I can remember well the many pleasurable hours spent fishing as a teenager or even younger. The opportunity to get out into the country and fish peacefully in a lake or river, the worries of the world seemingly far away. The fishing competitions with friends that were taken very seriously and in which defeat was remembered almost daily until the next trip. The excitement at hooking what felt to be a big fish only to find it was a little tiddler with too much strength. The trips to Ireland and fishing lakes which seemed to be full of bream. The trips down to Hampshire to stay with an aunt with a little river nearby which had visible trout in it swimming up and down. The exaltation at catching my first trout by dangling a juicy worm in front of its nose. The trips to the Essex coast to go out in a boat to do some sea fishing. The feeling of satisfaction in taking home cod and whiting fresh from the sea.
All distant memories but what great carefree days! Family and work have since taken over but one day I’ll retire to a little cottage far out in the country with a little river alongside teaming with fish. You might call the place Heaven.
There are three main types of fishing we used to do: coarse fishing, game finishing and sea fishing.
Each of these is discussed below, (click on the type name to go directly to that content).
Normally fishing in inland lakes and rivers. The fish are generally not edible as so should be returned to the water. Fishing is normally by rod with a wide variety of baits depending on the fish. The most frequent baits are bread, worms and maggots but many anglers fish with their own secret concoctions. Match fishing is very popular in which competitors draw lots for their fishing position and then fish against each other for several hours. The winner is the angler catching the highest weight. There is a world championship in match fishing each year and it is frequently won by Englishmen! Match fishermen often use a pole, rather than a rod, which can be several metres long. Coarse fishing can be done in rivers or lakes.
Fishing in rivers with a significant flow can be tiring with continual recasting but one can find slower parts. Fishing in the more static pools near banks and round bends in the river can often be profitable.
Roach, perch, barbel, gudgeon, dace
Often easier to fish but they can be featureless which makes it difficult to locate the fish. Very often a groundbait of bread crumbs with some bait mixed in is used. Fishing for predators such as pike can be fun but they can be very strong and be careful of their teeth. Specimen fishing for carp. Float fishing is common in which a cork float is attached and is visible on the water surface. When a fish takes the bait the float disappears. The other way is to ledger using a lead weight on the bottom of the lake.
Warning - you need a licence to fish on many inland lakes and rivers.
Before going fishing on a local lake or river,
please check with your local authority if you need to buy one
Carp, bream, pike, perch, tench
For those who apsire to break records, the table below gives the record weights for a number of common coarse species and futher below for some sea species.
| Species | Weight | Year | Location |
| UK Coarse Fishing | |||
| Barbel | 7.824kg | 1999 | Newport |
| Bream | 7.512kg | 1991 | Surrey |
| Carp | 25.571kg | 1998 | Berkshire |
| Perch | 2.523kg | 1985 | Kent |
| Roach | 1.899kg | 1990 | Dorset |
Sea fishing is often carried out from the shore or a pier but it is more enjoyable to go out in a boat. Boat fishing can be inshore where the boat is in waters reasonably close to the shore and the sea is relatively calm. Off shore fishing is great fun as one feels alone in nature in a great expanse of sea with land in the distance or even not visible. One warning though: ensure that you have a stomach which can stand up to the waves and swells. Most of the fish caught are edible so you can stock up the refrigerator for several weeks with one trip. I can still taste the delicious fresh cod and whiting cooked by my mother.
A warning though - Several friends spent most of their sea fishing careers being sick over the side of the boat!
Cod, Bass, whiting, dabs, flounders, sea bream, etc.
| Species | Weight | Year | Location |
| Irish Sea Fishing | |||
| Bass | 17lbs 4oz | 1977 | Ardmore |
| Cod | 42lb | 1921 | Cork |
| Whiting | 4lb 14oz | 1981 | Kenmare Bay |
Atlantic Salmon from E-Cobo.com
Fishing mainly for trout and salmon. Trout fishing is available in many places in Britain often in specially stocked lakes or reservoirs but it can be expensive. However you can take the fish home for an excellent meal. Some rivers are also well stocked with trout. Salmon fishing is largely available in Scotland in the fast flowing rivers and lochs. The whole salmon life cycle with its long journeys north is well worth studying.
Many anglers fish for trout and salmon using worms and other baits but the real connoisseurs uses "flies". Making these artificial flies which attract the fish is an art in itself with many books on the subject and thousands of designs.
Royaly free pictures provided by E-Cobo.com
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