Windermere
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PikeAngler :: Fishing :: Pike Fishing
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Windermere
Lake District regulars will, to a man, tell you that the pike fishing on Winderemere has deteriorated almost to the point where it isn't worth making the effort any more. It's fair to call this a population collapse in my view, the fishing hasn't merely slowed down, it has gone off a cliff and it's happened in just three years. I raised the issue at the Freshwater Committee meeting on Saturday, not that I expect anyone there to do anything but really just to get it logged so that we can come back to it, having done some work on it ourselves.
I believe we need to undertand what the problem actually is before we start to call for action and we do have some advantages there since that population of pike is the most intensely studied in the world but anglers can help too.
I would be grateful if Windermere pikers would write to me with their evidence on the deterioration of the quality of piking on the lake. If you have detailed catch records then that would be a great help, if you have details of catch per unit effort then that would be very valuable indeed. I can use this evidence then in my dealings with the FBA, Angling Trust and environment Agency which will inevitably follow.
Pike anglers are, from necessity, a secretive bunch but it's time to come out of the closet on this in my view, we will never get the problem addressed if we don't let people know that there is a problem.
My email address is Eric_Edwards@msn.com
I believe we need to undertand what the problem actually is before we start to call for action and we do have some advantages there since that population of pike is the most intensely studied in the world but anglers can help too.
I would be grateful if Windermere pikers would write to me with their evidence on the deterioration of the quality of piking on the lake. If you have detailed catch records then that would be a great help, if you have details of catch per unit effort then that would be very valuable indeed. I can use this evidence then in my dealings with the FBA, Angling Trust and environment Agency which will inevitably follow.
Pike anglers are, from necessity, a secretive bunch but it's time to come out of the closet on this in my view, we will never get the problem addressed if we don't let people know that there is a problem.
My email address is Eric_Edwards@msn.com
Eric Edwards- Posts : 306
Join date : 2012-02-23
windermere pike fishing
just a thought eric
are people just saying its gone down hill....... for there own gains ...... to be honest keep hearing the same on all the pike lakes up there.
I have a friend who goes up there quite a bit and he has shown me some very good fish will find out if he thinks the same
are people just saying its gone down hill....... for there own gains ...... to be honest keep hearing the same on all the pike lakes up there.
I have a friend who goes up there quite a bit and he has shown me some very good fish will find out if he thinks the same
stubbo- Posts : 3976
Join date : 2010-01-14
Age : 61
Location : Warrington
Re: Windermere
I'm happy to tell you my own experiences. Five years ago a typical day's fishing would throw up three or four big doubles (15lbs plus) with maybe an evens chance of twenty. Now, I'm catching one pike every other day and my last twenty was in 2012.
Eric Edwards- Posts : 306
Join date : 2012-02-23
Re: Windermere
eric the only reason I made this comment was when I fished grassmere I watched a guy land a good fish upper doubleEric Edwards wrote:I'm happy to tell you my own experiences. Five years ago a typical day's fishing would throw up three or four big doubles (15lbs plus) with maybe an evens chance of twenty. Now, I'm catching one pike every other day and my last twenty was in 2012.
when I approached him later he said he had caught nowt his words were...... its gone down hill this place... but maybe by his standards it has ........eric don't really fish it enough to give you any answers on this .......
stubbo- Posts : 3976
Join date : 2010-01-14
Age : 61
Location : Warrington
Re: Windermere
Could it be anything to do with the amount of exposure the place has had over the last few years, Eric ? With TV shows, books and magazines as well as the internet giving the impression that a 20 pounder was on the cards every visit , this was actually said on one TV show. A similar thing happened on Loch Lomond during the 1980s and that was before www. and Sky discovery Despite living in the county I have only fished the place a couple of times in the last 30 years so am not best qualified to comment on this venue perhaps.
Angling pressure aside , are there as many big fish in some of these places as we think? How many are repeat captures . There could be a lot of anglers after not too many fish? I do know of a couple of venues , I have fished over the years, a lake and a river which produced a lot of big double figure pike over a period before the average catch rate and size dropped.The river in particular had hardly any anglers using it so otters and other things were suspected, but it has started to produce more and better fish again. I do know that a lot of my bigger double figure fish were recaptures as confirmed by photos, surprisingly some were a year or more apart too . I just wonder if it is actually possible for a natural water to produce big pike indefinitely , or if they just respond to their environment and food source changing ? there are so many finely balanced variables which could affect them.
Angling pressure aside , are there as many big fish in some of these places as we think? How many are repeat captures . There could be a lot of anglers after not too many fish? I do know of a couple of venues , I have fished over the years, a lake and a river which produced a lot of big double figure pike over a period before the average catch rate and size dropped.The river in particular had hardly any anglers using it so otters and other things were suspected, but it has started to produce more and better fish again. I do know that a lot of my bigger double figure fish were recaptures as confirmed by photos, surprisingly some were a year or more apart too . I just wonder if it is actually possible for a natural water to produce big pike indefinitely , or if they just respond to their environment and food source changing ? there are so many finely balanced variables which could affect them.
Rich_- Posts : 34
Join date : 2012-01-10
Re: Windermere
I'm quite sure that angling pressure has had an effect, that's not really the point. We're in danger of simply pointing the finger at our own behaviour when there might be something else that's contributing. That way, we let others off the hook and just argue amongst ourselves, that's nice for them!
We have to know about the water quality issues, the problems with erosion, the damage done by endocryne distruptors and eutrophication.
Pike anglers may have caused the demise of the pike but they sure as hell didn't cause the weedbeds to disappear!
We have to know about the water quality issues, the problems with erosion, the damage done by endocryne distruptors and eutrophication.
Pike anglers may have caused the demise of the pike but they sure as hell didn't cause the weedbeds to disappear!
Eric Edwards- Posts : 306
Join date : 2012-02-23
Re: Windermere
Eric Edwards wrote:
they sure as hell didn't cause the weedbeds to disappear!
Which has also happened elsewhere in the recent past . I have read somewhere that too much algae can rob the other plant life of nutrients causing them to retreat ? The fish population in that lake has been well studied over many decades. This should , you'd think be able to tell what the prey fish populations have been doing over the years . Is there a big roach population in Windermere? If they increased and the likes of trout and char have declined that could indicate a more nutrient rich environment . Not that clued up on such things but it's a thought .
Rich_- Posts : 34
Join date : 2012-01-10
windermere and other lakes near it
ive got to be honest every time I had been up there I seem to be on my own in that particular area so don't get the impression its getting hammered like the local lake down the road
fished other big lakes in the area and same again nobody there come to think of it even on a busy day I have probably seen about 4 or 5 pike anglers let me add this is from the bank
fished other big lakes in the area and same again nobody there come to think of it even on a busy day I have probably seen about 4 or 5 pike anglers let me add this is from the bank
stubbo- Posts : 3976
Join date : 2010-01-14
Age : 61
Location : Warrington
Re: Windermere
I am having a day out on Windermere tomorrow I want to try everything out on the boat as am going to Ireland
next weekend. I wish I could shed some light on the pike fishing, even though I have fish it for maybe twenty years
I have never done that well and I take my hat off to anyone that does. So its just a nice day out if we catch thats good
if we don't thats ok because its a nice place to blank a lot better that some places I fish.
next weekend. I wish I could shed some light on the pike fishing, even though I have fish it for maybe twenty years
I have never done that well and I take my hat off to anyone that does. So its just a nice day out if we catch thats good
if we don't thats ok because its a nice place to blank a lot better that some places I fish.
psion- Posts : 979
Join date : 2011-11-25
Age : 73
Location : Lancaster
Re: Windermere
here herepsion wrote:I am having a day out on Windermere tomorrow I want to try everything out on the boat as am going to Ireland
next weekend. I wish I could shed some light on the pike fishing, even though I have fish it for maybe twenty years
I have never done that well and I take my hat off to anyone that does. So its just a nice day out if we catch thats good
if we don't thats ok because its a nice place to blank a lot better that some places I fish.
stubbo- Posts : 3976
Join date : 2010-01-14
Age : 61
Location : Warrington
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PikeAngler :: Fishing :: Pike Fishing
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