarely see any carp, bream eg "British" style fishing over there and you rarely see any spinning, baitcasting eg "American" style fishing over here.

Diff no. 2 is the places they are fishing. While 90% of UK fishing is done on commercials, they seem to have abundance of publicly accessible streams, ponds etc.

Diff no. 3 the gear also seems much different. While they cracking 6' foot rods with baitcasting reels it seems that anything under 12' rood is a faux pas over here.

Diff no. 4 as they mainly use spinning you pretty much don't see any live bait over there. They do use worm sometimes, but never seen maggot/casters over there. On the other hand, when I take out plastic lure at the local lake other anglers looking at me like I dropped from the moon.. That also goes for so so many of different boilies and such that you get over here.

Diff no. 5 American videos: "So I have arrived to the lake with my ultralight rod and lure. Let's cast, All right fish on! ...(30 minutes later)... Looks like a good day, I have had 5 fish so far" British: "So I am dragging my barrow with XX kg of stuff down the bank... (1 hour later)... My bivy is setup ...(1 hour later)... My rigs are setup, lets cast out ...(6 hours later)... Good, time to pack up, I have had one decent carp."

All in all, it just seems much simpler over there, while it seems they catch much more fish then you would over here. The overall attitude and setting seems more relaxed and it looks like they have heaps more fish.

It is a little upsetting as I would definitely enjoy the American-style fishing more.

Any ideas why that is? Is it just because US is bigger? Is it because they have more waters? Is it because they have different type of fish?

And at last, is there a chance to do similar fishing over here ? I mean I do not expect pulling one bass after another, but I am seriously getting bored of carp...

Having worked and lived in both the USA and Canada and fished there as well, I think the main difference is that over there fishing was almost always . . . for the pot and not as here in the UK as a sport or pass time.

In the Southern States were I spent my time (MS and TX) fishing seemed to consist of throwing very large lumps of metal after comparatively very small fish . . . and Bass Fishing seemingly was just an excuse to buy big boy toys and spend time drinking beer in boats.

In Texas Carp are considered a pest and when I enquired about carp Fishing at the Outdoor Store in Katy I was almost laughed out of the place.
They did, however, offer to sell me a Carp bow and arrow set up to "kill the god damned nuisances"

I have some photos somewhere of the miles of shelves stacked with lures from that store, and where the professional (yup you heard that right) angler does a show on the hour every hour in a huge concrete pool with glass sides to demonstrate the catching power of this week's special lures . . . kid you not, within 10 minutes of the end of the show the shelves are stripped bare.

I did spend a little while bait fishing on the bayou that ran behind our rented house for crappie . . . and catching those things makes bream fishing look exciting . . . .

In truth, Bass fishing is relatively simple and really needs little kit, a short baitcasting rod and reel and a ox of lures, and off you go . . . you will catch Bass

In Canada it was very different however as I thoroughly enjoyed my fly fishing there and the golf is terrific there too

Having done a little bit of fishing over the pond, I would have to add something in to all of that which might give it a little context...

The eco-system in America is generally ten or fifteen times hungrier than it is here. Pretty much all fish are predators, the "eat or be eaten" voracity that they display then affects the way in which fishing is performed.

Every small fish is at risk of being eaten by a bigger fish, and the big fish are at risk of being eaten by an alligator. So if you want to catch fish in an eco-system that savage, you just need to sling a lure out and boom! you will catch. The freshwater bass species there (smallmouth, largemouth) will annihilate lures in a way that our fish simply don't... you want to catch a 2lb perch on a lure here? Good luck - it will take a great deal of time in terms of location and then you'll need to get everything just right. The same can't be said of bass there, which are stocked in to lots of public access lakes. I would suggest that the largemouth bass to US anglers is what the carp is to UK anglers - there's a whole industry specifically devoted to catching just that one species and I can tell you that if you think carp anglers devote themselves to their angling, the pro-bass scene has got it licked. Forget bait boats, these guys need a real boat - several thousand dollars - and then there's the tackle and accessories on top.

Another good indicator of the difference between their ecosystem and ours is to take a long hard look at the crayfish that are native to each system. Most people in the uk will have never seen the native crayfish - they're a timid, small humble crustacean that would rather hide away than be seen. Compare that with the US signal crayfish - massive, brash, aggressive - and you've got yet another demonstration of the eat-or-be-eaten system, and that's what makes lure fishing so effective there.

And just in case any of what I've written above sounds defamatory to our angling cousins on the other side of the pond, its certainly not meant to be! I love fishing there, I would say angling as a pastime is more deeply rooted in the USA psyche than here in the UK - and if you ever get the chance I would highly recommend it!

I think it's a combination of things such as a different culture, different mind set, different species etc.

I was watching Ali Hamidi on the telly the other night, three of them (not all Alis ) were on a huge Texan lake catching what are known there as Buffalo Carp and in three days they had banked a hundred of 'em to over 60lbs so the options are obviously there if the yanks want to do it.

I do think we sometimes make things hard for ourselves along with a tendency to become obsessive but we are what we are, we also have the same options to trim things down as they do but we go with what we prefer as individuals.

I don't really mind what I see people doing as long as it's within the rules but I would draw the line at high pitched whooping after every fish

Here is a photo I took in the Bass Pro Shop in Houston . . . .

https://www.fishingmagic.com/forums...-shop-houston-picture2274-see-not-joking.html

I think it sums up the differences pretty well . . . anyone for a camo' three piece suite - surely a must have for every trailer . . . .

Yup, only in America folks . . . .

Bow fishing for carp sounds interesting, where can I do it? Wonder if they put ointment on the wounds after shooting them.

Peter Jacobs said:

Here is a photo I took in the Bass Pro Shop in Houston . . . .

https://www.fishingmagic.com/forums...-shop-houston-picture2274-see-not-joking.html

I think it sums up the differences pretty well . . . anyone for a camo' three piece suite - surely a must have for every trailer . . . .

Yup, only in America folks . . . .

Click to expand...

Whats with all the table lamps? looks more like a mad DFS than a tackle shop

thecrow said:

Whats with all the table lamps? looks more like a mad DFS than a tackle shop

Click to expand...

You have to see those shops to believe them Crow.

Everything from Bass Boats to Furniture to rods, reels and lures like you have never seen before.

then there is the gun section and the archery section and then you get to the clothing section, although what you need camo' Y fronts for, I'll never understand . . . must be a red neck thing . . . . and don't get me started on the ex wife's family either . . . .

What is the similarity between a hurricane and a red neck divorce?

Someone, somewhere is going to lose a trailer . . . .

If you have been married three times and still have the same in-laws . . . then you are definitely a red neck

Hahaha brilliant, exactly what i wanted frim this thread, thanks guys.

I suppose im gonna have to make the trip soon!

Going by the title i thought it was more about kit, which some of the posts were. Having watched these type of videos on YouTube am really jealous with the amount of kit they can buy and as long as they have the right licences the world their oyster. I agree with one of the posts where it does seem what they catch is mostly for the pot. Again making me jealous because of my dream of living in the middle of nowhere living off the land.
One thing i have noted was they don't seem to load their spools to the lip, having only a minimum line on a large spinning reel. Is this practice of loading to the lip just a European thing?

Regardless as to the reasons the yanks fish, they have so much space and millions and millions of lakes ,rivers and streams. I have done some lure and fly fishing in NJ, ND, WA and MA and you just turned up with rod with lure and reel attached and had a go! Still haven't mastered a baitcaster

mikench said:

Regardless as to the reasons the yanks fish, they have so much space and millions and millions of lakes ,rivers and streams. I have done some lure and fly fishing in NJ, ND, WA and MA and you just tuned up with rod with lure and reel attached and had a go! Still haven't mastered a baitcaster

Click to expand...

Yes that is what i thought, they just have more waters to fish. Situation of angling "freedom" is getting worse in uk i would say. Just now i went around a shopping center which has small man-made lake in tje middle. Guess what? Just recently fences were put around it and big sign that this lake is for members of whatever angling club only. I mean is there even a 1/100 acre body of water in uk that would not be somewhat restricted?

I'd like to see the American ace angler who catches 5 Bass in 30mins in his unspoilt wilderness put on a day ticket lake in the south East of England on a Sunday afternoon and lets see how much he whoops after every fish as he casts his 12oz crankbait from the 3m square of bank space he has between him and the next angler.

...Lets see how many "critters" he catches then...