BBC reports pike eating roach, rudd and tench in Cornish duck pond

DODGY journalism is not hard to spot, especially when it's about a subject with which you're familiar.

A prime example comes from today's bbc.co.uk 'Most popular stories now' list and concerns pike making life miserable for the other residents of a Cornish pond. So what's new...?

'Killer pike removed from Par duck pond' reports that pike have been eating roach, rudd and tench in the pond near St Blazey and snatching fish being reeled in by anglers, again, nothing new there.

Numbers of the species – not native to Cornwall according to the story – have been “getting out of hand” and Environment Agency Fisheries Officers have had to use “electronic devices” to stun the fish so they can be removed.

Presumably this refers to electrofishing, a widely used method surely not too difficult for the journalist to convey to the reader?

The article goes on to paint a portrait of the pike as a vicious killing machine capable of taking out ducklings and water voles, but fails to mention the important role it carries out in the ecosystem.

I guess it must be a slow day at the BBC as I can't quite work out where the news is in this less-than-insightful account of the situation. I wonder what will happen when the BBC finds out what perch, zander, chub and catfish get up to...

Click here to be amused/bemused/confused by or just to read the original.

Canal work to finish in time for new season?

ANGLERS on the Basingstoke Canal will be pleased to know that the recent low water has been caused by work being carried out to repair long-standing damage to the banks.

A section of the waterway between Crookham Wharf and Double Bridge in Dogmersfield has been dammed so work can be carried out to repair several long-standing breaches.

But the two kilometre (approx) section will have to be drained which poses the question of what will happen to the fish that currently reside there.

The Basingstoke Canal Authority has said that work will be finished in time for the start of the new season but there are those who are sceptical of this and questions remain unanswered.

I'm currently looking into the situation and will publish more information here when I have it.

Final fish from frustrating season

THE final river session has come a little early for me as a trip to see my girlfriend's parents has put the kibosh on the final weekend of the season.

But I did manage a few hours on the bank yesterday and was rewarded with a decent chub just before dark. The 4lb Whitewater resident put a welcome bend in my rod as a cheese paste wrapped pellet proved irresistible.

The memory of it will now have to satisfy my running water urges until the - hopefully - glorious 16th and marks a reasonable end to what's been a difficult season.

Summer drought conditions hit Basingstoke Canal in March

I WAS met with an alarming sight today while walking the dog along the Basingstoke Canal where the water has dropped to well below summer levels despite recent heavy rainfall.

As the pictures show, the near-side shelf is clearly visible and it's the same on the far bank. Most of the stretch I walked between the Farnborough Road bridge and Iron Bridge would be awkward to fish as the angler would be so high off the water.

I must admit that I was thoroughly confused by the situation particularly as there has been so much rainfall during the past week. That was until I spoke to John Campbell of the Basingstoke Canal Angling Association (BCAA) who was chatting to an angler optimistic enough to fish the stretch in its current state.

He explained that there had been a breach at Dogmersfield where water had been escaping over the banks. To stem this flow the Basingstoke Canal Authority (BCA) has dammed the section to try and prevent any further loss of water.

But as a result water has been prevented from moving out of the dammed section to replace any that is lost further down. This means if a lock is opened and water rushes out nothing will be available to replace it from higher up.

This seems to be the most likely explanation for the severely depleted levels, as Ash Lock is not far away and a recent opening would force water to flow out of the stretch with nothing able to flow down and replace it.

It will be interesting to see if the Newtown Angling Club match scheduled for tomorrow between Farnborough Road Bridge and Iron Bridge goes ahead and if so, what the results will be.

As for the fish, oxygen levels should remain sufficient and not cause them a problem as they don't have scorching summer heat to contend with as well as the low water levels.

Hopefully they will have found shelter elsewhere to replace the bank-side cover they've lost and levels can be restored before they start to spawn. The margins play an important part in this process and the Basingstoke Canal is still subject to a closed season in order for the fish to reproduce without harassment from anglers. It doesn't bode well for the new season and the next year class of fish, however, if this problem drags on and they find themselves with nowhere to do it.

Promising results from new stretch of Blackwater

A TRIP to a new stretch of river threw up some interesting results today and has seriously whetted my appetite for a return visit.

I recced this particular bit of Blackwater that offers free fishing a few weeks ago and returned today armed with rod, rucksack and stool for a bit of roving in search, yet again, of a chub.

A likely looking overhanging tree on the far bank saw my cheese paste flicked in its direction and before it hit the deck, my 3oz tip sprang into life and my target species was on.

Bear in mind that this was my first cast on a new stretch of river – I couldn't believe what was happening. A short but spirited fight and a difficult netting in the strong current ended in a chub of about a pound-and-a-half on my unhooking mat.

I slipped the fish back to its watery home and my confidence went through the roof. Could this be the dream small river swim from which I could plunder a bag of chub?

Well... no. The following bite-less hour saw the realisation dawn on me that I'd been lucky enough to hit the only chub in my swim smack-bang on the head with a stinking lump of high-vis paste, a situation that ended in the only plausible outcome but one that was not to be repeated.

With all the other likely looking swims being used or better suited to a float, my dad and I quickly stowed our kit and headed off with the intention of driving to our normal stretch of the same river about a mile down the road.

Reaching a swim that had been occupied when we arrived, I spotted a float attached to a tree within reach of a landing net. So with a precarious lean out over the river, I got the net round it and it slipped off the line to become the latest addition to my float collection.

Buoyed by this success and pleased with my new crystal loafer, I wandered off after a stick float I remembered having seen earlier dangling from another tree, leaving my dad and the kit in the picturesque peg opposite a sewage works.

I returned later empty handed to find my dad having a cheeky cast in the swim you can see in the picture above. He'd taken the feeder off his line to carry the rod and as a result was effectively free-lining a lump of paste in the far side slack water before it was gradually dragged round into the main flow. He assured me this method had resulted in “a huge hit” just moments before I'd returned from my float hunt.

Thoughts of the other stretch of river started to fade as the paste was re-cast for another trundle through the swim, this time starting in the outflow of clean water from the works.

Very quickly, a couple of tweaks on the tip signalled some piscatorial intention and the next thing I knew, my dad was leaning into a fish as his John Wilson Avon rod took on a very healthy curve.

A chub approximately two-and-a-half times the size of my earlier effort soon graced the net and we realised that this swim if not exactly pretty, certainly had some serious potential to produce fish.

With my rod broken down for the car, I was handed the 'John Wilson' and was graciously allowed a chuck in the new killer swim. It didn't take long for a bite to register and I struck into lump that was determined not to be dragged up from the depths. From the way it stayed deep, boring around and around, I started to hope I was attached to a new river record.

But the surface was broken suddenly and violently and my hopes were dashed as the distinctive markings of a pike became all too clear.

It was a good fight however, and somehow the mono hook link held firm. A jack of just over five pounds was safely returned to continue harassing my intended quarry and as the daylight faded, we headed for home leaving the swim we've dubbed 'the aquarium' to recover in anticipation of our next visit.

Lucky escape for predator that became the prey

EVERYBODY knows that nature is dog-eat-dog world and last week I saw a startling reminder that beneath the water's surface fish are constantly fighting to keep their place in the food chain. It also proved that the chub must be amongst the toughest of fish that swim in our waters.

With a few hours on the bank in my sights last friday I headed for the river Whitewater on the Hampshire/Berkshire border. It was a lovely day as I made my way through fields towards the river, with the low winter sun in full blaze and fluffy, picture-book clouds scattered across a bright blue sky .

Normally on a short session, I'd go from swim to swim giving each about 20 minutes for a chub to make its presence known. Time was against me however, so I chose to sit it out in a favourite swim and wait for the sun to drop behind the trees and encourage the fish to feed.

Using a quiver tip with a light-ish running rig, I opened my rucksack to find I'd left the liquidised bread intended for the feeder at home. A quick re-think saw some micro pellets scalded in some hot water from my flask and a pellet cone sitting on top of my cheese paste hook bait, with a small lead replacing the feeder.

I duly cast in and sat back to enjoy the scenery and the sight of a buzzard circling over the field to my right. This particular bit of Whitewater is one of the most picturesque fisheries I've seen and it's always a pleasure to be there. Bites are simply a bonus at such a place, particularly when I had the entire stretch to myself.

A few casts later and an unmissable drop-back snapped me out of the trance induced by my surroundings. It was immediately followed up by some sharp pulls on the tip and I struck into a decent fish that quickly moved into the main flow of the river and out of the slack water where it had found my bait.

After a good scrap that gave away nothing of what I was about to discover, a chub surfaced with what I initially thought was a leaf stuck to its back. I netted it and closer inspection revealed that the fish was missing a large chunk of flesh leaving a cavity so deep that bone was visible.

As the photos show, this chub had had a very lucky and very recent escape from the jaws of death in the shape of what I reckon was a pike. You can see where it was grabbed from the U-shaped markings that start opposite the area where flesh had been removed and fit the shape of a pike's jaw.

I can't believe the fish was willing to feed so soon after being attacked. Not only will chub feed in the lowest of temperatures long after other species have switched off, it seems even a gaping wound won't deter them. Perhaps the low temperature of the water was keeping the wound numb and it appears that no organs were damaged. Hopefully the risk of infection will also be reduced by the cold water and this slightly lighter-than-usual four-pounder will live to fight another day.

No doubt the smell leaking from the wound will be particularly enticing to other predators hoping to pick off an easy meal but I'll still be looking out for a fish with a very recognisable scar next season.

The Big One

I SPENT a good few hours eyeing up bargains at the Big One today and needless to say I ended up going home with a few.

For those of you who weren't there – though it seemed like most of the anglers in the country were – it's a huge tackle sale held in a hangar-like venue at Farnborough airport with hundreds of exhibitors selling gear at knock-down prices.

Lots of the sport's big names were there representing their various interests and it was good to see people like Steve Ringer and Keith Arthur chatting happily with the punters. It's often said that angling is the only sport where an amateur can compete alongside a world champion and there were certainly no barriers in evidence today.

There'll be more of the Big One from me at a later date but for now, I'm off to play with my new kit!

U-turn made as Trust joins calls for otter action

THE Angling Trust has finally made its stance on otters clear by joining many of the anglers it represents in demanding a sensible approach to controlling numbers of the fish killing predator.

Trust Chairman, Mike Heylin, has written to the Environment Agency, Natural England and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to tell them just how serious a problem otter predation of fish stocks currently is and that regulations must be introduced to allow proper management of the species.

He told the Angling Times this week that the environment needs strict management not “loose regulation and poor legislation backed up by woolly-headed thinking,” and that Government regulations must make provision for the control of otters.

The Angling Trust launched a campaign strategy yesterday to highlight the concerns of anglers in this country in the run-up to the general election and it put otters firmly on the agenda. It has pledged to:

*Lobby Natural England to publicise the fact that it advises against the reintroduction of otters now that natural regeneration has been successful.

*Campaign for the protection and restoration of damaged river systems so that they can support healthier fish populations.

*Lobby the Environment Agency for more funds to be released to support the cost of fencing and other deterrents at still water fisheries to keep out otters.

Other points raised include pollution, overfishing, greater control of cormorants and more accountability of how rod licence money is spent.

A group of MPs chaired by Martin Salter (Lab) has also come together to act as Parliamentary Supporters of the Angling Trust. It will act as a link between the Angling Trust and Parliament to ensure that anglers' concerns on a variety of issues are heard by all the political parties before the election.

It has long been argued that with around three million anglers in this country, we are a body who cannot be ignored and whose views and votes really matter to politicians. For a long time however, this simply hasn't felt like the case.

But with six MPs in Parliament who share a vested interest in the sport and a governing body that seems finally to be firing on all cylinders, angling may just be starting to punch at its full fighting weight. It just remains to be seen whether it can land a blow that will knock the otter problem out for good.

See posts below for background to this story.

Angling Trust quick to distance itself from otter cull claims

AN unsubstantiated claim published on a newspaper website has got the Angling Trust (AT) up-in-arms over the issue of otter control.

“Angling Trust calls for cull of otters eating too much fish” screams the headline of an article published on timesonline.co.uk earlier this month.

The AT was quick to deny the claim and published a disclaimer on their website the same day demanding a retraction by the newspaper. At the time of writing, it's still there.

The article totally fails to back up what the headline claims which makes for a prime example of shoddy journalism and puts the paper in decidedly dodgy legal territory. It seems the writer – Simon de Bruxelles – has used it as an inflammatory hook to pull in readers before completely failing to acknowledge it throughout the article.

The Times also ran a printed version of the story – 'Who ate all the fish. The Otter, say Anglers' Wednesday, February 3 p.19, though it is slightly shorter than the electronic one and doesn't use the libelous headline.

In both articles the mention of a cull is not associated with the AT but with fishery owners who, de Bruxelles claims, are: “pressing the Government to allow a cull to keep [otter] numbers to manageable levels.”

Comments that have been left by readers of the web version are wide-ranging in their support for and criticism of the subject.

They include posts from 'Mark Castro', who has worked on the thorny issue of otters in the past with Chris Burt of the Angling Trust, himself quoted in the articles. More significantly, 'Michael Heylin', chairman of the organisation has left a lengthy reply to the story and both writers make a point of denying the AT's support for a cull of otters as the Times wrongly suggested.

On a media platform of this nature it's impossible to confirm whether or not the posts were written by the people they claim to be. It could have been any internet imposter but they toe the line already drawn by the AT.

Comments from unconfirmed sources floating in the realms of cyberspace isn't really the defining action I expect angling's governing body to take on the issue that is dominating the news pages of the angling press, and has now breached the pages of the national press.

If the AT is seriously concerned with what's been written – and it looks like there could be a case for libel – it needs to alert the Press Complaints Commission. It should be issuing an explanatory release to the angling press through which to convey its message to its members and it should have a thorough explanation on its website, not just a small panel displaying a few words alluding to the subject that can't be clicked on to access further information.

I'm yet to see any evidence of this happening and quite frankly, the matter isn't being handled in the professional manner that it and the sport of angling needs from its governing body.

Click here to read the article at timesonline and see the post below for my opinions on the subject.

The Otter Problem - My View

IT has recently become apparent that the otter is the latest threat to fish stocks, the livelihoods of people who depend on them as a source of income and the anglers who utilise them for sport.

They are currently decimating stocks of big fish in the way that cormorants have wiped out smaller species from some venues and when you add eastern Europeans into the mix, the picture start to look grim.

Many anglers would love to see the AT back a call for a sensible, well-researched, humanely carried out and ecologically sound otter cull. In fact if it did, the AT would probably receive a much needed boost in membership as a direct result.

On the other hand, to suggest culling what will forever be lodged in the nation's psyche as a “warm and cuddly” animal, as Chris Burt calls the public perception of the otter, would be a public relations disaster and serve only to widen the gap between anglers and some other waterways users and nature enthusiasts or 'antis'.

Regardless of how it occurs, something needs to be done about the otter problem that our sport now faces. More anglers joining the AT would help as it would provide a stronger, more united front with which to confront those who oppose the issue or even deny that a problem exists.

The Environment Agency (EA) needs to acknowledge the severity of the problem more seriously. Angling does not need its sympathy, it needs to see a return on the money that anglers fork out for a license each year to do something to prevent the unchecked rise of the otter.

An EA spokesman quoted in the Times suggests that: “where losses are particularly high, or are likely to be a serious problem, steps should be taken to prevent otters gaining access.”

The £100,000 that the EA has designated for otter-proof fencing is not going to cover the miles of river system yet to be subjected to the otter blight. To even begin to imagine that rivers and large lakes can be protected by expensive fencing is madness for too many reasons to list. It's simply not feasible which brings the argument back round to the need for a cull.

It has been pointed out that the otter's first choice from the piscatorial menu is the eel which is already in very real danger of extinction. This is incredibly worrying and for this reason alone the otter – a creature that belongs in the sea – needs to be kept under control so that we do not see the last of this ancient and mysterious fish disappear down Tarka's neck.

When eels have been wiped out and there aren't enough of the other freshwater species to sustain otter numbers, what will happen to them? Maybe they'll go into decline or be forced back to the sea and the problem will come to an end. But anglers will be left with nothing to fish for and a thriving British industry will be in tatters.

I have no doubt that my opinions on the matter are simplistic and I'm not pretending that they are fact or backed up by solid scientific evidence. Again, this is where I and thousands of other anglers need the AT and the EA to shed some proper light on the issue and take positive steps towards finding a solution, not just meekly pander to the whims of a public who simply don't understand the threat posed by the otter.

The article in the Times states that some unidentified 'experts' claim that coarse fishing could be wiped out in five years. While I don't think that this is currently the case, I'm concerned that it soon could be. To prevent it we must put our collective heads together and come up with a way to beat the cutest of enemies that the sport has ever faced in a way that suits all parties.

A smashing ton at Viaduct Fisheries?

WHEN ice becomes a factor in targeting lakes for a bite or two, my inclination is to head for the river. The chances of finding moving water frozen over are substantially less than that of still waters and to be honest, I'd almost certainly be at the river at this point in the season anyway.

But not every river holds a head of carp, whereas it seems that nearly every lake does, be it commercial fishery or club water. It also seems that this is the species for which the masses want to fish. Now, this is no revelation and it's been the case for what seems like forever, or at least since I became aware of trends within the sport.

I believe that it's this voracious appetite that anglers have for hauling carp which has fuelled the recent debate over whether ice should be smashed when fisheries become frozen, and indeed, has been the deciding factor when people have chosen to do so.

As a passionate angler, I want to wet a line as much as the next person, but when confronted by a frozen lake I just wouldn't bother to get my kit out of the car. If I wanted to go ice fishing, I'd go to Alaska and do it properly. Chances are, the fish aren't going to feed anyway, and call me naïve, but surely carp wouldn't be the obvious target species in freezing temperatures... would they?

Well apparently they would. News that bosses at Viaduct Fisheries in Somerset, spent two days smashing ice so that a match could go ahead came as a bit of a surprise to me. But it was a 100-peg event so I can understand that they didn't want to lose out on the revenue that it would generate.

But what was a real shock to me were the winning weights. A few pounds of roach right? Wrong. The top three anglers all breached the “magical ton barrier” with the winner putting together a 144lb bag. The story doesn't specify what species the fish were but my money is on that well documented winter feeder, the carp.

To me this is unnatural. How was it possible to catch so many carp so synonymous with lazy summer evenings and floating baits, from a lake where it took the preceding two days to smash the covering layer of ice?

This says two things to me. Firstly, the viewpoint that smashing ice is detrimental to fish stocks is blown clean out of the water. Clearly, it isn't.

Secondly, it speaks volumes about the fish in commercial fisheries. These carp must have become so conditioned to a regular feed-up of angler's baits that two days under ice must have been the equivalent of a heroin addict going cold turkey for them. When the bait started going in again they must have been only too relieved to get their hit as the dinner bell was sounded.

More worryingly, such a high stocking density means that the fish begin to get seriously hungry after two days under ice, as competition for what natural food exists is fierce, and they haven't had the slightest sniff of a pellet upon which they usually rely. So these fish need that bait and were queueing up to be hooked.

And that's really my beef with commercial fisheries. I'm not a biologist but if these were wild fish, surely they'd be lying up and conserving energy, avoiding predators and perhaps feeding sporadically, not consistently over five hours. When I go fishing, I want it to be an experience where I try to outwit a wily creature in it's natural habitat that is behaving in a way that has taken thousands of years of evolution to perfect, and yes, I often fail but that's all part of the game. What happened at Viaduct Fisheries is akin to feeding time at the zoo and I still can't quite get my head around it and the type of angling experience it represents.

Chub rewards cold water efforts

LOADS of recent headlines and articles have been singing the praises of the chub as a species that will continue to feed, even with a lot of the country still firmly in the icy grip of winter.

My last three outings have all ended – though one of them didn't start – in pursuit of this greedy predator and after a couple of blanks, I finally connected with one of about 3lbs which was a most welcome sight after a good few fish-less hours on the frozen banks.

After lamenting the time I wasted at the Loddon in my last post on this blog, I took my own advice and headed a couple of days later to the river Blackwater. Conditions were indeed perfect though the fish disagreed as they stubbornly refused the cheese paste that I legered in all the likeliest-looking holes. Even into darkness they showed no interest but so angling goes...

Not entirely deterred, I returned yesterday and thought a size 20 hook tied to a 1lb 8oz link and baited with pinkies under a small stick float might winkle out a few dace and roach. It didn't. After flogging the swim for some hours with nothing to show but an aching arm for my efforts, I conceded defeat and put the float gear away.

There was just enough time left to give the leger a go and although the chub weren't playing ball last time, I reasoned that a slight rise in the air temperature might have encouraged them to feed. So with light fading fast I went to the most reliable swim on the river and was rewarded within a few casts with a big pair of rubbery lips slipping over the rim of my landing net, restoring my faith in my bait, tactics, tackle and ability!

Choose carefully...

DAYLIGHT hours are at a minimum at this time of year and this, coupled with the recent extreme weather conditions means it's important to choose a venue where you can be reasonably certain of a return from the time that you have on the bank. Get this right and you can maximise your winter results. Get it wrong and you could well be kicking yourself as I recently discovered...

I learnt the hard way yesterday when I had some free time to go in search of some River Loddon chub. It had rained solidly throughout the previous day which meant the river would be up and quite possibly still rising as surface water continued to run off the surrounding fields and roads – not ideal conditions by a long way.

I didn't consider this properly before leaving however, as I'd already made up my mind and was determined to go to the Loddon having not been there for some time. Upon arrival, a quick look over the road bridge confirmed that the river was indeed pushing through hard meaning fishable swims would be down to a minimum. Still, with blind optimism I unloaded the gear and went off in search of some slack water and hungry chub.

There's another river close to me that I've fished regularly for some years and have got to know its characteristics and foibles. The recently much-hyped Blackwater is a shallow river at the best of times and needs a lot of rain immediately before you fish it to give it some colour and the angler a chance of success. It also runs off very quickly so the window of maximum opportunity is not generally open for very long.

Needless to say, conditions yesterday would have been perfect and hindsight says that it's to there that I should have gone. The Loddon was pushing through so hard and high that swims were to a minimum and so were the chub. I did see several buzzards that spent a lot of time circling low directly above me, as well as mice and the usual maggot munching robins so it wasn't a bad day out in the countryside.

Fishing is a continuous learning curve and this goes to show that no matter how much you want to go to a particular venue, prevailing conditions may mean that you'll do better elsewhere and ignoring them will ultimately cost you fish on the bank.