Most of you know of the many freshwater species fished for in the U.S., many of which were imported years ago and which spread to many states. Other than coarse fish, it doesn't seem you have much variety and lure use takes a back seat to live bait.
Just wondering.
Spoonminnow, yes it's true that the Uk has a fairly small number of fish species compared to the US.
The reason is that the US is 40 times the size of the UK and has a five climatic regions - Mild climate, Steppe (prairie) climate, Desert, Continental and Mountainous. By comparison the UK has just one climate, Mild (warm and wet). So over millions of years, many different fish species have evolved in the US to exploit the wide range of habitats and climates available.
Another factor is that until about 8,000 years or so, what we now call the British Isles was part of the European mainland. Species could migrate freely across north west Europe. When the ice age finished and the glaciers melted, sea levels rose, the land joining UK to the mainland flooded, and the British Isles was created. Generally after the end of the ice age, I believe that the British Isles had a smaller variety of plants and animals than further south on the mainland of Europe.
It's highly unlikely that the Environment Agency (a government supported body) would allow the introduction of foreign fish species into the British Isles, because it's impossible to predict the likely effect of new species on indigenous species.
