Save our reseviors

[Ferret664]

I’m sure many of you have seen this in trout fishermen but we must all make a combined effort to get more people fly fishing our fantastic reseviors depend on it without it we face the real possibility of losing them . We have some of the best reseviors in Europe for fly fishing and to think that they could one day close for lack of fisherman is unimaginable. So please everyone make a extra trip . introduce your friends , neighbors,  family to our wonderful sport so we can all enjoy it for many years to come !!!  

 

Tight lines 

ferret664

[Ollieollie]

Do elaborate please 

[Ferret664]

Well the amount of people fly fishing is falling and with that so is the income of our reseviors if it isn’t viable they will close 

[oldypigeonpopper]

20 minutes ago, Ferret664 said:

I’m sure many of you have seen this in trout fishermen but we must all make a combined effort to get more people fly fishing our fantastic reseviors depend on it without it we face the real possibility of losing them . We have some of the best reseviors in Europe for fly fishing and to think that they could one day close for lack of fisherman is unimaginable. So please everyone make a extra trip . introduce your friends , neighbors,  family to our wonderful sport so we can all enjoy it for many years to come !!!  

 

Tight lines 

ferret664

hello, can you put up a link ? if you are talking on reservoirs like Farmoor it is of their own making for Thames water, i was a farmoor fishing club member and we rented NO 1 and many £1000s rent per year then they wanted to put this up by many more £1000s so we had a meeting and a unanimous vote was no, very happy on a small rent increase but not as i mentioned, fast forward now as a catch and release and pike fishing i cannot see they make £10,000 per year max, a great shame as i realy liked fishing there, note the No 2 fairs no better yet good value at less than £20 per day, on a breezy summers evening it can be great fishing and splendid views,     

Edited April 30, 2018 by oldypigeonpopper

[Ferret664]

https://www.troutfisherman.co.uk/saveourreservoirs/

even before this came out in this months trout fisherman I have noticed a lot less people fly fishing on reseviors and am extremely concerned about the future of our wonderful sport 

[Houseplant]

Time to open up to spin fisherman? It would be more kid/family friendly. I don't have strong feelings on it, just a thought.

[KFC]

I'm a season ticket holder on a four water ticket with Anglian water and my local res is Grafham.

The price structure changed a couple of years ago and, this year, I had to think seriously about whether I could afford it or not.

If I had a Bronze ticket it would be 5 fish +c&r, season total 65 fish £530, loyalty discount £25 = £505

The Silver ticket, which I have is 6 fish + c&r, season total 200 fish £680, loyalty discount £25 = £655

I generally catch 100-120 a season.

Now I'm retired I will hopefully get there a bit more often.

 I could have taken the Bronze ticket and lie about the number of fish that I caught but if I do that then I'd be cutting my own throat as they restock according to returns.

So I feel I'm being held to ransom to pay the higher price and, as the price went up £30 this year, if they do the same next year then they will have priced me out.

They could put in a 125 fish ticket and I would be happy with that but, although there always seems to be plenty of anglers at Grafham, I think they may struggle to keep loyal season ticket holders.

If I go back to day tickets then popping up there for a couple of hours on the dry fly in the evenings won't happen so they'll get a lot less money out of me.

Loyalty comes at a price and I'm at my limit.

God forbid Grafham should go like many other waters and go 'any method' just to get the revenue. I know of several anglers who now travel miles to Grafham because their local Res has gone down that path.

[Ferret664]

This is the situation for me I have to  travel quite a distance to fish Grafham my local resevior was hannigfield but since that became a any method water I no longer go.  I would hate to see Grafham or Rutland go that way as well.  I fish a day ticket as I couldn' get up there enough to make a season ticket worthwhile but I try do my bit and have introduced 3 people to fly fishing and take a couple more people with us so we always go up in a group of at least 6 . I know it's not much but every little helps if we all get a friend or 2 into it it could really help with numbers and safeguard our waters for the future of fly fishing 

Edited May 1, 2018 by Ferret664

[Aled]

I've got mixed feelings here, zoned bait fishing seems a nice compromise. If my memory serves me correctly Llandegfedd here in Wales introduced a bank for bait fishing plus pike fishing tickets to increase revenue. Over the years I have introduced quite a few friends to fishing, and I used to teach children to fish. I've got 2 children, they have no interest in going fishing, despite them both had the experience of catching fish. I'm taking the local Youth group out to a stocked lake later this month, hopefully they will catch some fish, probably one or two on worm.

Some any method fishing does have its place, I am eternally grateful to a suicidal rainbow trout of 13ozs which took my ledgered worm on the Usk Reservoir back in 1980, it was the start of my fishing journey. I would much prefer to fish the fly now in front of anything else.  Its sad though that there are fewer anglers out there, my local angling club used to have a 16 year waiting list for membership,  we no longer have a waiting list.

Tight Lines

Aled

[Fatcatsplat]

My local is Hanningfield in Essex and it's being kept afloat by Polish, Romanians, Lithuanians and Latvians ledgering with Powerbait or spinning from a boat. 8 fish ticket is £27 and with fish averaging 2-3lbs each that's not a bad return.

I went out last Sunday and there was a match on, so suddenly fly fishermen everywhere - I have no idea where they go for the rest of the year.

Essex is fixated with big, fat carp - Put your tent up, get your 3 rods out and go to sleep until your bite alarm goes off.

[Ferret664]

Grafham is  £26 for a 8 fish keep plus catch and release day ticket so i don't think day price is the issue it's the decline in the number of people taking up fly fishing 

Yeah  that is a problem as well most people who take up fishing now take a carp fishing 

Edited May 1, 2018 by Ferret664

[figgy]

I enjoy fly and spin fishing but rarely get the time as any free time i tend to go shooting. My local places all sold out to private clubs many years ago so became closed to many locals. Same with a lot of river beats, still lots of parts of the rivers but less accessible.

Fishing has became a big money hobby that most are not interested in getting into. Cant stand carp fishing or the people who go and camp out with half a van full of kit.

If i had to choose i prefer spinning.

 

Edited May 1, 2018 by figgy

[Fatcatsplat]

5 hours ago, figgy said:

Same with a lot of river beats, still lots of parts of the rivers but less accessible.

Fishing has became a big money hobby that most are not interested in getting into.

This is what does my nut in - I'd love to have a go at chalk stream fishing and will probably lay the dough out one day, but it's frighteningly expensive when all you're going to get is a 6 inch catch and release brownie. I'm looking at Croatia and Bosnia maybe to bring the cost down.

Interestingly, the cost of salmon fishing in Scotland seems to have plummeted though as most of the rivers are showing very few fish

[Aled]

Here in Wales, many of the main fishing rivers are well looked after by angling associations which offer access to prime beats at an affordable price. Yes you may well have to share your beat with other anglers, but walk away from the car parks and you can usually find some peace and quiet. I'm rather proud of what angling associations can offer, this is my local club, http://www.llandeiloangling.co.uk/

Tight Lines

Aled

[panoma1]

In rivers in England after over 13 years of byelaw restrictions on Salmon rod anglers.....the salmon stocks continue to decline!........notice the similarity with the imposition of ever more restrictions on legal gun owners, where despite this gun crime continues to rise?

You don't address the decline in Salmon numbers in our rivers by only restricting Salmon rod anglers, and you don't stop gun crime by placing further restrictions on legal gun owners!.......neither will work!.............But it's the easiest cheapest option! For a government who want to be seen to be doing "something"

Sorry for digressing from the original point of the posting!

[Westley]

The problem is not just fly fishing BUT all fishing and shooting, in fact anything that entails moving outdoors and away from some bloomin electronic device or other.  I am a member of a fly fishing club and although we try, we do not have a single young member. I do a lot of clay shooting, usually once per week, and rarely see more that 2 or 3 youngsters with Parents/Grandparents. Believe me it is NOT for the want of trying. I have 3 Grandsons, the eldest at 28 is into cricket, but enjoys the occasional clay shoot. The younger two, at 15 and 12 are just not interested. I have taken them several times, but they have been attached to some electrical device or other,  from the moment they stepped foot into the car.  If I managed to get them to come shooting more that 3 times per year, I was doing well. I have now given up and sold the .410" and the 28 bore guns. The 28 years old used to be out with me every weekend from aged 10 until he went to New Zealand at 21.  The 15 year old joined the Army cadets (because his 'mates' did), last weekend he was in the Lakes for a weekends 'Camp' at 2.30 am 'Mummy' got a phone call from him, asking could he come home as he was cold and could not sleep  !  Enough said  !

[yates]

On 01/05/2018 at 09:47, Ferret664 said:

This is the situation for me I have to  travel quite a distance to fish Grafham my local resevior was hannigfield but since that became a any method water I no longer go.  I would hate to see Grafham or Rutland go that way as well.  I fish a day ticket as I couldn' get up there enough to make a season ticket worthwhile but I try do my bit and have introduced 3 people to fly fishing and take a couple more people with us so we always go up in a group of at least 6 . I know it's not much but every little helps if we all get a friend or 2 into it it could really help with numbers and safeguard our waters for the future of fly fishing 

I fished Rutland last September and was surprised to see other anglers jigging/spinning from their boats. In response to your question I feel the real problem is that people do not take up fishing and shooting anymore. I have been fly fishing for the last 28 years and shootings for the past 10 and have noticed year on year a drop in numbers of people participating, particularly fishing. Kids don’t get outside these days it’s far to easy to sit in front of the TV, computer and social media. I am at 53 the youngest member of our fly fishing club and that is frightening. At one time we had a thriving junior section but not any more. We get new members every year and there are no youngsters. In short I think it’s a social trend and will be very hard to reverse

Edited May 2, 2018 by yates
Missed word

[Ferret664]

I believe that from September they open the reseviors Rutland and Grafham to predator fishing for pike , zander and perch to spinning and jigging no trout should be taken with by those methods but of course some are ! I know what you mean about youngsters I am 26 I think it's rare to see anyone under 40 fly fishing normally . I have a few friends my age that do but on occasions they aren't regulars .  Fishing I know numbers are down but shooting im not sure I see a lot of youngsters at my local clay ground and there always seems to be plenty lined up to try and get on your permission but that's another topic 

Edited May 3, 2018 by Ferret664

[Catamong]

I fished Grafham the first week it opened in May 1970, throughout the '70's it was incredibly popular, you had to book boats exactly 30 days in advance by phoning the Anglian Water Board offices, if you were 15 minutes late in phoning, you would not get a boat at weekends.

Day tickets were then £1 for an 8 fish limit, I think rowing boats were £3 extra, with motorboats at a fiver..?

When Rutland opened in the mid 70's it took the pressure off Grafham a little bit, but the sport was still incredibly popular, on most summer evenings bank fisherman would be shoulder to shoulder around the popular spots.

I gave up regular fly fishing in the early 80's to concentrate on shooting, but have been back to both Grafham & Rutland on cycling trips, was amazed at how many boats were apparently available, even at weekends, the sport is definitely in decline..?

Cat.

 

 

[Bazooka Joe]

Quote

God forbid Grafham should go like many other waters and go 'any method' just to get the revenue. I know of several anglers who now travel miles to Grafham because their local Res has gone down that path.

Its a catch 22, this year to gain revenue the waterboard company running the local res have allowed ground baiting on all but one of the Reservoirs that they run.

Am I glad I only fish rivers.

[oldypigeonpopper]

33 minutes ago, Catamong said:

I fished Grafham the first week it opened in May 1970, throughout the '70's it was incredibly popular, you had to book boats exactly 30 days in advance by phoning the Anglian Water Board offices, if you were 15 minutes late in phoning, you would not get a boat at weekends.

Day tickets were then £1 for an 8 fish limit, I think rowing boats were £3 extra, with motorboats at a fiver..?

When Rutland opened in the mid 70's it took the pressure off Grafham a little bit, but the sport was still incredibly popular, on most summer evenings bank fisherman would be shoulder to shoulder around the popular spots.

I gave up regular fly fishing in the early 80's to concentrate on shooting, but have been back to both Grafham & Rutland on cycling trips, was amazed at how many boats were apparently available, even at weekends, the sport is definitely in decline..?

Cat.

 

 

hello, i am sure it became popular when the trout magazine started and the likes of bob church and his entourage of so called experts had pages on still water trout fishing, i started still water trout fishing in 1969 and a day ticket of £1 to, i feel the decline is less younger people wanting to trout fish and for many the cost of tickets 

[henry d]

On 01/05/2018 at 19:01, Fatcatsplat said:

Interestingly, the cost of salmon fishing in Scotland seems to have plummeted though as most of the rivers are showing very few fish

Aint that the truth, my local club is having problems and one thought is to reduce the number of members for each beat and increase the membership costs! I remember that the estate factor repeatedly said that they could have sold the beats for huge sums years ago, I wish he had because we could have picked them up for a pittance today.

Kayak angling is getting very popular though

[Houseplant]

I think there's a middle ground. Personally, I don't think a bit of light spinning gear with single hooks would be the end of the world. I would draw the line at bait fishing and ground bait though!

[Penelope]

On 02/05/2018 at 19:09, yates said:

I fished Rutland last September and was surprised to see other anglers jigging/spinning from their boats. In response to your question I feel the real problem is that people do not take up fishing and shooting anymore. I have been fly fishing for the last 28 years and shootings for the past 10 and have noticed year on year a drop in numbers of people participating, particularly fishing. Kids don’t get outside these days it’s far to easy to sit in front of the TV, computer and social media. I am at 53 the youngest member of our fly fishing club and that is frightening. At one time we had a thriving junior section but not any more. We get new members every year and there are no youngsters. In short I think it’s a social trend and will be very hard to reverse

Carp angling is where it is at for the 'yoof'.

[rich1984]

On 21/05/2018 at 13:37, Penelope said:

Carp angling is where it is at for the 'yoof'.

I was talking to a bloke in the tackle shop about this the other day, he says nobody wants to go and catch a few roach and perch anymore they all want carp .

I dont mind what i catch to be honest but the bend in the rod and a battle from a nice carp is better than reeling in a skimmer playing dead ?.