Graham Nicol reflects on the past season and looks back a little further still
As many of us approach the end of another season out attention switches to other “fishy” aspects of our wonderful passion. We may be sorting our tackle out and storing for Winter after cleaning lines, any repairs being addressed ,etc or focussing on replenishing our depleted fly boxes by spending many fruitful hours at the fly tying vice. For others they may resort to completing their fishing diary and promising to read some “must do” angling books that they have, as yet, never got round to completing. The last two activities can be very dangerous for it often results in reminiscing over previous seasons and the common question that arises “was it better back then?” is mulled over. Let’s drill into this in a little bit more detail and see what we can unearth.
Reading through some old classics it transpires that they appeared to catch many fish. I believe this to be a slight misconception for many writers and anglers of the late 19th and early 20th century counted their catch no matter what the size and thus their numbers were inflated by tiddlers. Undoubtedly some achieved prodigious catches but overall nothing to shout home about. With the advent of stocking and more catch and release being advocated catch returns today are probably as good as back then; it’s more we tend not to show the wholesale slaughter that was commonplace back then and part of the reason for stocking was to replace the strain put on these waters. What they did benefit from was less fishing pressure from numbers of anglers and more waters available.
Water quality has, for choice, improved over the years with the assistance of legislation and upgraded anti-pollution measures. There are less rivers now that cannot sustain fish than any time for many decades and probably as far back as post industrialisation of Britain. Unfortunately what has deteriorated is water flows which have suffered from canalisation, global warming and abstraction. Growing populations and their need for water has put tremendous pressure on our water resources and the trend unfortunately appears to be for a continuation. The solution of building additional reservoirs is plagued with politics and a multitude of sensitivities such that abstraction is the easier approach for the moment. Lesser flows require creativity to create movement and thus organisations such as Wild Trout Trust have become very useful in applying a hands on approach to assist with this issue. General advice on improving a fishery has also been massively useful.
Once again reminiscing with the old books on tackle makes one realise how technological advances has made the actual act of fishing so much more pleasant. To think one used to wield heavy cane and/or greenheart rods with silk lines that required constant attention compared with carbon and synthetic lines bears no comparison. Modern clothing is a revelation with the advent of breathable fabrics such as goretex and thermals that truly keep the cold at bay. Old fashioned materials such as tweeds and cottons only worked for so long and then gave up the battle with the elements. Although there were some prodigious casters such as Alexander Grant modern rod and line technology ensures that the average caster with a properly balanced outfit can cast a considerable distance and maintain it for the whole day which was not the case in days bygone.
Finally, one of the developments that has been rapid in the last few years and has become a massive help is the forum of communication. The advent of the internet and mobile phones has opened up a plethora of mediums whereby fellow anglers can share information. Advice is readily asked and provided via forums and chat rooms which is a benefit to all. Water conditions, fishing catches, availability, price, etc are all there at the press of a button. It is now possible for an angler to receive up to date information on the above and literally be at the river in optimal conditions. This was not possible back then as word of mouth cannot travel as fast as the world wide web.
Where would we be without ESF?