species of fish you have not caught for years

[riverman]

was discussing this with a mate of mine at work.mine are goldfish golden tench tommy ruffe and bullhead.
lets hear yours lads?
steve.

 

[Keith M]

Grayling.
I last caught some Grayling from the river Swale near Richmond in Yorkshire way back in 1977; whilst I was doing a resettlement course on small business ownership held at Catterick Garrison prior to leaving the Royal Navy.
That was 47 years ago.

Keith

 

[Aknib]

All of 'em.

 

[@Clive]

Grayling are rare out here, as are tench. Since moving to France 12 years ago I have only had two tench, both flukes.

 

[Alan Whitty]

Grayling, stone loach, ruffe, golden tench....Grayling simply aren't in our part of the country, stone loach were only catchable on one part of the canal at Linslade, somewhere I just haven't fished for more than fify years(if they were still there), ruffe seem to have disappeared, but I suppose they are still there somewhere, golden tench tend to be on commercials these days so I don't encounter them much...

 

[markcw]

Bitterling , used to catch them in Pickmere Lake , also on different stretches of the Bridgewater Canal .

 

[Ray Roberts]

Pumpkinseed, I was a member of a club that had a lake stuffed with them.

 

[John Aston]

My missing fish is the Arctic Char - which , unaccountably , is often spelled 'charr' of late. I've fished waters in Wester Ross and Sutherland which contain them , I've seen friends catch them - including a brace on one cast (point fly and dropper), I've seen shoals of them topping in the evening, I've even eaten them (lovely) but can I b***ery catch one ...Grrr .

I've picked up the odd Ruffe while barbel fishing, had a few bleak (or 'willow blades' as they were called in the West Riding ) when feeder fishing, even had stone loach and bullhead when grayling fishing , explored south for zander , and had hundreds of grayling. No burbot yet .... but who knows ? Maybe on a misty morning , on the Yorkshire Derwent, miles from anywhere? I can dream - does the Angling Times still have the prize for catching one, unclaimed for 50 years ?

 

[nottskev]

I caught lots of eels and flounders while learning to fish on a canal and around the tidal limits of a river. It's no surprise I haven't seen a flounder in decades, but until this year, when I caught a few on meat barbel baits, I hadn't seen an eel for ... well I can't remember. Rudd were a pond mainstay but I see very few anywhere these days, and the crucians they used to share water with aren't exactly common. I did catch a bullhead a couple of weeks ago. There was something oddly moving, looking at this little scrap of a fish with it's triangular cross-section and all-black breeding colour and wondering how it survives in the stones at the edge of a river that can thunder through the Peak District and go up and down like a yo yo.

 

[Keith M]

We used to find millers thumbs and stone loach along with the three spined sticklebacks and minnows in the small Hertfordshire streams around us when I was a kid and more recently we discovered some millers thumbs in the upper stretch of the river Lee as it goes under the bridge at the Welwyn Garden City Park.

When we received a batch of Perch a few years ago into our estate lake there were a few Ruffe amongst the Perch too.
I’ve also had one or two Ruffe when fishing the canal at the Lady Capels stretch of the Grand Union Canal downstream of Kings Langley.

I’ve also met a few Ruffe slappers in my time too

Keith

 

[The bad one]

All of 'em.

Same here............Which end of the stick do you hold?

 

[stevejay]

Caught a gudgeon earlier this week, first time for maybe 20 years. Saying that it was hooked on a size 8 with 2 hair rigged pellets, so hardly surprising I haven't caught many lately .

 

[Mark Wintle]

Flounders are rare for me nowadays, last caught a grass carp over 35 years ago (all small, they never seemed to breed?), large-mouth black bass in England - 1977 - see my latest video!
At least a decade for a ruffe though one angler claimed to have caught one from my regular stillwater venue which surprises me as I've never heard of one in Dorset before!

 

[@Clive]

I could offer a guiding service for ruffe. We have lots in the small river near home

 

[Philip]

Cod ! ...although the fact I dont do much sea fishing nowadays obviously plays a part. ..I had them as a nipper, even have a photo of me with a good'un (17lb from memory) but only ones I have snaffled since then have been from the chip shop

Grayling are rare out here, as are tench. Since moving to France 12 years ago I have only had two tench, both flukes.

Its interesting you say that Clive as I also had the impression that the further South you go the less Tench there seems to be . I would have thought they would thrive in the hotter southern conditions like the Carp & Catfish but it just does not seem to be the case.

Further north there are loads of Tench, although as with so many species here its often the case of quantity rather than quality. That said there is a place that I keep meaning to have a crack at that could throw up a big one but I'd need a week and I just dont have that luxury. ....one day !

 

[peterjg]

Never caught a grass carp or zander.

 

[@Clive]

Cod ! ...although the fact I dont do much sea fishing nowadays obviously plays a part. ..I had them as a nipper, even have a photo of me with a good'un (17lb from memory) but only ones I have snaffled since then have been from the chip shop



Its interesting you say that Clive as I also had the impression that the further South you go the less Tench there seems to be . I would have thought they would thrive in the hotter southern conditions like the Carp & Catfish but it just does not seem to be the case.

Further north there are loads of Tench, although as with so many species here its often the case of quantity rather than quality. That said there is a place that I keep meaning to have a crack at that could throw up a big one but I'd need a week and I just done have that luxury. ....one day !

I found a local municiple lake with a notice board showing tench in it. Fished it for several years and never saw one. Then they drained it and in the 4 tonnes of fish temporarily removed just 10kg were tench

The Marais Poitevin has good stocks. That is the only place I know where they exist in numbers. I have seen one in the River Charente. It was sharing a swim with a barbel and a carp. The latter took the bait first.

 

[ian g]

Caught plenty of ruffe , from the canal and the Severn plus eels . I have caught a few flounder over the years from the Dee even upstream at Shocklach . Gudgeon are no where near as common as they where around here . When I was a kid a few maggots on the canal catching gudgeon was what we did most summer holidays , love them . I have never caught a zander , I don't fish to many places they inhabit but would like to catch one.

 

[steve2]

There are many that I haven't caught in years mainly because I switched to mainly lure fishing. But I have caught the odd Roach, Rudd and Carp on lures.
What I miss catching most are the true Crucian Carp.

 

[Hugh Bailey]

I found a local municiple lake with a notice board showing tench in it. Fished it for several years and never saw one. Then they drained it and in the 4 tonnes of fish temporarily removed just 10kg were tench

The Marais Poitevin has good stocks. That is the only place I know where they exist in numbers. I have seen one in the River Charente. It was sharing a swim with a barbel and a carp. The latter took the bait first.

We went to Annecy last year in September. In the lake there, very, very clear water, saw quite a few tench grubbing around in the busiest areas - was a bit of a surprise.