Phone call today
I had a phone call today from a Mr Average Guy and it has caused me to write the following, having run a fishery for quite a few years, it is remarkable how things have changed, both from the fishery point of view and the anglers expectations, its not that long ago when stocked fish were around the 1.5 > 1.75 lb size and a load was 200 > 250 fish, but fish of that size now, would genuinely lose customers, most anglers expect fish to be a minimum of 1 Kilo, 2.2 lbs, so what is the expected now, bearing in mind we are talking about this as being a sport, and going fishing as being a sport, what is allowed, who actually goes fishing, is it that the fishery offers angling on their terms and conditions or is it that people are allowed to fish with whatever they want, for as many fish as they want, you would expect most anglers to respect the environment of the fishery and be considerate towards the fish and others, that’s not the necessarily case now, the use of highly specialized lures and flies, has progressed to such an extent now, that in the past few years that the ability to catch fish, has become easy, for a lot of people, the skills required is low, its is made even worse by as in my case making known that we have just stocked or some places that are at high stocking levels, I have an upper limit, which until now I have turned a blind eye to, please understand we as fishery owners want you as anglers to enjoy our fisheries and what makes it hard is the cost of fish and the size required, it makes our margins tight, respect the fish and the place, enjoy the sport, remember it not always about catching the fish but enjoying your day, this is a rough transcript of the call,
Guy: (Hi I’ve never been to your place before, but I just read your report and see you have just stocked, is it possible for me and my three mates to come and fish either bait or fly,)
Me: Im sorry but its Fly Fishing only, we have never allowed bait Fishing.
Guy: (Ok we will come anyway, we are not that far away, How much is your Catch and Release ticket, and how many are we allowed to catch, and we will be able to fish with squiggles’, blobs, snakes, bunnies and Zonkers)
Me: Catch and realise is £15 for a half day and that’s boat or bank, and it’s a nine fish Maximum limit.
Guy: ( OK mate that’s a bit steep for a half day and only nine fish Id be hoping to each get at least 15 fish that’s what we usually get for a £10)
Me: The flies you mentioned are they single hook and unbarbed and do you release in the water.
Guy: (Think they are mostly doubles and barbed, and usually we realise on the bank)
Me: Well I going to very honest, from what you’ve said this is not your type of place, it’s not that easy to catch big quantities of fish and certainly not with the flies you mentioned, basically for four guys paying £40 expecting to catch £300 quid’s worth of fish badly its not something I am interested in doing.
Guy: (Cheers mate so where else is there that would have stocked this week.)
Me: I have no idea, {End of Coversation}