Commercial Fisheries – What are they all about?
LOVE ‘EM OR HATE ‘EM, commercial fisheries are here to stay, and for many coarse anglers they provide the mainstay of their sport.
Over the next few weeks I am going to bring to you as much as I can on the subject, and I have an ambition to recruit some new writers on the subject so that this can be further enriched.
A major fishing site like FishingMagic can’t afford to ignore them so I’m going to delve deeply into what they are all about. Whether it’s about the typical fish and their habits, methods, baits, techniques, or simply suggesting different ways to go about fishing them, I shall be covering it.
Whilst I remain a life-long river angler it’s not always possible to fish the rivers due to floods, or the closed season, and besides, I fancy a change as much as the next angler. Many of these waters have been developed in the last thirty years, and they can offer tremendous sport. Many will argue that the art of watercraft is being lost by those that solely fish these waters. But many specialised skills are needed to get the best out of them, which is just another form of watercraft. And it is possible to get just as much pleasure out of fishing these waters as a more natural place.
Convenience and Facilities
The chief attraction is convenience. Where else can you find on site secure parking, good access to the swims (or pegs if you prefer), comfortable fishing, and relatively guaranteed sport? In many cases, there are on-site toilets and a tackle shop and café. So it’s top marks for convenience and no worries about struggling through jungle to reach the water.
Easy Fishing, and Carp are the Main Species
It is easier to catch fish due to the high stocking levels on commercial waters compared to a typical river. It doesn’t mean that rivers are finished, just that expectations are different. Locating the fish is simpler than on a river. Now, I’ve just used the term “commercial water” yet virtually all of what I am going to cover in the next few weeks equally applies to many club waters. Many are similar to commercial fisheries, and the basic design of small, well-stocked stillwaters still applies.
Commercials have great facilities
Carp are the fish that have fuelled the success of waters like these. Again, going back thirty years, most anglers fished rivers and the average angler had never seen a carp, much less caught one. But as new waters were developed, chiefly club waters at first, stocking with carp became more widespread. Billy Makin, a Midlands-based canal ace of the late 70s and early 80s, listened in wonderment many years ago when told of huge catches that were coming from a water of this type. He, and others of like mind, saw the potential and set about developing a water from scratch starting with just fields and a bulldozer. Others redeveloped failed trout fisheries (eg, Gold Valley), or got to work on existing waters. As demand for small carp grew so the supply increased. The interest in catching carp increased, and many other waters were stocked, especially disused gravel pits. These became the focus for a different type of fishing, with much lower stocking densities, and bigger fish, the development of modern carp fishing gathered pace. But that’s not really what these articles are about.
Of course it was not solely about carp. Depending on the physical characteristics of the water (some are dug in clay, others gravel, others have peaty water) many other species also thrive; tench, crucian carp, roach, bream, perch, and in a few waters some really exotic fare, like orfe and koi carp. And controversially, some stillwaters have what are regarded as river fish, chub and barbel. Others are stocking with a purposely bred hybrid of carp and crucian carp, usually known as an F1. But it is mainly carp that are stocked because they’re cheap compared to other species; cheap enough to stock with a ‘stock plenty and keep ’em hungry’ policy. The fisheries’ owners know that most anglers these days want plenty of bites and no shortage of fish.
Specialised Tackle for Commercials
The abundance of small carp has led to the development of specialised tackle, bait and methods. These are the subjects that I will cover in the articles. Pole fishing has come on in leaps and bounds because of this type of fishing. Initially, the poles were unsuitable for catching hard fighting carp but improvements in pole, elastic and other terminal tackle design has changed this. Much stronger poles, improved elastics, better lines, floats and hooks, and new baits like hookable pellets and pastes mean that today’s angler is spoilt for choice.
What’s more, the waters are custom built with pole fishing in mind. Flat banks, comfortable platforms, and features like shallow water and easily reachable island features make for pole fishing paradise.
But pole fishing is not the only way to crack such waters. Fishing with rod and line to float fish or leger are equally valid. This gives the options to do whatever best suits the individual angler’s preferences.
It is easy to deride this type of fishing as being predictable and lacking in challenge. But there remains the need to understand how the water that you are fishing changes through the year.
Fish feeding activity is dependent on the changing temperatures through the year. Even in winter a mild spell can stimulate the fish to feed well, adding colour to the water; conversely a cold snap can freeze over the lake(s) or even if it isn’t cold enough to do that, it can slow down fish activity enough to make it hard going. Understanding how the various species react to the temperature changes can help you to catch more. Decisions like whether to try to catch carp or roach have to be made.
Timely
It is no coincidence that this series of articles is being run at this time of year; now is the time that the fishing on these waters starts to pick up after the grim times of winter. That means the fishing is going to get better and better from now on.
Always lots of action on commercials
For the novice angler these waters make a lot of sense, what with the convenience, plenty of fish, help on hand, and the chance to gain experience. This is the time of year to start, too. As the weather finally starts to warm up in April and May so the fishing picks up too. Your catches may not match those with vastly more skill and experience but it is only by catching fish that you can hope to improve, and by following this series of articles, and putting things into practice, gain skills and experience. The downside of such popular waters is that the heavy angling pressure can make the fish difficult to tempt, at least from a beginners point of view. I am going to try and make that easier for the novices out there. Much of the fishing technique that is effective on these waters is all about precision, and it is this that makes the pole fishing methods ideally suited. You don’t have to fish a pole to fish in this way though but it does mean rethinking why pole fishing is successful and adapting the essential parts of the technique when using a rod and line.
Where to Fish and What does it Cost?
Having read this article you’ll need to find a suitable venue. One way that may help is to try asking in your local tackle shops. Explain what your level of expertise is, and this may help them to guide you towards a venue that is best for you rather than simply the best known water. The cost of fishing such venues can vary considerably; until you gain skill and experience, sometimes a cheap club card where the club has a small lake fishery may be a better bet than an expensive commercial water. In a later article I shall describe more fully some of the typical types of water encountered and the differing challenges in getting the best out of them.
Over the next few weeks I shall look into tackle for these types of waters, pole fishing from a basic level, finding the fish, baits, basic methods, fun methods, and what makes the various species found there tick.
Want to Share your Commercial Fishery Experience?
I mentioned earlier about finding new writers with experience of commercial fisheries. If you feel that you could write monthly (or even just an article or two) in detail about pole fishing or match fishing, supply some pictures with each article, to about 1500 words (about the length of this article) then Graham, FM’s editor, would love to hear from you. It would help if you have some experience of writing as it makes Graham’s job much easier, but mostly it’s the old routine of a short intro saying what you’re going to say, telling the story from start to finish, and ending with a short conclusion to emphasise the main points.
Commercial waters aren’t everyone’s cup of tea but can provide just as much fishing fun as anywhere else. As this will be a fairly interactive series of articles please feel free to add specific topics that you’d like covered during the series and I’ll see what can be done. The earlier these topics are raised the more likely I can prepare detailed answers.
In Part 2 – More about the waters.
