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Wintle’s World of Angling

May 27, 2004

MARK WINTLE

Mark Wintle, an angler for thirty-five years, is on a quest to discover and bring to you the magic of fishing. Previously heavily involved with match fishing he now fishes for the sheer fun of it. With an open and enquiring mind, each week Mark will bring to you articles on fishing different rivers, different methods and what makes rivers, and occasionally stillwaters, tick. Add to this a mixed bag of articles on catching big fish, tackle design, angling politics and a few surprises.

Are you stuck in a rut fishing the same swim every week? Do you dare to try something different and see a whole new world of angling open up? Yes? Then read Mark Wintle’s regular weekly column.

Paradise Lost

OVER-FISHING

One of the arguments that creeps into discussions about the pro’s and con’s of the close season on rivers (and lakes for that matter, for many lakes still close) is whether the enforced break gives the fish a rest from the relentless pressure of angling. Rather than resurrect the close season argument here, I am going to solely concentrate on the effects of angling pressure based on a series of actual cases of which I have first hand experience.

There are no simple answers but many complex interactions that affect the quality of angling. In my conclusion, I shall pose some hard questions for fishery owners, clubs and individuals.

The Barbel that Learnt
Many years ago, I had the pleasure of fishing a short day-ticket stretch of a Thames’ tributary. To gain access, one purchased tickets from a nearby pub. The pub policed the stretch well, but despite the reasonable price of tickets and the incredible fishing, few bothered to fish the river. When I first fished it, the many fish were in virtually every swim. Chub between a pound and three pounds were numerous (catching up to twenty was easy), here and there were big roach to two pounds, and in several swims, there were barbel. These barbel were na