Has the mania about otters died down?

[framey]

1 hour ago, OldBoy said:

Any facts about that mate?!!

Suspect a lot of peoples housing now flooding because of... new builds on flood plains, to much overbuilding over natural drainage... concrete drives, artifical grass etc etc.

Bring on the beavers, might have stopped the flood disasters in some where like Boscastle if they could have stopped the dredged out river to cause so many lost lives?

Oh and poor farmers will no doubt be bleating on later... what about the toxic waste they (some of them) allow to pollute our rivers...

Tin hat on but just a cynical old git lol

Only heard on radio one of those “my mates mate” type talk show.

but I can see it happening along with the building on the flood planes 

 

Didn’t think anyone died in boscastle floods ??

 

[OldBoy]

16 hours ago, jules007 said:

Otters raiding all the fisheries and now Beavers coming back, i guess next step will be the Wolf as a predator to maintain numbers  

There was an episode of the Windsors, where Charlie boy had done rewilding and had to reintroduce bigger preditors to solve the problem!

Yes a great comedy series but maybe an element of truth in it 😃

[OldBoy]

15 hours ago, framey said:

Only heard on radio one of those “my mates mate” type talk show.

but I can see it happening along with the building on the flood planes 

 

Didn’t think anyone died in boscastle floods ??

 

Nobody died but village was decimated for a while , I actually have been there and seeing the flood water levels marked out was an eye opener mate

[OldBoy]

Like him or not. the late John Wilson was warning about the dangers of otters so many years ago:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-24331800

On other forums people claim to have knowledge about people illegally releasing otters, nothing has been done.

Have to live with it now.

Hopefully the places you fish will carry on 👍

[salokcinnodrog]

3 hours ago, OldBoy said:

Like him or not. the late John Wilson was warning about the dangers of otters so many years ago:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-24331800

On other forums people claim to have knowledge about people illegally releasing otters, nothing has been done.

Have to live with it now.

Hopefully the places you fish will carry on 👍

Problem is that eel numbers are down, probably down to various causes, pollution being one, and eels were apparently otters favourite food. Back in the 1980's the Wensum in summer you could see 100's on the bottom, then they started being caught with sores around the area of Hellesdon, just below the chemical factory outlet.

The Broads, lakes and rivers, it was almost impossible to use maggots as a hookbait if you fished the bottom.

On the Gipping I used to stand on the bridge to Sugar Beet pits and feed maggots to the silvers, what they missed, eels would pick up of the bottom, you could see them.

However this lack of eels is not restricted to East Anglia, it's nationwide.

 

Behind Barham Pits there was a pair of otters, the river was full of big chub, gudgeon, perch, roach and pike. Then an otter explosion saw more appear in the valley, so where 4 or 5 were between Ipswich and Stowmarket, 18miles, (by road) there were now at least 15 otters, and 4 were on Barham, and another 4 on Bosmere,  munching everything sizeable.

As I mentioned though, my syndicate is not fenced, yet has little trouble. Coots go missing in winter and we lose occasional pike, not many. I think that at night otters stalk the rushes coot hunting as they will suddenly chirp and scatter. That is also pike territory!

[Roughtor]

On 06/03/2025 at 18:53, OldBoy said:

Any facts about that mate?!!

Suspect a lot of peoples housing now flooding because of... new builds on flood plains, to much overbuilding over natural drainage... concrete drives, artifical grass etc etc.

Bring on the beavers, might have stopped the flood disasters in some where like Boscastle if they could have stopped the dredged out river to cause so many lost lives?

Oh and poor farmers will no doubt be bleating on later... what about the toxic waste they (some of them) allow to pollute our rivers...

Tin hat on but just a cynical old git lol

Hi I'm a new poster on here but not new to carping or traditional angling..

I grew up in Boscastle, fishing the Valency for small brownies up as far Biscombes farm where there was a lovely area where you could even run a small float down the river.and on one side of my family 16 generations are buried near to the head waters of the Valency river.

The Valency has always flooded ,in 1958 it was really bad as a local man was killed,in 2004 no one was killed...you can see the height of where the water level hit in my brothers cottage ,near the harbour ..he's put a plague in the level ..my brother was also in the cliff rescue based in the village,but now at Camelford Station.. The National Trust, has made a natural phenomenon much worse by raising Cobweb carpark and straightening all the river from Emma Giffords pool to the new bridge ..My family live in the old part ,the proper part of the village, and the Jordan and Paradise streams destroyed our cottage, it ran under and out through the front door ..it ruined my mother's mental state ..

 

As far as Otters go ,there is not one single water in the county that's not been predated ..places I've loved and grown up on..Beavers well,they obviously don't eat fish,however the legislation involved to remove them is immense ,I have seen at first hand damage caused by Beavers that have been let go on purpose ,potentially Beaver release could be as bad as the otter releases in the future..

 

I think it was well over 130 different waters that have been collated in the county...

[OldBoy]

On 15/03/2025 at 19:04, Roughtor said:

Hi I'm a new poster on here but not new to carping or traditional angling..

I grew up in Boscastle, fishing the Valency for small brownies up as far Biscombes farm where there was a lovely area where you could even run a small float down the river.and on one side of my family 16 generations are buried near to the head waters of the Valency river.

The Valency has always flooded ,in 1958 it was really bad as a local man was killed,in 2004 no one was killed...you can see the height of where the water level hit in my brothers cottage ,near the harbour ..he's put a plague in the level ..my brother was also in the cliff rescue based in the village,but now at Camelford Station.. The National Trust, has made a natural phenomenon much worse by raising Cobweb carpark and straightening all the river from Emma Giffords pool to the new bridge ..My family live in the old part ,the proper part of the village, and the Jordan and Paradise streams destroyed our cottage, it ran under and out through the front door ..it ruined my mother's mental state ..

 

As far as Otters go ,there is not one single water in the county that's not been predated ..places I've loved and grown up on..Beavers well,they obviously don't eat fish,however the legislation involved to remove them is immense ,I have seen at first hand damage caused by Beavers that have been let go on purpose ,potentially Beaver release could be as bad as the otter releases in the future..

 

I think it was well over 130 different waters that have been collated in the county...

Hello mate. sorry you don't have a name on here,

Thanks for the background info on Boscastle, I have visited it a few times, like to get to Kernow at least twice a year.

Remember very many years ago going to Bolingey lake.... before White Acres took it over. think Jerry savage used to own it? caught lots of easy carp on tinned black eyed beads on float

Anyway, as for a lot more interesting fishing apart from water pigs, do you know anything about river Neet or Strat?

[Roughtor]

6 hours ago, OldBoy said:

Hello mate. sorry you don't have a name on here,

Thanks for the background info on Boscastle, I have visited it a few times, like to get to Kernow at least twice a year.

Remember very many years ago going to Bolingey lake.... before White Acres took it over. think Jerry savage used to own it? caught lots of easy carp on tinned black eyed beads on float

Anyway, as for a lot more interesting fishing apart from water pigs, do you know anything about river Neet or Strat?

Hello mate,yes I too have fished Bolingy ,but before Gerry and John Castle took over from Major Phillips ...I remember Gerrys wife Jill a lovely lady ..they owned a very smart bungalow in Bolingy village itself..called either Lake side or Lake View,which is what Dave Daws place at Lanivet was potentially named after as Gerry ran long island Lake at lakeview Lodge.. 

 

Gerry unfortunately lost his life at Oakside ,now known as Dead Gerrys ,sad but true..

 

Lake view ,held the biggest common in Kernow,although it came originally from Kennick ressi,I learnt a lot from Gerry ,I still use his mantra from him,which is LPB,location,presentation and bait ,in that order .. as you may know Gerry was the modern instigator of winter carp fishing ,where he pioneered it,..along with PYM baits ,and was a ardent advocate of Fred Wilton HNV theories and early user of the hair. 

 

Gerry and his mate Chris Bannister ,from College ressi fished Bude Canal together during the winter. ,right opposite the Bude Canal, waterfront fishing tackle shop..

 

He also wrote extensively about Cornish carping in the History of Angling,to be found at River reads ,online called the Early years ,in Cornwall, which has to be taken with a pinch of salt  as the most influential angler of note would be Ken Townley and early members of Roche AC ,and my mate Jim Richardson from Delabole RIP ...

Anyway  inso far as the Strat or Neet ,I've heard of perch being caught and seen Mullet ,but never fished it due to being mainly in the summer time,busy etc...

 

I keep being asked by younger Cornish to write and publish and share my photos before the Cornish carp/course boom,when subsidies were handed to farmers to diversify..

 

Cheers..

[OldBoy]

16 hours ago, Roughtor said:

Hello mate,yes I too have fished Bolingy ,but before Gerry and John Castle took over from Major Phillips ...I remember Gerrys wife Jill a lovely lady ..they owned a very smart bungalow in Bolingy village itself..called either Lake side or Lake View,which is what Dave Daws place at Lanivet was potentially named after as Gerry ran long island Lake at lakeview Lodge.. 

 

Gerry unfortunately lost his life at Oakside ,now known as Dead Gerrys ,sad but true..

 

Lake view ,held the biggest common in Kernow,although it came originally from Kennick ressi,I learnt a lot from Gerry ,I still use his mantra from him,which is LPB,location,presentation and bait ,in that order .. as you may know Gerry was the modern instigator of winter carp fishing ,where he pioneered it,..along with PYM baits ,and was a ardent advocate of Fred Wilton HNV theories and early user of the hair. 

 

Gerry and his mate Chris Bannister ,from College ressi fished Bude Canal together during the winter. ,right opposite the Bude Canal, waterfront fishing tackle shop..

 

He also wrote extensively about Cornish carping in the History of Angling,to be found at River reads ,online called the Early years ,in Cornwall, which has to be taken with a pinch of salt  as the most influential angler of note would be Ken Townley and early members of Roche AC ,and my mate Jim Richardson from Delabole RIP ...

Anyway  inso far as the Strat or Neet ,I've heard of perch being caught and seen Mullet ,but never fished it due to being mainly in the summer time,busy etc...

 

I keep being asked by younger Cornish to write and publish and share my photos before the Cornish carp/course boom,when subsidies were handed to farmers to diversify..

 

Cheers..

Thanks for reply Roughtor,

Lot's of memories about old days in Kernow, pre internet and finding places in an old book called Carp fishing in UK.

Sorry to have gone off post on this thread, but sadly think have to live with otters now, gate has been opened years ago... bit like foxes in chicken farms years ago.

Anyway Roughtor. maybe old blokes like us could share memories on the 'Vintage People' thread, might be worth a try?

S