Fishing 'wild' lakes?

antiquea · Apr 2, 2018

For me, fishing the rivers and canals is where I like to spend my time. My preference is to fish for wild, non-stocked and uncaught fish - which is what I class as real fishing.

Is it even possible to find fishable lakes that have not been stocked with fish? In my mind, anything caught from a commie doesn't count.

john r stockburn · Apr 2, 2018

the vast majority of our rivers are not fished and there's endless miles of the fenland drains that have never seen a rod and line , still lots of hill tarns that never see an angler from one year to the next

thecrow · Apr 2, 2018

antiquea said:
In my mind, anything caught from a commie doesn't count.

Good job that the few younger anglers coming into the sport don't think like that or there would be even less to carry the dying art of angling on for lots of anglers a commercial is where they catch their first fish.

I don't know of any pools/lakes or rivers that haven't been changed or even created by man certainly not in the area where I live which isn't to far from where you are, as John says there are lots of rarely fished rivers and drains but if its truly wild fish you seek I reckon the only place you will find them is in the sea.

antiquea · Apr 2, 2018

thecrow said:
Good job that the few younger anglers coming into the sport don't think like that or there would be even less to carry the dying art of angling on for lots of anglers a commercial is where they catch their first fish.

I don't know of any pools/lakes or rivers that haven't been changed or even created by man certainly not in the area where I live which isn't to far from where you are, as John says there are lots of rarely fished rivers and drains but if its truly wild fish you seek I reckon the only place you will find them is in the sea.

Any fish caught from a commie doesn't count. Just like a 'trophy' deer hunted in a fenced deer park doesn't count.
And sure, the fish in our rivers and canals aren't 'truly wild'. Can't remember the last time I saw a fish farm stocking my local river.

john r stockburn · Apr 2, 2018

antiquea said:
Any fish caught from a commie doesn't count. Just like a 'trophy' deer hunted in a fenced deer park doesn't count.
And sure, the fish in our rivers and canals aren't 'truly wild'. Can't remember the last time I saw a fish farm stocking my local river.

my local river albeit small ,has restocked itself after years of industrial pollution , the fenland drains have never been stocked either ...........what are you looking for , something that resembles an animal from a gladiatorial contest ?

john step · Apr 2, 2018

Wild fishing is good. I enjoy fishing like that which is mostly predators which don't seem to get bred and released into rivers. The big BUT that comes to mind is that even these rivers are managed. Weirs, straightening, flood defence etc mean they are not quite natural.

The silvers in the mighty Trent would seem to be natural but I understand the barbel get boosted from the Notts EA fish farm from time to time(so I have heard)

As to commercials, some can be more natural looking than others. I suppose any club lake that is managed and people pay a fee could be classed as commercial to some degree.

The older I get the more I can see the advantage of SOMETIMES visiting a managed site with a peg/swim that is level and not ankle deep in mud.
That is especially true this last few months when everywhere is a quagmire.

I have seen lots of wild trout rising in the tarns whilst hill walking but I often wonder how they got there. I have wondered if they were originally stocked.

I am glad angling is a wide spectrum and caters for all tastes. Wild or commercialised.

barbelboi · Apr 2, 2018

antiquea said:
Is it even possible to find fishable lakes that have not been stocked with fish?

Possibly. Most of my fishing during the 'season' is on local rivers, backwaters and streams (where, apart from a fishing friend) I never see another angler. We also have exclusive access to two farm ponds (approx 1 acre each) and one woodland pond (about 2 acres) that have never been stocked during the time of the current land owner (some 40 years). These ponds are a good yomp off the beaten track so it wouldn't surprise me if they had been originally/solely stocked by visiting birds.

antiquea · Apr 2, 2018

john r stockburn said:
my local river albeit small ,has restocked itself after years of industrial pollution , the fenland drains have never been stocked either ...........what are you looking for , something that resembles an animal from a gladiatorial contest ?

I was being a bit cheeky in a reply to the above post. Of course the fish in our rivers and canals are wild.
Your question regarding an "animal from a Gladatorial contest" makes no sense.

john r stockburn · Apr 2, 2018

if you look at the broads there are endless places to fish and they are wild simply because access can only be gained by boat
malthouse broad and south walsham broad being two that I have fished are known for the perch ,.........plenty of places but just needs a little research

antiquea · Apr 2, 2018

Maybe I was being a bit harsh on commies. I know of a good silvers only snake lake that has plenty of good conditioned fish.

thecrow · Apr 2, 2018

antiquea said:
Can't remember the last time I saw a fish farm stocking my local river.

What river do you regard as your local river?

john r stockburn · Apr 2, 2018

thecrow said:
What river do you regard as your local river?

I hope your not going to say it was stocked "covertly" Graham,....shame if you are

thecrow · Apr 2, 2018

antiquea said:
Maybe I was being a bit harsh on commies. I know of a good silvers only snake lake that has plenty of good conditioned fish.

Maybe you were trying to wind someone up with your comments about commercials considering that you have asked for help with a pole rig to fish a snake lake, the only ones I know of in this area are all on commercial fisheries, you also mention you fish 3 rods for specimen carp, all naturally stocked I am sure

.

I don't know what you consider to be your local river but as most in the area........ Anker.... sence....Thame....... all run into each other they will have been stocked if one of them has been, the Anker was stocked in 2001 iirc after a pollution incident, the Avon runs into the Severn the Soar runs into the Trent all have been directly or indirectly stocked at one time or another so looking for truly wild fish will be difficult particularly on rivers, even our local brook that has fish in it in parts joins the Thame.

john r stockburn · Apr 2, 2018

thecrow said:
Maybe you were trying to wind someone up with your comments about commercials considering that you have asked for help with a pole rig to fish a snake lake, the only ones I know of in this area are all on commercial fisheries, you also mention you fish 3 rods for specimen carp, all naturally stocked I am sure .

I don't know what you consider to be your local river but as most in the area........ Anker.... sence....Thame....... all run into each other they will have been stocked if one of them has been, the Anker was stocked in 2001 iirc after a pollution incident, the Avon runs into the Severn the Soar runs into the Trent all have been directly or indirectly stocked at one time or another so looking for truly wild fish will be difficult particularly on rivers, even our local brook that has fish in it in parts joins the Thame.

hmmm , poles and snake lakes ,...three rod set-up for carp ! and this ;

For me, fishing the rivers and canals is where I like to spend my time. My preference is to fish for wild, non-stocked and uncaught fish - which is what I class as real fishing.

Is it even possible to find fishable lakes that have not been stocked with fish? In my mind, anything caught from a commie doesn't count.

so if anything from a commercial doe's not count ,......how many fish DID YOU NOT CATCH lately , that's the ones that don't count ,but not including

Philip · Apr 2, 2018

thecrow said:
Maybe you were trying to wind someone up

I get the feeling you have hit the nail on the head there Graham. ... very happy for the Op to prove me wrong.

Not sure what a "wild" fish even is to be honest. So one is stocked by a bloke with a bucket and another is stocked by the legs of a Heron. I imagine they will both be equally hard to catch in the same lake.

thecrow · Apr 2, 2018

Philip said:
Not sure what a "wild" fish even is

None of the fish I have caught have been anything but wild none have ever been pleased

no-one in particular · Apr 3, 2018

I always imagined a fish that was hatched naturally in a river or lake was wild. The offspring of stocked fish are wild even in a commercial. I suppose it depends on which way you look at it.

Keith M · Apr 3, 2018

In my view a natural fishery is a water that looks very natural and who’s fish population can quite happily survive with no artificially added feed or anglers baits, groundbait or loosefeed throughout its life. It would also have no none indigenous foreign fish (Carp have been here for around 2000 years now so in my view would now count as being indigenous) or artificially bred fish like f1’s etc. in it either (only natural bred hybrids).

Commercial fisheries which rely on having plenty of anglers fishing them throughout the year are usually stocked to a higher level and are not what I would call ‘natural’ waters and this can often apply to some club waters too, but not all of them.

Finding a lake or river in the UK that has never had an influx of stocked fish throughout its life; either to replace fish lost through a pollution or to bring the stocking level up would be a hard thing to do; even in the wilds of Scotland.

Keith

dorsetsteve · Apr 3, 2018

I’m not that keen on lakes. The more commercial they are the worse that feeling becomes, snake lakes etc are just not my cup of tea, certainly not on a regular basis. I like to feel like I’m somewhere wild and private. This can be achieved on some lakes and equally not achieved on some rivers. I don’t live far from the Royalty but you will be lucky to see me there...

Philip · Apr 3, 2018

markg said:
I always imagined a fish that was hatched naturally in a river or lake was wild. The offspring of stocked fish are wild even in a commercial. I suppose it depends on which way you look at it.

Keith M said:
Finding a lake or river in the UK that has never had an influx of stocked fish throughout its life; either to replace fish lost through a pollution or to bring the stocking level up would be a hard thing to do; even in the wilds of Scotland.

Both good points imo. What constitutes “wild” fishing will always be subjective and could even apply to angling on an inner city canal depending on how you look at it.

One things for sure however, if an angler is only interested in catching pristine naturally hatched fish in unblemished environments with an Eagle soaring overhead and they live in England then they are likely to become disappointed very quickly as the most likly thing to be seen soaring overhead there is a jumbo jet.

Fishing 'wild' lakes?

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