Coarse fishing

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An angler's catch of coarse fish--painting by Dean Wolstenholme, circa 1850 Dean Wolstenholme - An Angler's Catch of Coarse Fish - Google Art Project.jpg
An angler's catch of coarse fish—painting by Dean Wolstenholme, circa 1850

Coarse fishing (Irish : garbhiascaireacht, Welsh : pysgota bras) is a phrase commonly used in Great Britain and Ireland. [1] [2] It refers to the angling for rough fish, which are fish species considered undesirable as food or game fish. Freshwater game fish are all salmonids, particularly salmon, trout and char. Generally, coarse fish are freshwater fish that are not salmonids, though there is often disagreement over whether grayling should be classified as a game fish or a coarse fish. [3]

Contents

Fly fishing is the technique usually used for freshwater game fishing, while other angling techniques are usually used for coarse fishing. [4] The sport of coarse fishing and its techniques are particularly popular in the United Kingdom and mainland Europe, as well as in some former British Commonwealth countries and among British expatriates.

The distinction between coarse fish and game fish, terms that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 19th century, has no taxonomic basis [5] Before that time, recreational fishing was a sport of the gentry, who angled for salmon and trout and called them "game fish". There was a view that other fish did not make as good eating, and they were disdained as coarse fish. [6] [7] Coarse fish have scales that are generally larger than the scales of game fish, [5] and tend to inhabit warmer and stiller waters.

Bait

Coarse fish usually have coarser scales than game fish [5]
Cyprinus carpio.jpeg
Common carp, a typical coarse fish
Salmo ferox.jpg
Ferox trout, a typical game fish

Game fish

When fishing on rivers for game fish (i.e., brown, rainbow, brook and sea trout, salmon and in some cases grayling), artificial flies, small spinners and lures are a popular choice for many game anglers due their ability to mimic prey items, (such as small invertebrates), on the surface and top layers of the water, enticing the fish into feeding. [8]

General

Both floating and sinking flies and lures can be used to fish either on the surface or in the upper layers of the water. Usually, in the summer months, a spinner or fly manoeuvre across the surface will bring about a take from a fish due to the tendency of fish to move into the warmest part of the water, the surface and first layer—about 18 inches (46 cm)—of water below.

Coarse fish

When fishing a river for coarse fish species, such as chub, barbel, roach, dace and bream, the favourite hook baits tend to be maggot (white, red, and bronze), caster (maggot chrysalis), worm, cheese, pellets (halibut, trout, and carp), boilies (round boiled baits typically made with fish meal, milk, and soya) and luncheon meat.

Loose feed can be any of the above baits with a particle bait, sometimes in the form of hemp seed or a manufactured fishmeal ground bait.

For most species, hook baits will work. When targeting more specific species, such as specimen carps, baits such as boilies, large pellets, large bunches of maggots, floating baits, large lungworm, tiger nuts, and meat chunks from cat food can work well. Micro pellets softened along with ground bait can be fed alongside all hook baits.

Predatory fish such as pike, zander, perch, and eels can be caught using either dead or live bait, typically in the form of a small fish such as a live roach. However, it is worth noting that some fishing venues prohibit the use of live bait.

Spinning, the use of an artificial lure, is also used for predators.

Licences and fees

Coarse fishing lake Coarse fishing water at Burton - geograph.org.uk - 481208.jpg
Coarse fishing lake

For all anglers in England and Wales, anyone aged 17 and over must purchase a valid rod licence before fishing. Children under 13 do not need a licence, and children aged 13–16 must get a free junior licence. [9] This will enable anglers to legally fish in England and Wales for non migratory trout and coarse fish.

A single rod licence will enable an angler to fish with up to three [9] rods at any one time.

Most commercial fisheries and some rivers are operated on a day ticket basis. In the UK, these can range in price. They are usually paid on the bank with a representative of the venue collecting the fees from anglers from the peg (fishing spot) at some time during the day, or prior to commencing fishing. In some cases, season tickets can be purchased.

Some lakes and river stretches are operated by angling clubs which charge annual membership fees. Application forms can be available from local tackle shops or angling club websites. Fishing venues can be operated by syndicates, usually by invitation. They can sometimes be joined by contacting a senior member of the syndicate.

Tackle and technique

The most common types of tackle is the rod and reel, the rod being typically between 8 and 13 feet (2.4–4.0 m) long, and manufactured of tubular carbon fibres or splits of Tonkin bamboo. A reel is then attached near the base of the rod to hold a long length of line, which is run to the tip of the rod through eyelets. Once cast out, the line can be retrieved by winding a handle on the reel.

However, the use of "poles" is also widespread. Here, the line is fixed to the very tip of the rod, with no reel used: in order to retrieve the line, the pole itself is taken apart until the line can be swung to hand. Poles are often very long in order to increase the angler's range—up to 52 feet (16 m).

The main techniques used are float fishing, bottom fishing (legering) and lure fishing.

Fly fishing techniques may also be used for certain species, such as grayling or chub.

For float and leger fishing, groundbait is usually thrown into the water to attract fish to the area. Typical baits include nightcrawlers, maggots, bread and sweet corn. Lately, advancements in technology and market competitiveness have led to many types of other ingredients being introduced, including chemicals, such as betaine, that stimulate the feeding response in fish. Boilies are popular baits for carp fishing.

Target species

The main target species for this type of angling include:

NameScientific nameImageVariants
Barbel Barbus barbus Barbel.jpg
Bream Abramis brama Carp bream1.jpg
Common carp Cyprinus carpio Common carp.jpg Grass, Common, Crucian, Leather  [ fr ], Mirror
Chub Squalius cephalus Squalius cephalus Prague Vltava 2.jpg
Dace Leuciscus leuciscus Leuciscus leuciscus.jpg
Ide Leuciscus idus Id, Iduns kokbok.jpg
Perch Perca fluviatilis Abborre, Iduns kokbok.jpg
Pike Esox lucius Esox lucius1.jpg
Roach Rutilus rutilus Rutilusrutilus38cm 2143x1060.JPG
Rudd Scardinius erythrophthalmus Rotfeder Rudd.jpg
Tench Tinca tinca Tinca tinca.jpeg
Wels catfish Silurus glanis Silurus glanis white1.JPG
Zander Sander lucioperca Gos, Iduns kokbok.jpg

Less targeted species include:

See also

Notes

  1. "Pysgotfa - Eisteddfa Fisheries - Criccieth -". www.eisteddfa-fisheries.com. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  2. Component Specification NFQ Level 6 Coarse Angling 6N0640 www.qqi.ie, accessed 10 September 2021
  3. Beattie, Rob (2012-03-22). Fishing, A Very Peculiar History. Andrews UK Limited. ISBN   978-1-908759-85-6.
  4. Larry (2015-08-13). "What is Fly Fishing?". Blue Ridge Mountain Life. Retrieved 2022-08-24.
  5. 1 2 3 Bob McDowall. Coarse fish - Cyprinids – goldfish, carp and others, Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Updated 14 November 2012.
  6. Lowerson[ page needed ]
  7. "The Fishing Museum Online - Game or Coarse?". www.fishingmuseum.org.uk. Retrieved 2023-11-14.
  8. "Best Freshwater Fishing Lures". takemefishing.org. November 22, 2023. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  9. 1 2 "Buy a rod fishing licence - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 2018-04-17.

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<i>Squalius cephalus</i> Species of fish

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The British Record Fish Committee -(BRFC) is the official organisation taking responsibility for all angling fish records within the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands, collectively known as the "British Records". Since 2009 the BRFC has been part of the Angling Trust

References

Further reading