“Stop the snobbery over our record lists” - Des Taylor
Angling’s never been the most organised of sports, and even after 50 years of doing it there are still things about it that really confuse me.
Take our rod-caught record list. On it we have pumpkinseed, golden orfe, brown goldfish and bitterling. All these are from overseas and about as non-native as you can get, but new records for these species can still be accepted. Yet Wels catfish and grass carp, which have been here at least as long and in some cases far longer, are treated very differently. The records for both are frozen, and no further record claims will be accepted. Does that make sense?
I love fishing for catfish – they’re great sport
I know lots of serious anglers who spend thousands of hours trying to catch catfish and grass carp and have landed numerous fish over the frozen record – and yet neither the fish nor their captors get any recognition. I don’t know anyone who intentionally fishes for pumpkinseed and the other foreign imports. I suspect that any future record contenders will have been caught accidentally, yet these captures will be officially recognised.
There’s only a handful of anglers – me included! – who seriously fish for golden orfe, and yet these are also active on the record list. To add to the stupidity, that list includes zander, so why are the EA and many angling clubs still trying to eradicate the species from their waters? You couldn’t make it up.
I love fishing for cats. They’re a great sporting fish, and even though I know some have been stocked at huge weights I know of others of 100lb or more that have grown on from doubles.
Let’s draw a line under what’s happened in the past. These fish are here to stay, so let’s accept their presence and their right to a place on the record lists.
Exactly the same can be said of grass carp. Grassies are beautiful fish, and the big ones some of us are targeting in this country should get due recognition.
And while I’m at it, why zander are still being removed from some waters I have no idea. You only need to look at the Lower Severn at Upton to see that a healthy head of big zeds can live in harmony with the silverfish. Anyway, many specimen predator anglers in this country now rate a big zander as highly as a big pike, and rightly so.
This 18lb 11oz zander from the River Severn is as much a prize as a big pike
I think we should just revert to the original rules governing any record fish, which are that it has to be caught by fair means on rod and line. For me that’s it. Whether it’s been living in a wild water and never been fished for, or stocked the day before capture, it still has to be caught!
There’ll always be the knockers who try to devalue record fish. We need to be very careful we don’t allow the coarse fishing record list to become the same as that of the game world, where we have ‘wild’, ‘natural’ and even ‘cultivated’ records, and where many records, for whatever reason, have been frozen out until further notice.
Too many fish are being caught at the moment that are being lost to angling history, and that’s not good at all.
This 21lb 2oz trout was taken the day after it had been stocked, but I still had to catch it
The buzz of the take is fishing's most exciting moment - Des Taylor
THE other day I was talking to Angling Times editor-in-chief Steve Fitzpatrick about what we thought was the most exciting thing about fishing.
Was it the waiting and the anticipation of that next bite? Was it the take, the playing of the fish, or the landing of our prize? We agreed that it had to be the take every time.
Is it a float lifting and then slowly sinking below the surface that sets your pulses racing? Maybe it’s a predator slamming into a lure, or a chub tapping on the quivertip before pulling it round 90 degrees? If you’re a carp angler, it’s probably all about sitting in your shelter on a still, silent night when out of the blue the indicator flies up and the buzzer screams a one-toner as a big fat mirror hits the lead on a bolt rig.
A float amongst the bubbles, the excitement when it goes under is unrivalled
Whenever a fish takes, our heart rate steps up a gear and with boyish enthusiasm we hope and pray it’s the biggest fish in the lake. Even if that fish turns out to be a 2lb carp or 1lb chub, you didn’t know that at the time you first made contact did you? No – when the moment came it was your first 20lb carp or 6lb chub. Just keep at it, and eventually your dreams will become reality.
On my barbel guiding days I can see what the take does to an angler. When the rod bends over double I tell them not to panic, and to just pick the rod up without striking. The answer is always the same: “No problem, I’ve been fishing for years so I won’t panic.”
But after a wait which may be one minute or one hour the rod thumps over as though a sack of spuds has hit the line. My pupil lurches forward, sometimes falling off his chair as the rod is being pulled off the rest. In blind panic he strikes!
“The rod thumps over as though a sack of spuds has hit the line”
Of course, the fish is traveling at 100mph and the angler strikes on powerful line in the opposite direction and is nearly pulled off his feet. But that’s what it’s all about, and he’ll remember that take for the rest of his life, whether it’s from his first double or a 6lb barbel.
Later he may well recall the playing of the fish and the photo of his prize, but it’s the take that will really stick in his memory.
It’s the same for me – even now, after so many years, it’s that buzz of the take that keeps me going back for more.
Only the other day on the Severn I was sitting there with two rods, hoping for a chub or a barbel on the boilie, but because of cold water entering the river overnight I was hardly confident of a bite. I’d been almost comatose, looking at the stationary tip, and then suddenly it doubled over.
What a take, what a chub, and just like one of my customers I was all over the place once it was in the net. I tell you, the day I don’t get that feeling is the day I will pack up. Will that be soon? No chance!
“I’d been almost comatose, looking at the stationary tip, and then suddenly it doubled over”
The joy of balanced tackle - Des Taylor
Anglers will always read about the successes of others, and try to emulate their tactics and catches.
I only wish that when people read these articles, they think about when and where they can apply the information they’ve learned to their own fishing.
If you read about an angler fishing the tidal reaches of the River Trent using two beefy 3lb test curve rods pointed to the sky, 5oz leads, 15lb mainline and clonking great size 4 hooks, it doesn’t mean that this is the way you should fish on the middle Severn in low water conditions, targeting a spot under a tree down the near margin.
On the Severn and other rivers like it, fishing with mega heavy gear will eliminate all of the pleasure you get from playing a fish. What’s more, in many cases it would also lessen your chances of catching. It’s not rocket science to realise that fishing down the near margin with rods pointing skywards would cause the mainline to come up vertically from the rig, spooking any feeding fish!
This is where the local tackle shop proves its worth, with a good local angler behind the counter. He’s the chap who will put you right concerning the kit you need for your local water.
It’s much the same in carp fishing. When experts are writing about chucking 150yds with heavy gear to target 50lb-plus fish, the same tactics won’t apply to the smaller water you’re planning to fish. There’s no real pleasure to be had in playing a 15lb carp on super-strong gear, but there’s a lot of fun to be had doing so using a 2lb test curve rod and a smaller reel loaded with 10lb line, which is more than strong enough!
This year I’ve seen anglers using gear that’s way too heavy for the venue they’re fishing. I’ve watched them bully fish in, then moan about the lack of fight. I can see why match anglers would want to get fish in quickly, but does it really matter on a pleasure session?
On the Severn I use a 1.75lb test curve, through-actioned rod and 10lb line and enjoy every barbel that I hook. Most of the fish are around 5lb, with a good one just reaching double figures. I’d be able to land them more quickly on stronger gear, but it wouldn’t be as much fun. And surely that’s what it’s all about. You can only catch what’s in your venue, so make sure you get the balance right between the size of fish being targeted and the tackle you are using. That way, you’ll get full enjoyment out of every fish that you hook!
Using the right gear means I enjoy every fish that I hook.
For more from ‘Our Man On The Bank’ pick up Angling Times every Tuesday.
Roach-fishing trip of a lifetime for our man Des
A 340-MILE journey to a northern stillwater proved 100 per cent worth it in the end for Des Taylor after he slipped his net under a flurry of 2lb-plus roach – topped by a personal-best equalling 3lb 1oz fish.
Our man on the bank was invited by close friend Craig Renwick to fish the private water but had no idea he was about to enjoy the roach-fishing trip of a lifetime.
Des Taylor found himself in roach fishing heaven recently
For more from Des Taylor pick up Angling Times every Tuesday!
It's important we hold on to our dreams - Des Taylor
PEOPLE are constantly asking me what I’m doing with my time, now that I can’t go fishing.
Well, throughout this shutdown I’ve been feeling positive and doing positive things. Already I have rebooked my two cancelled trips – one to Holland after monster perch and the other a week in Texas after giant alligator garfish. Having something like that to look forward to with my mates really raises the spirits.
My wife Maggie, in turn, has rebooked a cancelled golfing trip with the girls to Portugal. When she’s away I always book a week’s fishing from my bivvy somewhere in the UK, so happy days for us both.
I think it’s important that we start planning for the future and hold on to our dreams. If one thing has come out of this shutdown it’s been a chance to look in the mirror and perhaps resolve to change something in our lives.
I hope that all you anglers who have been watching DVDs, downloads and YouTube, or reading books about fishing, will take some of this on board and not just return to sitting around a commercial two days a week.
Isn’t that what you have been doing for the past 10 years, and aren’t you getting a little bored with it?
The lockdown has certainly made me think about some of my friends that I haven’t been on the bank with for years – good friends and good company, but perhaps, in my eagerness to catch big fish on my own, I haven’t made the time for them that they deserve. That must change, because friends are more important than fish.
On the subject of angling films, it gave me a lift when my son-in-law sent me a photo of my granddaughter watching my own films that I released only a couple of weeks ago. I feel happy that in years to come she will be able to share some of the great memories fishing have given me with her friends and, later, maybe her husband, children and even her grandchildren. I like that.
Right now I’m busy getting my thousands of angling photographs into some kind of order, something I’ve been meaning to do for years. They are bringing me so much joy and highlighting so many things that I take for granted in this great sport of ours. Of course, there are the trophy photos of big fish, but the ones that bring the most smiles to my face are the dawn shots, the sun going down, the wildlife seen while I’m fishing and photos of new friends made in other parts of the country or indeed the world.
So many good times – and remember, there are so many still to come, so stay cheerful.
This is why it’s important to stay positive, fishing will be back soon.