The Traditional Fisherman's Forum
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Old Man River wrote: ↑Wed Apr 19, 2017 2:14 pm I could not sleep last night, so I lay tossing and turning, presently my mind turned to what I consider to be the poor excuses for stillwater day ticket fisheries that we have forced upon us,these days, ok they are targeting certain types of angler, the bivvy carp boys, or the match angler, or the average person who just wants to catch as many pasty carp as he /she can in a day without too much effort,these are waters that are what seems to me to be simply a financial goose that lays golden eggs. these waters usually have little in the way of tree cover, weed beds, wildlife, or areas where a fish could go to seek solitude or a simple quiet time away from the world.
These "waters" hold no attraction to me whatsoever, and I would rather poke out my eyes with a burning stick than have to fish at one.
OK thought I , so what would type of water would I have, given a bottomless bank account and a free reign to do whatever it took to return to a time when I could fish in a place with less noise and more green, where nature came first and second.
So, here is my answer..
It would be a day ticket only water, no night fishing at all,dawn till dusk.
It would be at least ten acres,preferably larger, with only 8 accessible well spaced out and minimally managed swims for able bodied anglers, and 3 easily accessible swims for disabled anglers and a second angler,or whoever else happened to be accompanying them for the day.
No children under ten, any anglers under 18 to be accompanied by an adult of over 21.
Keepnets must be over ten feet long, , and a minimum dia of 24 inches, no fish over 4 lbs to be retained.
The only fish stocked would be Crucian Carp, Tench, Roach, Perch , Bream, Gudgeon. There would be a small number of large Common/Mirror carp, numbering probably 15 -20 in total.
Oops, you forgot to mention Drones! some bivvy boys use them for bait dropping!
Now for the rules, and rules is rules !
Every angler to produce a current EA licence prior to fishing, no EA licence , no fishing !
No fishing prior to purchasing day ticket, which would be available "on line" and pay via paypal, or on the day at the Lodge/gatehouse.
All anglers to "book in " at the lodge/gatehouse on arrival, and " book out " on leaving.
No bivvies of any description, umbrellas with small "wings" permitted.
Two rods maximum.
No bite alarms,
No bait boats,
No continental pole fishing, a "whip" of no more than 10 ft is fine though.
No drones.
No radios ( personal headsets ok with earphones )
No litter. A bag will be provided for litter , to be disposed of at the "lodge " at the end of the day.
No bedchairs,
No alcohol.
No fixed leads,no bolt rigs,
No braid main lines or hooklengths., in fact no braid lines of any description.
Anglers must allow the bailiff to examine all rigs on demand.
Keep nets , and landing nets to be dipped prior to fishing. Every angler to be in possesion of a suitably sized landing net , each swim would be provided with an unhooking mat .
No wading allowed.
No open fires, a Kelly Kettle is permissable though.
All fish to be returned
Anglers may be accompanied by a non fishing visitor, but only one angler allowed per named swim.
No firearms, no air weapons of any description allowed.
Bait ...and this would be a rigid rule... no Pellets,no Boilies, no high nutritional baits,of any description, no processed meat of any description.
Each swim would be named, anglers could reserve their preferred named swim for an additional fee. No fishing in disabled swims except if you are actually disabled or accompanying a disabled angler.
There would be motor access to disabled swims, and a car park for all others away from the water. There would be an unobtrusive maintained track , well back from the waters edge to the named swims, which could be navigated by a Golf trolley type vehicle, the manager/bailiff would take you and your gear to the swim of your choice on Golf trolley, and collect you when you wanted to leave.
On thinking about these rules, it would necessitate an on site "manager ", so the whole lake would be in a rural location, with unobtrusive walls or fences, quite heavily screened by trees and bushes, there would be a small "lodge " with toilets for the anglers, and the manager ( bailiff ) who would provide hot soup, or sandwiches, and a flask of hot water,tea bags/coffee/milk for anglers, who would order these for a given time during the day to be delivered to the swims.
This seems quite an exclusive "pond" and the day ticket price would reflect this, all tickets would be around £25.00 for dawn till dusk fishing, there would be no charge for food, no charge for parking, anglers who could not drive would be collected from the nearest bus stop at no cost, and dropped off there when they had completed their day, again at no charge.This would encourage anglers with transport problems.
Any individual found to be contravening these rules would be required to pack up and leave immediately, he/she would be barred from returning again, there would be no refund of any part day lost due to their own behaviour.
I dont know what your views on the above are, but it seems to me that the only way to return to the type of fishing I enjoyed as a young man would be to enable the above, with obviously some modern refinements , and also obviously a lot of restrictions that a lot of anglers these days would find almost impossible to comply with, as such has this pastime of ours developed .
Any other suggestions to add to the above ?
I know it seems a very rigid and firm rule book, but it would not in any way limit your fishing really, and may well actually improve
it . The rules as above are designed to make your day as peaceful, and undisturbed as possible, there would be a chance of actually hooking and landing large specimens,without any modern electronics, from a day ticket water,where wildlife is encouraged,
OMR.
