Fifty or more years ago I became an enthusiastic member of the newly-arrived
‘specimen hunting movement’.
Keen anglers all over the country had discovered that catching fish of
an impressive weight could be done by design rather than just by luck.
However the fish we aimed to land in the old days were nothing like as
heavy as they are today. In several waters (but by no means all) record
weights for fish of several species are around 50 per cent higher than
they were not so many years ago.
Species that exhibit this weight gain include carp, bream, barbel, chub,
pike and tench.
Trout could be included in the list too but in this case selective breeding
in fish farms is the cause.
It may be significant that in several of the fisheries well known for
their large numbers of huge fish, angling pressure is high with lots of
anglers fishing there nearly every day, including (in the case of stillwaters)
during the one-time closed season that once applied from March 15 (the
end of February in Yorkshire) until June 16 (or June 1 in Yorkshire).
This may indicate that the nutritious free samples of food or ground bait
that anglers throw in affords the fish plenty of quality foodstuffs including
boilies and nuts and hemp seed and other foods so that the fish do not
need to expend a lot of energy locating it.
Surely, though, that isn’t the whole story, and the presence of
once undreamed of big fish in quite a few famous venues – both stillwaters
and rivers – must be due to other factors that we do not understand.
Anglers who are young enough, fit enough and enthusiastic enough will
no doubt do as my generation did and travel to the top waters and fish
often. Remember, though, that these good times may not last.
And remember also that, even where less serious fishing for smaller fish
is concerned, populations of some species of fish tend to fluctuate a
lot.
Think of the fish called a ruffe, or ‘tommy ruffes’ as we
called them or sometimes pope.
At one time in several of the waters I visited these small fish, which
are a member of the perch family, were common enough almost to be a nuisance
when you were seeking bigger species.
I haven’t caught a ruffe myself for several years now, but perhaps
they will be back one day because they still exist in a few fisheries.