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What are your opinions on night fishing ?

Ian Grant

Senior Member & Supporter
As Ray Thorpe requested i thought i'd start a thread on the subject.
Before we start Ray and i are good mates, and this is not a row nor will one start ;)

In direct answer to you Ray, i know a lot hold the same opinion, but your circumstances of being retired, make it very easy for you to get out on a regular basis, i for one would find that impossible, and i guess the same for at least as many as would agree with you.
My fishing would be severly reduced, to only one day on a regular basis, that would be sunday, maybe the odd saturday, whereas i can usually pick, and choose when i want to fish during the evening hours, albeit having to fish shorter sessions mid week.
So whilst if night fishing were banned would no doubt please some, at least as many i think would see their fishing time severly curtailed.

If fishing were restricted to daylight hours on St Patricks stream, as you suggested, i absolutley guarentee a drop in membership, probably quite severe, though i don't fish the Pats that much, if the ban were extended to the Loddon, i for one would be forced to leave the club, seking others which suited my circumstances more.

The old saying ' you can please some of the people all of the time ' etc etc, comes to mind Ray, but i'm fairly sure the club would see a hefty dent in it's bank balance.

As far as being more difficult to catch Barbel in daylight, i think it's always been that way, but thinking about it some of my biggest fish have come in daylight, though i adimit far more in numbers in darkness, but then i spend most time fishing in darkness so i guess that would follow.

I wouldn't like to see a situation that favoured a group of anglers anymore than the other, which a ban on night fishing would mean, being convenient, only for those who have those kind of hours available to them on a regular basis.

Thats my take on it Ray, i wonder what the others on here think, i'd be interested to know.

Regards
Ian.
 
If night fishing was to be banned it would certainly ruin my fishing as I don't just go fe one night it's 2 and 3 nights at a time, but it's not all about the fishing I love been on the bank regardless!! I do shorter sessions but rove about with the essentials and I think it's more about how much tackle people have got for the night sessions and it's all stemmed from carp anglers going to France or so I'm lead to believe??
Regards
 
Hi men,

Me and Sue have not fished into dark ever , Although I did an hour or two on the Severn and Kennet where we parked the car behind the swim , and Sue was sleeping . Other than that we are late starters , early finishers , but that's how we like it .

I know a good angler who fished a stretch where night fishing was essential to catching the big fish he was after , although he txt me one day saying he caught a fish that we would have caught had we turned up , and just lowered it in !. But on the whole he found night fishing the best way to catch .

Not the way we fish , but certainly would not like night fishing banned where people enjoy it !, and in a lot of cases is the only time people can get out .


Hatter
 
I love fishing after dark....................... i have too, its the only time i can go:D

Generally where i fish the "day shift" wander back to the car park around an hour after dark and i can on occasion have the whole place to myself.

Once in a while i like to get down too the river in the daylight just to reacquaint with what she looks like but not that often.
 
What do people perceive to be the problems with night fishing? I myself cannot see why it would cause problems for a club unless it were in a built up populated area. To be honest I really don't get why clubs restrict it apart from bailiffing concerns through loss of revenue poaching ect.
I really enjoy fishing late often its with other anglers whom I consider to be good decent thoughtful anglers who look after the stretches they fish, rarely do I see poor angling numpties as seen on weekends who couldn't give a toss about the river and its surroundings.
 
I've not done a night this season on my river of choice, but i do like staying for a couple of hours into darkness.

Talk of banning it is just silly in my opinion, one should not forget that night fishermen on a stretch are the best possible deterrent to poachers and undesirables - i've certainly never seen a bailiff at night!
 
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one should
not forget that night fishermen on a stretch are the
best possible deterent to poachers and undesirables
A very valid point should be encouraged through using those anglers as night bailiffs.
 
I love fishing after dark....................... i have too, its the only time i can go:D

Generally where i fish the "day shift" wander back to the car park around an hour after dark and i can on occasion have the whole place to myself.

Once in a while i like to get down too the river in the daylight just to reacquaint with what she looks like but not that often.

I'm in the same boat as Tom. Circumstances dictate when I can go, which is 99% of the time in the hours of darkness. I do get to see the river in daylight once a week when I bailiff during my lunch hour.
Difficult to tell if fishing would improve if there was a night fishing ban. I know of some nice fish being caught during the day on the said stretch.
IMO if a section was less pressured during the day your chances would improve. Banning night fishing would only increase the pressure. Intersting topic though.
 
I have no option on most trips as I fish after work and that entails into dark, once September comes around. Most of my clubs allow this on the majority of their waters - some require notification if you intend to fish through the night. I dropped one club as they were being strict about packing up at sunset. Unless the riperian owner has issues about it, I cannot see any problem if the anglers leave the water quietly and with dipped lights (one club lost access for night fishing due to idiots failing to do this).
One of my Yorkshire clubs introduced an extended hours option (to fish until 11pm). On the stretches I fish, this has actually reduced poaching.

Occassionally I fish throughout the night, especially where there is some distance to the river

And as for carp fishing.......
 
What a nonsense!!

What possible difference would a night fishing ban make to the chances of catching fish?

The pressure of angling and nervousness of feeding in crystal clear water (which we have a lot of these days) are the drivers which push fish to feed at night.

On stretches where night fishiung is not allowed, the fish simply wait until the anglers have gone home and then move in and hoover up the food, those same fish were feeding happilly during daylight 5 or so years ago. On one such strectch of the Kennet, I used to see 5 or 6 anglers on a summers day, it is now on average around 15 to 20 anglers!

Stretches I know which get heavilly night fished, fish better during daylight.

Work it out for yourself!!
 
Like many on here, I fish at night out of necessity, but I have to say I love night fishing.

Most of my Barbel fishing is done in Autumn/winter, on week days, so I have to have access to the river at night.
This is the main reasons I never joined BAA when I moved to Bridgnorth almost 20 years ago, and chose KFAC instead.

Steve
 
Fish until I'm tired is my preferred choice, so usually a few hours into darkness. Anytime from midday to late afternoon until 11ish-early hours, sometimes all night, depends on conditions/work etc. I will say night fishing for barbel is possibly my favourite type of fishing and any talk of banning it is scandalous!
 
I'll just ask a quick question, who is going to enforce a night fishing ban ? the same people who are stopping the laying of fish traps/set lines ? Unless there is a very good reason i.e very close proximity to residential areas i can see no good reason for night bans.
 
Personally I will NOT join a club that bans night fishing. If others feel the same this obviously will detract from their revenue.
Graham I have seen bailiffs on many different occasions and rivers. From the Medway, Ouse, Warks. Avon and Severn They seem to find me. It's as well that I buy my ticket!
 
For most people such as myself who work full time, not allowing night fishing amounts to a winter fishing ban. I am a BAA member, but I have to say the current night ticket scheme is both daft and potentially dangerous.

cheers Paul
 
I rarely fish rivers over night. However, I do like fishing into darkness. It wouldn't affect my barbel fishing greatly if night fishing were banned but I certainly don't want it to happen. The suggestion that night fishing creates greater problems with paching is a non-starter for me. I know full well that some stretches of club water where night fishing is already banned see greater incidences of poaching than those that do allow it. There's little better deterrent to those that wish to poach than the prospect of bumping into a bona fide club member. When they know that there's little to no chance of anyone being there it makes life far easier for them.
 
After Dark

About 80% of my fish this season have been caught in daylight despite fishing into dark (11pmish) on every session, and some of my biggest fish have come in daylight. I do however prefer to fish at night, it's more peaceful and usually less crowded on the banks.

Nick C
 
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