Getting Kids Fishing in 2012
First of all a Happy New Year! Let’s hope that despite the never ending doom peddled by the media that we can enjoy the coming months with a little assistance from this fine sport that we all know and love. I have some positive thoughts which I will share with you in a moment but for just one second I have a major concern.
Mixed Fishing & Mixed Emotions
The day got off to a great start on Friday when Lewis latched into a small jack Pike within our first few casts. We were awaiting the arrival of Piking Pirate as he has started to nickname himself …. aka Danny Parkins, although “Piking Pillock” is closer to the mark after his run in with a little green crocodile the day before. During the release of a small jack Danny had been pinned good a proper and spent most of the day bleeding.
So much so he ended up in casualty that night and they found that one of the teeth had in fact reached the bone …. Ouch! All joking aside Danny is an incredibly experienced angler with 20 years of Pike fishing behind him so if he can get it wrong so can anybody. Take extra care when unhooking Pike!
Lewis kicks the day off with the little Jack Pike on fly
After quite a bit of general piss taking it was into the truck and off to fetch Danny’s lure gear before a quick dash up the M5 in search of Perch. Danny had some wicked looking mini Cannibal Shads which he had just taken delivery of and we felt certain that a few stripeys would put in an appearance, with Lewis and I giving it a bash with the fly. Sadly the Perch venue which shall remain nameless is under attack …. we visited a short while ago and had our suspicions. Back then I found a couple of Carp skeletons and one of the lakes which normally hooch’s with juvenile Perch seemed devoid of life. Unfortunately I think our suspicions have now been confirmed …. Otters have moved in and destroyed the venue. We found 5 large Carp bodies, two of which were very fresh. These were fish approaching double figures so one would assume that the smaller Perch had been picked off and so the Carp are next on the menu.
It was very sad to see our second venue has been the victim of uncontrolled predators
Monday morning is no time for politics but why cant this country get things into balance? Personally I love to see Otters in the wild and get pretty cross at those who believe they should be wiped out to allow them to enjoy “their Salmon fishing”, like it was their god given right. However it is no use reintroducing and growing populations of predatory Otters and then not controlling them. Just a few months ago Danny was enjoying incredible sport with the Perch on this venue and now it looks as if they have been wiped out. Head over the Atlantic and this kind of thing would never be allowed to take place …. what ever happened to nature in harmony? Otters are not the only problem, just a few days ago Danny found two set lines on Tiverton canal baited with Lamprey and a phone call to the Environment Agency met with the usual apathetic response.
We were obviously disappointed but our adrenalin started flowing once more when we found some well conditioned Pike in a nearby canal that would have made low doubles. However they were obviously in a spawning frame of mind, laying in shallow water and spooking if we so much as breathed! So it was back in the truck and a drive South to the Tone. Plenty of fly anglers will know this as an excellent Pike venue, but for me it was my first visit as somehow I always seem to drive past on my way to the King Sedgemoor Drain. Situated close to the M5, several supermarkets and a Mac Donalds this was proper urban Pike fishing with an old submerged bicycle adding to experience! The flow was shoving through and the fluff chuckers were under gunned …. in fact both Lewis and I agree we need to experiment a lot more with lines and flies on these river venues. Meanwhile Danny did get a couple of follows on a mixture of Magic Swimmers and grubs …. we should have taken the spare lure set ups. Other than that our only excitement was a walk along the M5 hard shoulder and a few curious looks from commuters heading home from a day at work!
A pleasant walk along the M5 hard shoulder to our next swim!
Our carbon footprint was becoming a little excessive but we needed another Pike and wound up back on Tivvy canal. Our day had been full of laughs as usual, despite the disappointment of the Perch venue and Danny had come close to nailing a couple of fish. Arriving in time to see the sun set we all agreed that spring is in the air and that pretty soon the fish will switch on and sport will liven up. Just recently it has been so up and down although the Piking …. oh go on then …. Pirate did winkle out a half reasonable fish to save the day on you guessed it …. a soft Magic Swimmer.
Last knockings and the Piking Pirate works his Magic Swimmer spell on another Tivvy Pike
Greys GS Scoop Net
The new Greys GS Scoop net represents outstanding value for money, boasting a range of features that will appeal to river anglers targeting Trout, although the large versions may also appeal to those who enjoy night fishing for Sea Trout. As a full time guide & serious competition river fly fisher I demand a lot out of my fly fishing tackle and expect it to meet my requirements; this net ticks all the boxes.
Lightweight Frame & Integrated Magnetic Release
The nets lightweight frame allows it to feel almost weightless to the point you can forget you’re even wearing it, especially as the GS incorporates an integrated magnet within the handle, dispensing with the need for a separate retractor.
Comfortable Handle & Rubberised Mesh
The tapered handle provides a comfortable grip which is all important when netting fish and I also like the wide alloy frame …. there is certainly plenty of room in this net! And, if like me you are prone to getting wrapped up in the excitement of landing a fish the built in elasticised cord ensures the net does not make an unwanted journey downstream!
But the real genius behind this product is the rubberised mesh. I first saw Nick Hart using one of the rubberised Greys Coarse fishing nets for his stillwater fishing back in 2010 and now here is the same mesh used within the GS Scoop net.
Greys GS Scoop Net
Conservation
This mesh has numerous benefits and in particular will appeal to conservation minded anglers keen to shield their quarries protective slime from harm and reduce the spread of harmful aquatic organisms absorbed by standard mesh. Meanwhile the rubberised mesh remains rigid, even in a flow of water, which facilitates resting the fish prior to a quick pose for the camera and a quick release. No more digging around in the bottom of the net for your fish!
No Snags, No Smell!
The mesh is also less likely to snag up, even when fishing barbed hooks (although, please de-barb!) which should ease the frustration when there is a big hatch taking place and you are desperate to get the fly back in amongst the fish! Even better it shakes dry in a matter of seconds ridding the net of fishy odours, making for an all together more pleasant car journey home. In conclusion the GS Net is truly awesome, generously priced product from Greys and I am looking forward to putting mine to good use this season!
Sizes Available / Price
Small = 15 1/2 ” x 11″ £19.99 Medium = 18″ x 13″ £22.99 Large 19 1/2″ x 15″ = 24.99
Dealing with the Cormorant problem
After the publicity created by Hugh’s Fish fight and the insane practice of discarding dead fish it is great to see that finally the problem of Cormorants is about to be addressed. Now don’t get me wrong, I actually have no ill feeling directly towards Cormorants. Look at the facts. We decimate our seas. We build lots of lovely lakes stuffed full of fish. A bird with a taste for scales is going to vote with its beak …. no doubt!
So I firmly believe this is yet another “man made” problem. But, it is a problem which is causing chaos and not only for the small stillwaters that are after all businesses which support jobs. Cormorants and other predatory birds are turning to wild stocks and that is a serious worry. For example in October last year I watched a platoon of Goosanders working a stretch of the Deveron. Their synchronization was incredible, several birds corral the fish while others dive below the surface. Then they swap. I tried my best to scare them off but I am not exaggerating when I say that there were pods of these saw-bills guzzling fish amounting to in excess of 100 birds! The fish did not have a chance.
Anyway enough from me. I am about to head out with Henry Gilbey to Alnwick for an interesting meeting with Hardy, so I shall leave you with the details regarding the possible Cormorant Licensing review. Let us hope that common sense prevails and if you would like further information or to offer your help, see here.
MINISTER GIVES GREEN LIGHT TO REVIEW OF CORMORANT LICENSING
Fisheries Minister Richard Benyon MP announced yesterday a review of the current licensing regime for cormorant control at an Angling Summit, attended by 30 angling and fisheries organisations. This announcement followed a letter to the Minister from the Angling Trust last November, calling for action to be taken to protect stillwater and river fisheries which are suffering significant losses as a result of cormorant predation.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) will invite the Angling Trust, as the representative body for all anglers, to contribute to the development of the scope, remit and delivery of the review, which have yet to be decided.
The Trust will be pressing for rapid progress on this issue, and for the review to take the following into account:
- The contribution of angling to the local and national economy (estimated by the Environment Agency to be about £3.5billion each year);
- The impact of cormorant predation on endangered stocks of freshwater eels (estimated by Defra to be up to 43 tonnes a year during the breeding season), which have declined in number by some 95% in the past two decades;
- The impact of avian predation on already threatened salmon stocks – which on some rivers removes about 50% of the juvenile fish leaving the river before going to sea as smolts;
- The fact that more than 75% of water bodies are failing to meet the standards set out in the Water Framework Directive – many of these due to poor fish populations;
- The cost to taxpayers of the current licensing regime, which involves significant bureaucracy and expensive site visits from Natural England staff;
- The fact that fisheries which are successful in applying for a licence are normally only allowed to shoot two or three cormorants; many have twenty times this number present on their fisheries;
- The lack of accurate data on cormorant, goosander and merganser numbers and the impact of local controls on national populations;
- The need for a review of the effectiveness of other methods of control – many of which are required to be tried before licences are granted – such as bird scarers, fish refuges and scarecrows and to consider providing funding to support their deployment by stillwater fisheries;
- The need to develop a UK-wide policy in synergy with the devolved administrations in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The Angling Trust will be inviting its members to contribute to the review by providing examples of the impact of cormorants, mergansers and goosanders and how their angling and fish stocks have been damaged, and to report their experience of the current licensing regime by post or to cormorants@anglingtrust.net
The Angling Trust will continue to campaign for urgent action to tackle problems with fish populations caused by pollution, over-abstraction, habitat damage and barriers to migration. Many of these problems make cormorant and other avian predation much worse by reducing natural fish population growth and making it harder for fish to escape predation. Weirs, for example, often force fish to move up and downstream through very narrow channels, which make them very vulnerable to being eaten at these points. Similarly, many flood defence works remove overhanging vegetation and other cover from rivers, under which fish would naturally hide.
Angling Trust Chief Executive Mark Lloyd said: “Anglers are conservationists at heart and do more than any other group to protect our rivers and lakes by providing funding and voluntary labour to conservation and restoration initiatives and by reporting pollution incidents. However, until our rivers and coastal fish populations are restored to good health, we must be allowed greater freedom to control local populations of cormorants, goosanders and mergansers where they are impacting on fish stocks.”
He continued: “We will be providing our member angling clubs and fisheries with practical guidance about how to apply for licences and other measures they can take to protect the fish on which their societies and businesses depend. We hope that this review will result in much greater freedom for anglers to manage the environment themselves, at less cost to the taxpayer.”
The Angling Trust, along with fisheries charities and angling industry groups, made representations to the Minister at the Angling Summit about:
- the importance of managing marine fish stocks for sustainable recreational benefit which generates economic benefits rather than damaging commercial fishing which is heavily subsidised by the taxpayer;
- proposals for delivery of fisheries and angling management by the voluntary and charitable sector rather than the Environment Agency;
- the damaging impacts of hydropower on fisheries and its minimal contribution to renewable energy targets;
- the importance for all fish species – coarse and game – of the removals of barriers to migration;
- the vital need to implement the Water Framework Directive;
- the potential role of anglers in managing invasive non native species;
- the impact of predators on fish stocks in a managed environment.
A further day-long summit will be held in late March, with 150 invited attendees, which will consider the economic, social and environmental importance of angling and the contribution anglers and fisheries conservation bodies can make to delivering the big society agenda.
Shark Finning – It has to be banned
I doubt there is an angler in the land with TV, computer or mobile access who is not aware of the Big Fish Fight campaign. Check out the signatures during the last week which have climbed rapidly to almost half a million and if you haven’t done so, please add your name!
It is fantastic to see the fury that TV chefs Jamie Oliver, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstal, Heston Blumenthal and Gordon Ramsay have whipped up. Finally the public is being made aware of the travesty of practices such as discarding perfectly edible fish at sea. Even so I still wonder why out of an enormous (worldwide) population we have not managed more signatures. Just imagine if it was the final vote on X Factor, what do you reckon, 5 million signatures by now?!
That may sound like a negative and I know this is a time to be positive but I am finding it hard. Why? Last night I had intended to have an early night until I turned to Gordon Ramsays documentary “Shark Bait” on Channel 4 which graphically displayed the barbaric practice of shark finning. The sky box was set to record the programme but curiosity got the better of me and once I began watching there was no turning back. I guess the term “shark finning” says it all but somehow seeing the familiar face of Gordon Ramsay thrown in amongst this underworld activity stamped the message home loud and clear. Shark Finning must be banned.
Ramsay may have his fair share of haters, facebook prompted several daft comments which seemed more wrapped up with who was presenting the programme rather than the subject matter. In my opinion that is not what matters here and I am sure if you asked the TV chefs themselves it would not matter to them either. Ramsays celebrity status meant nothing while trying to gain information from Costa Rican and Taiwanese ports where he faced weapons and possible physical harm. Cynics may pass this off as dramatisation aimed at good TV rather than a truly heart felt conservation issue but I would disagree with the viewpoint. It was plain to see that the business men (if you can call them that) behind shark finning have something to hide; why else would they employ armed guards and construct prison like compounds laced with razor wire?
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- Ban Shark Finning
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- Shark – No Fins
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- Harvested Shark Fins
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- All this for Soup?
If you haven’t seen the programme watch it here to find out why, but be warned, you will be disturbed. Ramsay sets out on a shark finning boat to find out for himself what goes on. Jumping on board a vessel trawling a 12 mile long line baited with Shark meat the horrific nature of Shark finning becomes reality. These perfect apex predators look helpless as they are dragged aboard and hacked to pieces in a merciless act which exists to gratify those who enjoy a bowl of soup. I have never tried the stuff. I will NEVER try the stuff. Apparently it is tasteless anyway, frankly I don’t care if it is the best tasting food on the planet. Can it possibly be worth the systematic destruction of a species?
That last statement may seem a little over the top but statistics say different. Exact figures must be difficult to calculate but the general feeling is that in the region of 70,000,000 to 100,000,000 sharks are being slaughtered each year. Can you believe it? It gets worse. Marine biologists, conservationists and researchers reckon that in the last decade the overall shark population could have decreased by 60% This sends a shiver down my spine because at this rate there will be no more sharks. And what then because without Sharks roaming our oceans an entire ecosystem is at risk of collapse.
Its ironic to think that Sharks have to be one of the most feared “wild” animals, responsible for a handful of human fatalities per year and yet man could be responsible for their future extinction. This cannot be allowed to happen. But what can we do? After all a famous TV chef maybe be able to raise awareness and coerce a few restaurants to stop serving the soup but what of those “businessmen?” At £18 per kilo for the fins there is no doubt that their greed coupled with the demand for soup is going to be difficult to overcome, thousands of Sharks will be slaughtered today. The comparisons have already been made but if these were wild animals covered in soft fur and sporting a cute expression would the practice be banned almost immediately?
The debates will continue but action is whats required. I don’t think my life will ever be the same after watching last night and I intend to find out as much as possible about conservation organisations such as The Shark Trust. In fact I am ashamed that it took this programme to make me get off my backside and become actively involved as I have had a lifelong love affair with the species. If enough people get behind the campaign we maybe able to make a difference and although there is the unthinkable possibility that this is a battle which we may lose ….. we can give it a damn good go.
