Watch out…. it’s the roaching rozzers! - Rob Hughes

No, I’m not talking about Her Majesty’s finest constabulary, but ‘the fishing fuzz’. You know the sort – the ‘experts’ that clearly know everything about everything, and love to jump on a social media post to criticise, whinge or, worse still, make a sweeping comment without actually ascertaining the facts first.

Generally, the captor of anything decent these days usually has his or her collar felt for some alleged misdemeanor or other – no landing mat in the shot, the picture taken from too far away, the wrong bait being used. You get the point.

One typically enthusiastic ‘roaching rozzer’ had a few things to say about my recent catch shot that came after an incredible day’s roach fishing.

One went so far as to suggest that the fish had been killed so that I could get a shot of them all on the mat. Have a word… or, better still… don’t. Perhaps if they went fishing a little more, they’d understand a little more. 

Sometimes it’s better to keep quiet and let people think you’re a fool, rather than open your mouth and prove that you are!

Loads of posts are ‘copping for it’ at the moment. We all know the pike police are a pretty serious outfit, but the mat mafia, keepnet cops and carp police are on fire too! Maybe we should start a special Blue Light award for particularly impressive ‘collars’.

‘More time on the bank, less at the keyboard’ should be the sentence handed down to these offenders.

What is it with these keyboard cops who think they know it all?

UK anglers call on record captors to "submit claims" and "ignore the trolls"

THE VAST majority of anglers believe that Matt Atkins and Wayne Mansford, captors of record-breaking perch and carp respectively, should submit official claims for new British bests.

Not long after making the extraordinary captures, both anglers admitted they were having second thoughts about applying for records for a range of reasons, chief among which was the amount of online abuse they received from ‘trolls’ – individuals who use the internet to mock and discredit fish.

Matt Atkins was not sure if he would submit a claim for this record perch of 6lb 4oz

One man who’s fully aware of the unwanted attention that can follow a big fish capture is Neill Stephen, current joint holder of the British records for perch and chub. He’s adamant that the two anglers shouldn’t let the trolls get their way.

“I have every sympathy for those on the receiving end of negativity,” he said.

“These are two incredible fish and the captors should only be congratulated.

“I don’t see how applying for a record makes any difference. The catches have already been publicised and the application process is just one simple form. The fish either do or don’t meet the criteria.”

Neill has noticed more negativity about Wayne’s 75lb 2oz carp, and while he laments some of the changes in carp fishing over his lifetime, he believes that people should be allowed to enjoy whatever form of the sport they choose.

“We’re living in a world where more people like to target big fish,” he added.

“It’s a different type of fishing to what used to be around, but why shouldn’t people enjoy it? Choose what you enjoy, and let others do the same!”

Wayne Mansford with a massive 75lb 2oz carp - will he claim the record?

The trolling of catches online seems to be a growing problem, and it’s not just specimen anglers targeted either. Browse Facebook for any length of time and you’ll see young kids right through to veterans having their catches ridiculed, with one of the main accusations being that the fish ‘don’t look the weight’ or that computer software has been used to make them look bigger.

This latter accusation was levelled at Matt Atkins soon after pictures of his amazing 6lb 4oz perch were published. However, it appears that anglers as a whole are now becoming fed up with the online critics and their baseless claims.

Angling Times reader Michael Bilbie said:

“They’re just jealous keyboard warriors, who probably don’t know one end of the rod from another - pathetic! People should be congratulated for catching records and PBs. I saw the photo of the potential record perch and it looks the size stated all day long.”

These sentiments were echoed by fellow reader Ross Hunter, who said:

“Claim the record, forget the haters, because they’re just that – haters who wished they could have caught the fish themselves.”

The controversial subject of fish ‘not looking the weight’ in catch photos is as old as the hills, and it remains the main bone of contention in the digital era too. Yet, as legendary angling photographer Mick Rouse points out, images can be misleading. Mick, who was head of photography at Angling Times for decades and ‘snapped’ countless famous fish, said:

“By using computer programs like Photoshop or wide angled camera lenses you can make fish look bigger, but it’s not as simple as that because it can be difficult to make smaller species look their true size.

“Take roach for example. It’s tricky to make a fish of 3lb look the weight, and the same goes with perch. If you put their dorsal fin up, they look much larger, but with the fin down, as was the case with Matt Atkins’ fish, they look smaller.”

Mick added that while we do occasionally get anglers who lie about fish weights, these are generally known ‘individuals’.

“In the end, they’re only lying to themselves,” he added.

“I like to think that truthful anglers are in an overwhelming majority.”

Photo quality seems to be all important when it comes to silencing online fishing trolls

Commercials playing their part in the angling boom - Reader letter

A long time ago, angling celeb and TV personality Matt Hayes wrote an article about ‘real’ fishing and compared it with commercial fisheries.

Matt said that he felt that commercials were responsible for sanitising fishing, and that the real excitement of a catch came from anticipation.

At the time, many of us would have shared Matt’s sentiments. However, since then commercials have been quietly maturing. They contain some cracking roach and monster perch, piling on weight from the pleasure anglers’ baits to offer a challenge worthy of the best of us.

Knowing Matt’s commitment to all things fishing, I’m sure he will be absolutely buzzing at seeing the explosion in fishing over the last few months, and be grateful to the part commercials have played in this upturn.

Commercial venues are about much more than just carp

Ron Brooke, via email

Do you agree with Ron? Let us know by emailing your letters to atletters@bauermedia.co.uk

Are we using too much bait?

WE’VE all been there. Hours pass without a bite so we pile in the feed to try to elicit a response. The bombardment often fails, though, and we don’t spare a second thought for the bait we’ve just introduced and the after-effects it may have. 

Do anglers use too much bait?

Our presumption is that the resident fish will eventually hoover it all up, but the reality on some lakes is far different. If it stays untouched and begins to break down, the decomposing bait can leach potentially harmful chemicals into the water.

Nowhere have the effects of overfeeding been more evident recently than at Cambridgeshire’s Bluebell Lakes complex, where uneaten bait has released high levels of nitrates into the venue’s five gravel pits. 

To try to reverse the damaging trend, management have now banned the use of bait boats and reduced the number of swims on each lake by up to 35 per cent. 

Bluebell’s staffman Paul Waller tells us:

“There’s been a surge in angling pressure since we reopened and this has meant a lot of pellets and boilies have gone into the water.

“The problem is, with the hot weather prompting the carp to spawn instead of feeding hard, a lot of it has gone uneaten. 

“This was becoming a cause for concern so we took water samples.

“The results revealed that all five pits contained high levels of nitrate, which can be dangerous as it feeds algae which, in turn, depletes the oxygen levels in the water.

“The decision to ban bait boats and cut down the number of swims on each lake was tough, but necessary to protect our highly-prized stocks.”

Around spawning or in periods of very hot weather, bait can be left uneaten on the bottom

Double trouble in hot weather

Bluebell’s new rules will last for the rest of the year until the water quality stabilises, although the issue of high nitrate levels is normally more of a problem in the summer months, when excessive feeding paired with hot weather can prove a recipe for disaster. 

Top fish biologist Simon Scott says:

“Carp are rather greedy fish and at times they’ll consume a lot of food, but if the water quality is not perfect then their appetite can diminish rapidly.

“If the oxygen level of the water is low due to hot weather, then there is a good chance that the carp might not eat a huge pile of food.

“The problem then occurs when anglers feed too much bait and it’s just left to rot on the bottom, which makes the water quality even worse.”

If oxygen levels are low the carp won’t want a big bed of feed and you are making it harder to catch them

The commercial angle

While there’s growing evidence that overfeeding on low to medium-stock lakes or gravel pits can pose a problem, what’s the situation on commercial venues, which often boast a far higher density of stocks?

The match waters at the Oaks Lakes in North Yorkshire have been producing 500lb-plus bags since fishing resumed, but venue’s owner Tom Kay says that there’s nothing to suggest that the bait thrown in by anglers isn’t getting eaten.

“We’ve had our issues with nitrate in the past, although since we’ve improved our aeration facilities, there hasn’t been a problem,” he tells us.

“I guess the difference between a commercial fishery and a natural one is that there are more fish and less natural food, so there’s a high chance that bait will get mopped up quickly.”

Despite not having any feeding restrictions on site, Tom has rules in place to help to monitor what goes into his lakes.

He adds:

“Anglers can only feed our own low-oil pellets, and all unused bait must be taken home or thrown in the bin after fishing.

“Yes, you can catch 300lb of carp by feeding heavily, but I’ve seen anglers do the same using just a bag of our 4mm feed pellets, so piling it in isn’t always the way.”

There is nothing to suggest that bait thrown in by anglers isn’t eaten at the Oaks

A different mindset

On the match fishing scene, the way you feed can sometimes mean the difference between winning or losing.

Last year’s Fish O’Mania winner Andy Bennett reckons adopting a reserved approach to feeding is always best. 

He says:

“Commercials hold loads of fish and problems can develop if you overfeed at the start.

“Too much bait will draw too many fish into the peg, leading to liners and foul-hookers.

I always start feeding little-and-often and try to tempt a few bites before building the swim up from there.”

Andy Bennett is a fan of the little and often approach

A similar approach is also the best bet on many specimen carp waters, according to Adam Penning.

“Most anglers think that the more bait they use, the more carp they’ll catch and, although this might be true occasionally, it’s a foolhardy approach on all but the most heavily-stocked venues,” he says.

“If fish are wary, then you can bet that they will know something is afoot when they come across a big bed of bait.”

Expert big carper Adam Penning believes fish are becoming increasingly wary of a big bed of bait

"These day-tickets aren't what carp angling is about" - Reader Letter

I can’t get my head around the day-ticket palaver surrounding carp. Now it seems you have to book a swim, knowing full well that someone’s been in it for probably 48 hours before you set up. You’re paying out £50 to fish blind.

I was lucky enough to be on the syndicate where Chris Yates filmed The Secret Lake, where you could rock up and look for hours before you chose a swim. This is what carp angling should be about. 

On day-ticket waters you can’t be mobile because that’s your allocated spot. Yet it seems that big fish rule the roost, even if you are fishing a three-year old hole in the ground.

These guys should look at joining a good club for about £200 for the year. Many of these have excellent stillwaters, some only lightly fished. For the price of four 48-hour sessions on a carp puddle, they could be fishing somewhere excellent.

Larry Sprusen, Tisbury, Wiltshire

This is what carp angling should be about.

Should we shut down for spawning carp? - Rob Hughes

There was an interesting discussion across social media recently asking whether it is acceptable for fisheries to close completely when the resident carp are spawning.

We don’t do it when the roach or tench are spawning, and we certainly don’t do it when the pike and perch are either. In fact, we often target these species when they’re at their highest weights during these periods. 

Right now, we’re bang in the middle of carp spawning season and I’m sure we all agree that targeting any fish when they’re spawning is not the done thing. The truth is that they’re unlikely to feed anyway, but the risk comes during the immediate aftermath.

Many fisheries are carp orientated, and when the resident fish look like spawning, or actually start to spawn, the fishery closes, often for up to two weeks. I get that catching carp is an occupational hazard of tench and bream angling, so that might be risky, but if you’re a general coarse angler wanting to avoid carp you potentially lose your sport because something you don’t fish for needs a break.

Often as a result of numbers of anglers, and certainly as a result of financial value, carp are the dominant species in fisheries and set the benchmark for fishery practice and management. But what about matches? Spawning fish put matchmen and organisers in a precarious position.

I believe in the argument that spawning fish, whatever they are, should be left alone and also have a recovery period, but should whole lakes close down for carp? 

We don’t consider shutting down for tench.