If you read the angling press,they harp on about the 70's match fishing,it was the "heyday of river match fishing",huge bags of roach,bleak etc.it was common to have 180 peg matches on the thames,trent,etc with amazing silverfish bags.
I remember the pollution,and how the word itself became, through the media,into our commonlanguage .
So where are the 100lb roach bags today,(we all know cormorants are a problem)but I believe our rivers are just too clean today.
PS If the RSPB are so concerned about fish and our rivers,why dontthey they do something about controlling cormorants,mergansers etc,depriving our beloved kingfishers etc of their prey?