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Rik started fishing at the age of four on his local tiny tidal river, catching eels and small wild trout on worm.
Not having had any angling family members, all his early fishing was solitary and this seems to have carried through to the present.
Like most anglers nowadays, he has a full time job and a family, so his fishing time is limited, although he does, he tells us, have a very understanding wife.He currently lives in the depths of Hampshire, and so is within easy reach of some excellent venues.
He has in the past, and still does, fish for most species, although his greatest love is for carp fishing, which is how the majority of his time is spent.
He now finds himself more thrilled with overcoming the intricacies and problems associated with catching carp, rather than the actual weight of the fish he catches and the so-called glory that goes with it.
Lies, Damn Lies And Catch Reports
I fish a varied selection of venues from intimate club waters tohigh pressure club waters to day ticket waters of varying degrees andI always keep my ear to the ground in respect of what is being caughtaround the country.
Most of the time I am told the truth about what is caught andpeople that know me would rather just leave out the details than tellme lies. This I respect them for and I also respect the privacy thatthey would expect for their waters.
My point is that from the two completely opposite ends of thespectrum we find that catch reports vary to such a massive degree. Atone end of the spectrum we have the commercial waters that are tryingto sell tickets and get people to visit their venues. I’ve hadexperience of two of these types of venues in the last fortnight.
The biggest problem I have with these fisheries is the apparentmassive discrepancy between the advertised and reported numbers andsizes of fish against those that are actually present.
I’m not sure just what the legal requirement is for these venuesto adhere to when it comes to implication through advertisement, andshort of draining down the lake, is there any way to prove ordisprove the claims?
To suggest that a particular venue contains over fifty 30lb+ carpseems incredulous in the extreme when you see the average size landedis about 17 or 18lb. Especially where anything bigger than lowtwenties is very rare, with possibly three or four fish over 30lblanded every year.
Where do we stand with these fisheries?
And what can we do about it?
For sure we can name these waters when talking to our friends, butare we opening ourselves up to possible damages claims from theowners? It’s a very, very tricky subject and one I don’t pretend tohave the answers to, but it is a subject which I feel needs lookinginto.
Most fishery owners will obviously exaggerate the stock densityand size of their fish. After all, it is a commercial business andthey need to persuade people to come through their gates. It is anatural human trait to colour things up for your own benefit,especially where revenue is concerned.
The only person who loses out is the angler who pays his money tofish for these fictitious specimens and when the monies concerned are£ 15 to £ 20 for a 24-hour session, then the amountsconcerned are quite high.
A lake I recently fished will not allow you through the gates andonto the complex until you have paid your monies. I spoke to theowner and asked him how the water was fishing and was told that thelake was fishing well with high numbers of fish being caught from allover. This information I obviously didn’t take literally, realisingthat he just wanted my money.
My next question was to ask how many people were actually fishingand I was told that there were only three other anglers on the lake,and as the venue has about twenty-odd pegs I thought this was Okayand duly paid for my ticket.
I was then allowed onto the venue, so I parked up and took a walkaround. To my utter astonishment there were about fifteen anglerscamped around the lake and there were only about three or four pegsleft free, and these were all in one corner of the lake.
On my way around the water I talked to the other anglers alreadyfishing and found out that in the last four or five days only threefish have been caught. Call me silly if you like, but I don’t classthat as a venue that is fishing well.
Suffice to say that all attempts to track down the owner had asmuch chance at that time of finding Lord Lucan.
This is a terrible state of affairs and in my mind is taking moneyunder false pretences. Do we have any legal recourse or do we justdemand our money back and fish elsewhere?
It is certainly a sticky subject, owners cannot guarantee that thefish will feed and cannot be liable for the competence of yourangling, but exaggerations about the stock size and density mustsurely be accountable to some authority.
At the completely opposite end of the spectrum we have the clubwater where catch reports from these venues are completely distorted.But this time people are saying that nothing is being caught or thatthe sizes are much smaller than the reality because they do not wantyou invading ‘their’ venue.
I don’t have a problem with people who wish to keep their venuesquiet and don’t report fish. This has happened to me on occasionwhere I have told people about fish I have caught and the lake hashad the usual circus descend on it and you are unable to find apeg.
The issue I do have is where the people, who are desperate forfame, report their fish to the weeklies but throw curve balls andreport them from other venues or at times other counties.
This is a preposterous state of affairs, if you report the fishhave the decency not to lie about the venue. The people that areliable to fish it anyway will mostly be local and will either,through the grapevine, or by recognising the fish or the scenery knowwhat has been caught. All you are accomplishing is to delude peoplewho are unlikely anyway to fish the venue in the near future.
If you want to keep your venue quiet then don’t report your fish,or do what most anglers do and simply don’t give out the details.Clubs and syndicates with publicity bans have to be respected, butthat doesn’t mean you have to lie about it. Details as sketchy as asouthern lake or a northern river are better than details that arejust not true.
The conclusion to all this I feel is a combination of commondecency, respect and a little thing called the truth.
Much of this will not reach the ears of the fishery owners, and sotheir distortions to gain more money will not be swayed by somethinglike a simple moralistic conscience.
A different Carp Column this time, next time we’ll get back tosome simple fish catching tactics.
