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river reports

I post quite a lot in reports about my days, good or otherwise. Generally just mentioning the river fished. And take a bit of care with the photos.
I have other places that have a no publicity ban that I never post about.

I hope some of my posts add encouragement to others .
However, if we all took the view that we didn't post ref catches, it would be a pretty poor rivers thread.

Saying that, each to their own.
 
Terry Harman said:
I don’t believe I’m going to say this but I’m gonna have to disagree with dear old Fred Crouch paul … too many anglers can have the opposite effect too many lines in the water and the barbel will just bugger off only to come back and feed On what’s baits been thrown in when everyone has gone. I’ve seen it first hand this year i fish a stretch of the nene on the pdaa ticket and downstream there is a stretch run by another club … in between the two stretches there is maybe a thousand yards of river that no one could fish .. this year a small group of anglers got one half of of the no man’s land and the controlling club downstream got the other half…. Guess what that little thousand yard stretch fished its head off while above and below it people struggled… and that little stretch has never seen any bait
My thoughts are that’s where the barbel always were like a little bit of sanctuary and only ventured out of there to feed in darkness when everyone has to be off the water obviously a few barbel will make a mistake and there are obviously some residents but the majority off the fish were in a stretch where no bait went in
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I think theres a lot to your observation Terry . I sometimes fish in a local clubs evening matches , nothing too serious ,but I enjoy the craic .The relatively short stretch we fish contains a reasonable head of Barbel but stick 15 or so anglers on it, most fishing ''on the tip'' and usually only 2 or 3 barbel are caught in the match ,but go there another day on your own or perhaps with only one or two other anglers present and given reasonable conditions you have a fair chance of catching a couple of Barbel in most of the pegs [ this is daytime summer fishing ]. I firmly believe that the pressure and disturbance of all those anglers regularly casting in and out and ground baiting actually puts the Barbel down ,either they clear off elsewhere or just lay doggo
 
Where do you start on this one?
I like to read the River reports that are relevant to me ( Northern rivers). For me it's nice to track someones progress and a lot of these are HARD rivers so I can fully appreciate how much an 8 or 9lb barbel means to a fellow member and I'm genuinely chuffed for them. They should be able to share the journey, blanks & gruellers and get some adulation for their efforts when it comes good. It's human nature.
I think if it's suitably vague to protect people's fishing, our River Reports are OK.
I'm not allowed to publicize the stretch of the river I fish a lot so that makes my life easy, although I have to confess I'd like to share pictures of nice fish, but I also like to see nice fish be it a big roach, chub, pike and of course barbel. But as has been said on here, I fish for me not the gallery and I have plenty of blanks and mediocre sessions - just an average angler.

But this whole issue of instant success/ social media does my head in.

On Pike forums there are STRICT no-naming polices of any waters, and posts are regularly redacted, and it's normally newbies asking for information on a certain place instead of doing the spadework.

I'm odd in that I don't mind a bit of hardship in my fishing if it ultimately leads to a goal being achieved. This goal might be a 7lb chub or 15lb barbel or 30lb pike or it might just be ANY pike from an unknown water or ANY barbel on the float? But then that's why I fish rivers and the odd natural water for pike, and not commercials or carp lakes.

What I've never been interested in is targeting known fish of any species or competing with other anglers for bank space, and in my experience social media does more harm than good if you fish like I do. Everytime I go in my local tackle shop I get shown pictures on Facebook of decent fish ( normally pike, barbel and perch - they know I'm not interested in carp) , I get told which water, swim or area and method but honestly it just turns me cold and consequently they must think I'm the world's worst angler as I never seem to report that I catch anything or post it online.

There are certain guys on You Tube who post videos on river stretches and there is absolutely no effort whatsoever in even attempting to conceal the location. WHY?? Why would you advertise to the world, good swims on tough rivers and blow your own fishing?? One I looked at recently on A Northern River which has been ravaged by everything( seals, otters, cormorants, set-lines etc....) had over 40,000 views. In You Tube terms this is tiny but that's 40,000 people with intimate knowledge of the swims, if only 1% of them acted on it that's still 40 anglers to compete with.
This particular individual has no regard whatsoever for fellow anglers or his quarry and can only be doing what he does for a huge EGO trip and probably financial gain. And to me this is the real problem, not river reports although there is no surprise we keep things a bit quiet.

Last season I started to catch reasonable pike on a water I'd fished without success for 4-5 years. So on the 1st trip after catching my first pike from the water ( before this I'd had well over a dozen blanks) I was sat as normal waiting for a run when a bloke decided to stop and talk to me.
Sods law, the drop-off went and I quickly struck the run. Fish on and it was clearly a good-un from the bend in the rod.
I carefully played it for well over a minute as I was fishing at range, when the hooks pulled and it was gone. Only the 2nd fish I'd connected with in 5 years of trying.
However my over-riding emotion was one of relief. While I was playing the fish, the bloke decided( as is his right) to start filming me and he was pretty peed off as he wanted to post the whole thing on Facebook! I was content to know that whatever I'd hooked was there for another day, and after years of struggle I was in the right place using the right methods.
This year the water is blown, idiots have posted videos on You Tube showing fish being unhooked on rocks, landed in pan nets etc. What was once a stress-free water, has now become a circus and dead pike will appear. That's how quickly social media can destroy a water, but alas it's here to stay, encouraged by tackle companies who seem to want to apply the ' carp' formula to all species and with little long-term thought on the sustainability of our waterways.
 
Ditto with the Cod fishing in the Humber , some you tube numptie has religiously plastered the same local mark to me for ages now , and spoilt it for the locals and the reasonable anglers who travel but don't feel the need to tell all and sundry just where and what they have caught, its just like fast food fishing nowadays . I tend to go mid week and fish into the wee small hours and pack up in the morning ,same as the trent when i can get a bit of space far from the madding crowd !
 
Paul,

What makes you think that a stranger has the “right” to film you. As far as I am aware, nobody has the right to film or take photos of you without your permission, even outdoors. Indeed, you have the right to ask that any such film or photo should be deleted if you have not given your permission.


Dave
 
David Clewer said:
Paul,

What makes you think that a stranger has the “right” to film you. As far as I am aware, nobody has the right to film or take photos of you without your permission, even outdoors. Indeed, you have the right to ask that any such film or photo should be deleted if you have not given your permission.


Dave
Click to expand...

Not strictly true, Dave. Once again YouTube has a part to play. Have a look for "Auditors" on there. Quite an eye opener as to what and where you are allowed to film. In public and anything is OK to film, as long as the photographer is on public land whilst doing so.
 
David Clewer said:
Paul,

What makes you think that a stranger has the “right” to film you. As far as I am aware, nobody has the right to film or take photos of you without your permission, even outdoors. Indeed, you have the right to ask that any such film or photo should be deleted if you have not given your permission.


Dave
Click to expand...
I was on a water that had public access so I assumed that he can film what he wants? Trust me I would have tried and explained to him why he shouldn't have filmed and posted it but he wasn't an angler and I don't think he would have cared, from our brief exchange.
And then you're into all that- aggro when all you want is to wet a line and escape for a few hours.
 
Paul,

After a quick check it appears that you are correct so far as the filming is concerned. However, the photographer has to have your permission to publish the mage/film and he should not therefore have posted it on FB without first gaining your permission.


Dave
 
Great post from Paul R above (44).

Ive been lucky enough to be ‘first’ onto one or two pike waters and the fishing can be spectacular. But once they get discovered the fall is usually very fast. One local water that produced fish to 36lb was finished in 5 weeks !

Another well known loch in Scotland went in cycles - I caught the end of one cycle - unattended rods, dead fish etc etc. we left the place alone and then went back about 5 years later. Multiple pristine doubles and a sprinkling of 20 + fish and no other pike anglers - pike fishing heaven.

Publicity will do the same to any decent water - but other species might live a bit longer than the pike !

I’ve never been one for publicising my captures - but as has been pointed out it’s hard to judge what’s going on with our rivers if we don’t know what is really being caught. It’s a double edged sword.
 
Hi men ,

The river reports certainly reflect a lot of what's happening I'm sure . There must be a little of holding back , for people's catching , and for the sake of the stretch and river . Facebook throws up info for those who search , as even club pages are quick at showing results , but all things evened out times are tough with river reports a reflection of it . A bit of the Ouse we used to fish is just starting to recover if the odd Facebook pics are anything to go by , but people are putting in big effort for the rewards. I also think the people who post on Facebook are not necessarily those who post on our lovely site , be that good or bad I can live with that 🙂.

As an example of info , I'm on a very hard winter syndicate holding a fish that is one of the greatest prizes in carpland . With frozen periods and general life getting in my way iv struggled to get there but last week I put some of the jigsaw together and had 2 bites in a day 😲 , which in context there had only been 7 or 8 fish out since 1st November with some of the top carp anglers blanking for long periods . One of them said to keep my stuff quiet as it would only help . I posted a pic on Facebook to friends with no info really , but my mate moved in behind and caught one , and his friend fishes there and see his post so it's all linked together for people to see 🙂 . I'm never one for lying or holding back , because things that go around come around , so I'm happy with the situation , I'm to old to be cutthroat 😂.

Screenshot_20230209-080318.png


Keep reporting , it's definitely an aid to all of us 👍

Hatter
 
Personally I have never seen a report of any ’named pegs’ on here. Most people simply suggest if a particular river is fishing ‘well ‘ or not. This may also contain comments on the levels and temperature of that river and may save a member a long wasted drive. I think , by and large, we have got it about right.
G.T.
 
One thing to bear in mind: over the years, how many members of this forum have never posted anything, but have gleaned information that has put them onto fish? A classic example is the thread 'photos of river scenes.' We are all willing to post photos of the wonderful river stretches that we fish. It doesn't a brain surgeon to read the river reports and see a fish caught by the one of the above posters and connect the two together. Whilst it might not be the swim where a big fish or a multiple catch actually took place, it can lead to unnecessary pressure, particularly on small rivers.
 
Paul Richardson said:
Where do you start on this one?
I like to read the River reports that are relevant to me ( Northern rivers). For me it's nice to track someones progress and a lot of these are HARD rivers so I can fully appreciate how much an 8 or 9lb barbel means to a fellow member and I'm genuinely chuffed for them. They should be able to share the journey, blanks & gruellers and get some adulation for their efforts when it comes good. It's human nature.
I think if it's suitably vague to protect people's fishing, our River Reports are OK.
I'm not allowed to publicize the stretch of the river I fish a lot so that makes my life easy, although I have to confess I'd like to share pictures of nice fish, but I also like to see nice fish be it a big roach, chub, pike and of course barbel. But as has been said on here, I fish for me not the gallery and I have plenty of blanks and mediocre sessions - just an average angler.

But this whole issue of instant success/ social media does my head in.

On Pike forums there are STRICT no-naming polices of any waters, and posts are regularly redacted, and it's normally newbies asking for information on a certain place instead of doing the spadework.

I'm odd in that I don't mind a bit of hardship in my fishing if it ultimately leads to a goal being achieved. This goal might be a 7lb chub or 15lb barbel or 30lb pike or it might just be ANY pike from an unknown water or ANY barbel on the float? But then that's why I fish rivers and the odd natural water for pike, and not commercials or carp lakes.

What I've never been interested in is targeting known fish of any species or competing with other anglers for bank space, and in my experience social media does more harm than good if you fish like I do. Everytime I go in my local tackle shop I get shown pictures on Facebook of decent fish ( normally pike, barbel and perch - they know I'm not interested in carp) , I get told which water, swim or area and method but honestly it just turns me cold and consequently they must think I'm the world's worst angler as I never seem to report that I catch anything or post it online.

There are certain guys on You Tube who post videos on river stretches and there is absolutely no effort whatsoever in even attempting to conceal the location. WHY?? Why would you advertise to the world, good swims on tough rivers and blow your own fishing?? One I looked at recently on A Northern River which has been ravaged by everything( seals, otters, cormorants, set-lines etc....) had over 40,000 views. In You Tube terms this is tiny but that's 40,000 people with intimate knowledge of the swims, if only 1% of them acted on it that's still 40 anglers to compete with.
This particular individual has no regard whatsoever for fellow anglers or his quarry and can only be doing what he does for a huge EGO trip and probably financial gain. And to me this is the real problem, not river reports although there is no surprise we keep things a bit quiet.

Last season I started to catch reasonable pike on a water I'd fished without success for 4-5 years. So on the 1st trip after catching my first pike from the water ( before this I'd had well over a dozen blanks) I was sat as normal waiting for a run when a bloke decided to stop and talk to me.
Sods law, the drop-off went and I quickly struck the run. Fish on and it was clearly a good-un from the bend in the rod.
I carefully played it for well over a minute as I was fishing at range, when the hooks pulled and it was gone. Only the 2nd fish I'd connected with in 5 years of trying.
However my over-riding emotion was one of relief. While I was playing the fish, the bloke decided( as is his right) to start filming me and he was pretty peed off as he wanted to post the whole thing on Facebook! I was content to know that whatever I'd hooked was there for another day, and after years of struggle I was in the right place using the right methods.
This year the water is blown, idiots have posted videos on You Tube showing fish being unhooked on rocks, landed in pan nets etc. What was once a stress-free water, has now become a circus and dead pike will appear. That's how quickly social media can destroy a water, but alas it's here to stay, encouraged by tackle companies who seem to want to apply the ' carp' formula to all species and with little long-term thought on the sustainability of our waterways.
Click to expand...
must be the RIBBLE yes we have 3 you tube bloggers they are members of one of the clubs i am a member both have been warned as the club has gone back to no publicity rule again after posting videos of club stretches showing locations in daylight.gone back on the free stretch for there fishing blogs.
since october have only seen 2 anglers on the bank when i been out with my mate and was last friday
 
Gary Wagstaff said:
must be the RIBBLE yes we have 3 you tube bloggers they are members of one of the clubs i am a member both have been warned as the club has gone back to no publicity rule again after posting videos of club stretches showing locations in daylight.gone back on the free stretch for there fishing blogs.
since october have only seen 2 anglers on the bank when i been out with my mate and was last friday
Click to expand...
No it wasn’t Gary but the point is it’s endemic and there is so much stuff out there it’s out of control -any mug with a phone is a potential vlogger
My algorithm on you tube showed a new video with a lad chub fishing - he claimed to be fishing for 2 - 3 hours - could you be arsed setting up cameras and a pointless commentary in a short session?
He got a couple of small chub - woopy doo!!
What is the motivation for filming and editing and posting that - pure narcissism ?
Simply lost on me - maybe all advocates of andy Warhol and his 15 minutes of fame ?
 
I usually turn off "location" on my phone when I'm fishing non day ticket waters. If I forget then hopefully I delete any image data and make sure the image itself is edited accordingly. I have no real issue with using images on waters available to all on a day ticket but will still try to take a bit of care in the framing and background. Having said that, I took a distant action shot a week or so ago on Bt2 of Throop, used it on the Dorset Stour thread on here, and just realised I saved that image as "Greg B. Feb23 Barbel Corner" (no more clues).

My profile pic on here is a barbel which interrupted my winter trotting for chub on the Stour at Throop. At the time a few crappy FBookers seriously responded that it was an a known Avon fish (I wish!) and they knew the precise location because they saw me at Ellingham Bridge on Somerley. I last fished Somerley in 1985 and looked a bit younger.
 
Terry Harman said:
A bloke last year fished the last couple of days on the nene at castor in a particular swim ..he had a day we all dream of 3x16,s in a day along with other back up doubles over the two days …. He then proceeded to post all his pics on Facebook and castor regulars recognised the swim straight away not a popular swim by any means…. I would say his chances of getting back in that swim in March this year are zero to very unlikely if I had been him i would have only told 3-4 angling mates people who I regularly fish with there is no way any pics would have ended up on the internet
I suppose the reason people don’t post stuff is there are anglers out there who will fish off the back of other people’s hard work and pioneering so why should they reap the rewards
As you know paul yourself being a member of the catchers we fill in catch returns but we only list the river not the area but we will always divulge lots of other info to fellow catchers but that is reciprocated
To be honest I never look at the river reports preferring to find my own way on any given stretch of river I’m fishing
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Terry, correct me if I am wrong.... the only pictures posted on Social media of that amazing catch; has had the background blurred beyond a point it can be recognised. I too looked at them hard to see if I could see any swim/area, BUT, it was word of mouth that has opened up my knowledge. So to say everyone would find out and crowding it out in March will be a wait and see.
A swim that produced regularly for me on a "Busy" stretch of the lower Kennet stayed underfished for nearly a decade, before it showed signs of being fished on a regular basis. Due to not being in a popular area, because of location or requiring a long walk; I managed to keep it to myself and a couple of other anglers. I also believe similar will happen on the Nene. But you may find me nearby; I fancy a change of scenery.:cool:🤣
 
Oh, I do feel that my thread has gone off tangent:(. The purpose of writing the thread wasn't to generate a negative response; which falls foul of the same attitude as what made me post in the first place. I had hoped to get conversation going about how to fight the decline of our rivers; instead it has become one that everyone wants to say nothing; being fearful of losing their fishing. Earlier on in another post I mentioned about water quality AND the decline in bio-mass because of decline in fishermen on the bank etc; yet 95% of replies have been about" I don't want you fishing where I do, becuase you will catch MY fish". SO, maybe I am in a minority and this topic needed to be brought up elsewhere!
 
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