This has come about at least partly because of the press

This has come about at least partly because of the press. It is no wonder that the ‘where to fish’ pages and fishery reports are the most popular pages. Although often a bit out of date, these pages offer a mine of information for the angler looking for new locations. Throw in a couple of mentions in the monthlies, and handful of pictures in the weeklies, and a fishery can become busy almost overnight. For a while this can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. More anglers mean more fish caught, which means more pictures in the paper, until at last the pressure begins to take it’s toll. I must admit that the rat-race of fishing busy waters is now something I do less of. I am fortunate to live in an area blessed with a huge number of quality fisheries and very few anglers to fish them. Even so, it is noticeable that anglers tend to concentrate on certain fisheries. Like bees around a honey pot, one fishery will bear the brunt of the local attention for a time until somewhere else become favoured. There is no doubt in my mind that having some anglers on a fishery can make the fishing easier. Unless they have seen bait before, many fish will be difficult to wean away from their natural food. This goes particularly for carp, tench and bream, which can be a real nightmare, ignoring all but the tiniest baits, which best resemble their natural prey. As long as you recognise this and fish for them accordingly it is not a problem, but sticking to the old faithful baits which work on more pressured waters can be a disaster. On many of the lakes that fall into this category I have found it impossible to wean the fish onto other baits on my own. The volumes required are just too enormous for one person to manage. It is always worth trying though, but bear in mind that it might not work. Most of us though, will find ourselves fishing alongside others on more pressured waters. The worst fisheries these days for pressure are the more commercially-run syndicates. Here you can be facing a large number of other dedicated anglers all of whom are spending enough time near the water to know just what is going on. Unlike smaller, more intimate syndicates, the chances of an angler being able to fish the same area over a number of sessions is nil (unless you are blanking that is!). Building up any continuity can be really difficult on lakes like this. My fishing tends to be based around catching the odd fish at regular intervals, rather than trying to catch lots of fish at once. I will tend to avoid the most popular spots and do my own thing. Observation and water craft are vitally important. Look for fish in spots that aren’t fished. Look for features that are tucked away and ignored. As an example, more than a decade ago now, I fished a lake for carp, which tended to respond to fishing at range. Yet, when the summer doldrums came around, I managed to keep catching a few fish by fishing a couple of secluded spots less than a rod length out. Not the most comfortable spots, or the most productive when the fish were in the mood, but the ideal places to nick the odd fish. One phenomenon that I have noticed in recent years is lakes becoming divided up into lanes. One lake I fished had railway sleepers set into the front of each swim and the anglers were only allowed to fish in a line with these out to the centre of the lake. The result of this was that the fish were used to finding baits in only certain areas of the lakes and tight lines following the same predictable routes. It goes without saying that the odd ‘stray cast’ that I made away from the fishing lanes produced a lot more fish than my ‘better’ casts. This is an extreme example, but I am now fortunate enough to give lakes like this a miss. My other pet hate is lakes that don’t allow stalking and floater fishing, they to go on the list too!

Far too often I read about anglers doing something different and catching a rake of fish. Casting up a tree is ‘something different’ but it ain’t going to catch you many fish. The trouble is that when a lake does come under pressure, your chances of catching anything at all are severely reduced and your chances of having a big catch are non-existent. Doing something different has to be qualified as dependent upon what the other anglers are doing AND what the fish are doing to avoid capture. Only when you put the two together can you turn the pressure to your advantage.