- Carp Fishing Lakes, East Sussex - Photo by Nigel Freeman creative.commons.org
Freshwater fishing in the UK divides into game fishing where the quarry is primarily salmon and trout; and coarse fishing which includes the pursuit of species such as carp, pike, bream and tench amongst others.
Until the early 1990s the vast majority of coarse anglers headed in their millions for rivers, canals and natural lakes and reservoirs to indulge their favorite pastime.
Coarse Fishing Tackle
They would flock in droves from the conurbations of the North West, South Yorkshire and the Midlands, often making a round trip of several hundred miles for just a few hours' fishing on the idyllic rivers and backwaters of rural Britain.
Catches were modest, but consistent and "running water" angling was considered the pinnacle of the sport requiring skillful presentation of the coarse fishing tackle, careful feeding and good watercraft.
Then, quite suddenly things began to change. The rivers ran clearer and cleaner as a result of more stringent emission controls from the European Parliament. No longer could industry and agriculture dispose of their waste quite so randomly. Sewage, in particular, no longer found a convenient route for dispersal via the river systems.
It was widely held that cleaner rivers would benefit every part of the ecosystem, including fish life. But coarse fish had grown to depend for a large part of their diet on the micro-organisms which feed on the bacteria produced by sewage and other animal nitrates as they break down in water.
Whilst industrial pollutions are harmful to fish life, an abundance of bacteria is not. To compound matters, the resulting clearer water meant fish were more susceptible to predators from the air and far fewer fry made it through the winters.
Stocks declined and so did anglers' catches. A multi-billion pound industry was quietly, almost imperceptibly facing ruination.
The solution came not from within coarse angling itself, a poorly regulated and unrepresented body of enthusiasts, but from private enterprise, initially from farmers who found themselves being encouraged to maintain fallow agricultural land which had fallen victim to new production quotas, once again emanating from Brussels.
Often unwittingly, many farmers became fishery managers as they gave over their redundant fields to the creation of self-contained man-made fishing pools, now known in the industry as "commercials".
Overwhelmingly the most popular choice of species to stock was the carp, a hard-fighting, voracious feeder that could grow quickly and would thrive on a diet of anglers' baits.
Previously anglers had found the carp hard to locate in its indigenous surroundings of private estate lakes and secluded rivers, and even harder to catch.
Now, commercial fishery owners began ordering thousands of yearlings as fish farms went into overdrive to supply this new demand. And anglers responded by catching them in numbers they could previously only have dreamed of.
For the fishery owners, the mid- to late nineties was boom time. Coarse anglers abandoned the 500-mile round trips and instead went in search of a commercial fishery nearer to home.
Carp Fishing Tackle
And for the fishing tackle industry these fundamental changes in location and target species meant a rapid overhaul of the equipment required to catch them.
The old running water methods and baits were no longer quite right for this "new" style of fishing. The tiny fine wire hooks required to fool a wily roach could not handle even a small carp and have now all but disappeared from tackle shop shelves.
Traditional float fishing rods have been replaced to a large extent by fishing poles which were originally designed to catch smaller fish but which have now been adapted to handle carp of anything up to 20 lbs in weight.
They allow an angler to present a bait with pin point accuracy next to a weedbed, an island or any feature within 17 meters of where he is sitting. Running through the end of the pole is a length of strong elastic to which is attached the line, hook and float, known collectively as the "rig".
Once hooked, the fish fights against the elastic which shoots from the pole tip and cushions its every powerful surge until it is beaten.
Carp Baits
Baits too have changed dramatically with the advent of commercial fisheries. Specially extruded pellets made primarily from fishmeal plus a binding agent, have become the must-have attractant for carp which have been reared specifically for introduction into managed fisheries.
Other large particle baits such as sweetcorn, hemp, maize all find their way into today's angling bait box. Whist bread, luncheon meat and dog biscuits also account for plenty of fish where they are permitted.
These cheap alternatives have replaced traditional maggots and worms to a large extent, although they remain popular for fisheries which stock a range of species other than just carp.
Coarse Fishing Licences
The number of coarse fishing licences sold in the UK is now approaching 1.5 million according to the issuing body, the Environment Agency, and it is estimated that up to 80 per cent of these anglers are confining themselves just to commercial fisheries.
With such an influx of customers many of these venues have developed into fully fledged leisure complexes rather than just fishing pools. Five star accommodation, restaurants, bars, car-parking, landscaped fishing stations and on-site tackle shops have replaced the windswept isolation of a remote floodbank in deepest Cambridgeshire!
As for the coarse angling community itself, there are many who rue the passing of natural venues on which to pursue their passion. To them, a modest catch of small roach and bream taken in conditions totally engineered by Mother Nature, will always be more prized than a bumper catch of "easy"carp on a manufactured commercial.
But they are a dwindling band for whom coarse fishing in the UK will never be quite the same again.
Sourcing
Keith Higginbottom is a former editor of Angling Times, the world's biggest selling angling newspaper.
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Keith Higginbottom - Keith Higginbottom is an award-winning journalist and publisher based in the UK. During a 30-year career spanning newspapers, consumer ...
