We’ve never had it so good!
Having
fished for 70 years and read many books by old-time anglers I think I
am qualified to make comparisons between the quality of angling in the
past and how it is today.
Modern anglers are faced with problems that our fathers and grandfathers
never had.
We have problems getting to the waterside due to sheer volume of traffic
on the roads for a start.
Then we have those troublesome cormorants that come inland to enjoy easy
pickings on fisheries that we have stocked, as well as on wild fish.
We fear the risks involved when we leave our vehicles some distance from
our chosen fishing spot while we are out of sight because theft of and
from anglers’ vehicles is so commonplace now.
And in recent times we have experienced the deliberate and unlawful theft
of fish from waters that we have stocked and nurtured at considerable
expense only for a minority of immigrants to plunder our fish stocks because
they are accustomed to eating coarse fish in their homelands.
On balance though I think angling is better now than in the old days.
Despite the traffic problem at least most anglers do have their own cars.
Pollution seems less widespread too, though distressing pollution does
still happen including the devastation of the fish and insect life on
the upper reaches of the river Dove after two different pollution instances.
Fish of several species are growing much larger than in the past in several
fisheries and our River Trent is not only sharing in the bonanza but has
recently produced a 16-pound barbel.
Facilities on the commercial fisheries are great with level platforms
and toilets and sometimes snack bars too and car parking alongside your
chosen fishing spot.
Take into account the availability of fishing tackle of higher quality
than has been seen before and at very reasonable prices in many cases.
Finally we have better information on where and how to fish because we
can buy many different weekly and monthly publications devoted entirely
to angling.