Goldenloch january / 02 / 2012
Another year passes at the Goldenloch and we are now into our 27th year as a commercial fishery and there has been a lot of changes over those years, the way we operate has changed dramatically, mostly to suit peoples lifestyles, in the beginning like many others we worked a system of set hours, then it was £12 for 4 hours with a 4 fish limit, the fish we stocked then were like all other fisheries about a 1 lb, a stocking of fish was generally around 250 fish and cost £212.50, it was an easy and profitable little earner, no Public Liability, no general insurance, no legislation of any kind and people just turned up to fish, which more or less is what it is still now except instead of set hours an angler can arrive at any time and fish for as long or as short a period as he or she wants, the cost to-day is £15 for approx 5hrs and a 2 fish limit with the added bonus of being able to return a further 7 fish, the fish size has also increased from an average of 1 lb to an average of 2lbs per fish introduced, that’s got to be a pretty good deal, the last week has seen a few hardy lads fishing and to date no one has caught a tagged fish, so they are still in the water and basically the deal is bring me the tag that we put in some fish and the reward is a 26 week or a summer season C & R ticket, with more fish due soon I think we may tag some more as I am just not to sure how long these tags will remain in the fish. Its been cold in the last week and that coupled with the wind has put the fish down but it was interesting to see a lad from London out fishing in a float tube in the sleet on old years day, not deterred by the weather he was just enjoying the sport and had a few hardy tugs from the fish. Wishing everyone a happy new year I am sure we will see you in 2012.