Leaderboard

Some of mine, some from a lake with unknown fish, some wood carving, one of the not so common larger ones and my big one!

That petition was a complete joke buddy, it was never going anywhere. It was for "For the introduction of non-lethal means of control of the Otter (Lutra- lutra)" when a license to trap and relocate (i.e. none lethal) otters is already available. They were petitioning for something that already exists! No one is going to change things for us in the short term, we need to do it ourselves. If the waters you fish aint being fenced you need to persuade them to fence it, and assist with the costs, or walk away. The time for shouting for change is way passed, it's too late already. There is no "if" buddy. The rivers are almost empty already.

The guys I know who are up & down the country netting all winter Kev . Were at a commercial day ticket lake in Northampton last week . Turns out there's only a couple of carp left in there.... the owner couldn't believe it considering what the stock should of been . He had seen the odd patch of scales but didn't think for a minute he had been wiped out . I completely agree Kev .... it's just a matter of time for all un fenced venues the way the last 5 years has exploded compared to the previous 5 . If you have fishing in your area guys then make the most of it & cherish the captures even more . How Many of our favourite captures on this thread are already gone .... won't be just one of mine, that's for sure !

Ditto all of that - well said mate.

Boilies, shhhh

Unbelievably the very day I wrote that (yesterday) just so happened to be the day I saw my first otter on Grantham Canal! Last night I was on my usual mountain bike hoon along the canal and I spotted a pair of eyes in the torch light at water level on the far side. I assumed it was a fox drinking (there's loads of foxes round here) but as I got closer it became clear exactly what it was. It had already clocked me (I use 2 x very high power lights for night biking) and as I got nearer it turned, climbed the steep bank (giving me a crystal clear look at it), and did the off into the undergrowth. I was a bit taken aback tbh.... I've seen plenty of mustelids in my time including loads of mink but this thing was bloomin' massive. I've been spotting signs of otters all last year along that stretch and didn't spot one carp in 2018 where as previously I knew exactly where they could be found. I'm basically taking that sighting as confirmation those carp are gone.