Under Pressure

TFF editor Andy Taylor recounts how the trout in his parents’ small stillwater fishery have reacted to the weather, flies and angling pressure throughout the summer months.

- Andy Taylor

Small still waters, they’re easy. There’s no challenge for me, they’re just full of finless stockies. They’re featureless holes in the ground; it’s like catching a fish in a goldfish bowl. You won’t learn much fishing a stocked small water. Right? Wrong!

Times have changed since the small water boom of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Back then small waters were popping up left, right and centre as farmers and landowners diversified, making the most of the trout fishing boom. Catch and kill was the norm, with anglers happy to kill a limit of fish to eat, give away or sell. Catch and release was in its infancy and as the trout we caught were taken to be eaten, fisheries restocked on a regular basis, ensuring a turnover of fish. Fresh stock fish meant the fishing was quite straightforward; gullible stockies along with a small number of fish that had been returned meant that many fisheries catered for anglers of all abilities.

Forward the clock to 2017 and things are notably different. The quality of the stock fish is now pretty good; the finless freaks seem to have almost gone. Many small waters have become established and it’s hard to think that some are less than 30 years old. The increase in catch-and-release fishing (sport tickets) has had a massive impact on how these fisheries are now run and managed for the angler and the fish. The days of catching and killing a bag of four, five or six fish seem to have gone with one or two fish for the barbecue being the occasional norm. In an era where they want to release their catch, 100 per cent catch and release is the common option for many anglers. Consequently, the way these fisheries are now stocked and managed makes them more challenging to the visiting angler.

Setting The Scene