Why So Many Rules?

In order to understand my viewpoint in this article, readers should note that I am well past the first flush of youth. My aching joints remind me of that fact each and every time I attempt to make a swift departure from my bedchair. Such need normally arises around two in the morning, in the pouring rain, when I have my head torch on upside down and my boots on the wrong feet, as I try, semi-consciously, to figure out which one of my rods is making all the noise. I have, however, been around from the very early days of carp fishing, through until now. This affords me the wisdom of hindsight and perspective, and allows me to reflect on some of the good and not-so-good developments I have seen along the way. 

First of all, I’d like to establish that I am angler of no particular ability or consequence. I fish because I was born with the desire to do so. There were no external influences in the shape of friends or family members who fished; I just always knew that I wanted to catch fish. In my childhood, I could be left all day by fresh water. I would be perfectly happy there, as I observed nature and dreamt of the venue’s inhabitants, all of which, in my imagination anyway, were giants. 

 I grew up on a Devon farm, relatively close to Dartmoor. I would spend days cycling up and on to the moor to fly-fish for tiny brown trout in idyllic surroundings. The size of the fish was unimportant, and just being there gave me pleasure and provided education in equal measure—I also gained an impressive level of fitness from cycling up all the hills.

Soon after leaving school I discovered coarse fishing. I visited local lakes on my newly acquired motorcycle. Seeing my first large carp cruise in the warm surface layers, seemingly without a care in the world, proved a life-changing experience. From that moment on, my life’s ambitions diverged significantly from the plans my parents had for me, and learning how to capture such creatures occupied a disproportionate amount of my time.

As a member of my local angling club, I was present for the extraordinary general meeting they called to discuss whether they should ban the newfangled Hair Rig. Many considered fishing with the bait not mounted directly on the hook to be unsporting, and so spoke in favour of a ban. There was also the issue of anglers using a new bait: the boilie. We were assured that the bait was being used in such large quantities that it was having an impact on everything from water quality to the price of tea! This was my introduction to a culture of controlling bodies introducing bans without a shred of hard evidence to support their argument. It’s often said that we kill what we fear and we fear what we do not understand, and this seems to apply to a lot of fishery owners and clubs. 

An interesting phenomenon occurs in angling, and that is if enough anglers talk the same rubbish often enough, it becomes regarded as fact. Older anglers will remember the humble tench being referred to as the ‘doctor fish’, and will recall how it was said that injured fish would rub themselves against its healing layer of slime. Trust me when I say there were reputable anglers who believed this, and they spread it as gospel. It was unclear whether a tench, if injured or unwell itself, could self-medicate, might benefit from seeking out another tench or would just keel over.

Winter carp fishing was declared a total waste of time. It was said that carp spent the coldest months of the year buried in the mud, and were, therefore, uncatchable. The above-mentioned notions are patently untrue, but they were believed, and so were repeated often enough by anglers for them to be passed into angling lore at the time. 

When it comes to chewing the fat, anglers are past masters, and the proliferation of platforms for them to air their views and thoughts on nowadays provides ample opportunity for opinions to become regarded as truths, if they’re repeated often enough. This might be regarded as relatively harmless, until that is, it leads to sets of fishery rules being produced that match the size of a small book.

A fishery near me was home to a few specimens that interested me, so I secured an invitation and went along to check it out. The venue’s rule book contained no fewer than 56 separate can’ts and don’ts, and whilst these were all well-meaning, there was little to show that they were evidence-based. I believe the tackle I fish with affords me the optimum chance of not only hooking a fish, but subsequently, the lowest risk of doing it any damage to it once I’ve done so. There was more chance of me being elected the next pope than fishing that particular venue, and sadly, that’s also been the case with many others.

So, some examples… 
In an attempt to illustrate my point, let’s take a look at a few common rules, starting with those that apply to hooks. Fishery A, shall we say, states that only barbless hooks are permitted. On fishery B, however, the opposite applies, as it allows only barbed hooks. Anglers who support the use of barbed hooks will tell you, hand on heart, that they have seen carp caught on barbless hooks which have horrendous tears in their mouths. This may or may not be true, but irrespective, their tale will be passed on to other anglers who will then retell it as if it were their own personal experience. Before you know it, barbless hooks are regarded as a device of the Devil, and a rule will have been introduced to ban them. Trying to determine the facts of the matter can be difficult, if not downright impossible, so all I can do here is look at the subject honestly from my own perspective.

I make no apology, then, when I say that, for the last thirty-plus years, I have used barbless hooks exclusively. During this period, I have managed to land more than a few fish from lakes and rivers, both clear and weedy, and I have never seen a tear in a fish’s mouth after I’ve unhooked it. If I had, I would have stopped using them immediately. What should the rule be, then? How about us being allowed to use whatever purpose-designed carp hook we choose, and leave the barbed-or-barbless issue to the individual?

Then we come to leaders—another can of worms opened! No leadcore… No braided leaders… Rig tubing only… the list goes on and on. There was a time, perhaps, when some leader materials were less than kind to fish. To my mind, however, today’s carp tackle is better than it has ever been when it comes to fish welfare, and angler education is required rather than more unnecessary rules.

Personally, I’m a fan of non-lead, sinking braided leaders, and I am at a loss as to how anyone can believe that such a soft, large-diameter product is ever going to harm a fish. Nonetheless, I could give three examples of well-known fisheries, all within a 10-mile radius of my current home, that I cannot fish because I will not give up the freedom to use this fish-friendly material. I’d suggest using any made-for-purpose leader material currently on sale that takes your fancy. Use it properly and forget the bans.

Braided main line is banned on the majority of waters I consider fishing, despite it being—in my opinion—superior to mono in virtually every respect, with the possible exception of price. Now, I accept there was a time when braided main line was manufactured primarily for species other than carp, and some of it had the ability to tow a ship off a sandbank. However, the use of some of the eight-strand braids now available see distances achieved with maximum feel and sensitivity that no mono can match. Others that incorporate hydroscopic strands are thicker, but they cast and sink at least as well as mono. I know there are anglers who say the fight on braid is too severe, and that this can lead to damage to the fish’s mouth and more hook-pulls. This may have been true when long-distance rods were like pokers, and relied on the stretch of mono to soften their action, but that is just not the case today. Modern rods have a marvellous blend of power and tip sensitivity, and this makes playing fish on braid a piece of cake. As such, it will always remain my main line of choice. 

Don’t ban, educate 
What we end up with, then, is a list of rules on most fisheries that penalise what I believe to be the majority of responsible anglers, and that prevent them from using items of tackle that are perfectly safe. There will always be those who turn up on waters (mostly day-ticket venues) who have no idea about how to conduct themselves responsibly in terms of both fish welfare and whilst sharing a lake with others. A faded list of rules on as large a noticeboard as you like, sited for as long as you wish in the corner of a lake, will not impact on these people—I baulk at calling them anglers—one jot. What is needed in place of endless rules, is education. No modern tackle items, if used properly, will damage fish, have a detrimental effect on the environment or annoy other anglers.

When I started out, I had no point of reference to help me. As such, I’m sure that, inadvertently, I did many things that would be frowned upon nowadays. Today’s anglers, however, can find the answer to any question they have, on any aspect of our sport, courtesy of Google or YouTube, bankside, via a smartphone, as they fish, so there really is no excuse for poor practice.

When I lived in Germany, I was surprised to learn that, before I could acquire a licence, I had to sit an exam to demonstrate that I knew how to fish safely, whilst also respecting the environment. Now, I’m not suggesting that we should do the same here, but it’s an example of forward-thinking, in my opinion.

The Chinese are famous for their sayings and tenets to live life by, and one of my favourites goes along the lines of ‘For a person to be happy they should learn how to fish.’ Think about that for a minute. It doesn’t advocate that you need to go fishing to be happy. It suggests you learn how to fish, and that you study your quarry and the world in which it lives, along with the other creatures that share the same habitat. By doing so, not only will you become a better angler, but after observing nature in all its mind-boggling variety and beauty, you will return to your everyday world a much happier person.