Fishing in canals.

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 ThunderCat 19 Apr 2022

Never been fishing, ever. Alway see a few guys fishing on the Ashton canal or the Huddersfield Narrow canal on the way to and from work and wonder what they do with the fish they catch. You can't eat them, can you?

 Tony Buckley 19 Apr 2022
In reply to ThunderCat:

They put them back in.  Though there have been reports of eastern European chaps catching carp and taking them home to eat (not legal and probably not healthy either).

Back when I was a lad I did a fair amount of fishing on canals.  The general way to fish them seemed to be to chuck a load of groundbait across to the other side of the canal, lob your float and baited hook across after them, then sit back and wait.  I figured out that it was better to use a stick or a pole of some sort to root around in the mud on the side closest to me so that the water became cloudy, then sit back from the bank and gently drop the float, etc in.  Seemed to work too, despite not being the accepted wisdom.

T.

 Tom Valentine 19 Apr 2022
In reply to ThunderCat:

Different nationalities/ cultures have different ideas about which fish you can/can't eat. 

Some of our local authority fishing ponds designed for leisure fishing have now got notices up in various eastern european languages explaining that you are not supposed to use the pond as a food bank and should throw back anything you've caught.

Some might argue that catching to eat as opposed to catching for entertainment is morally superior but that's not what council fishing ponds were designed for.

As a basic example , very few Britons have ever eaten carp and yet, as Tony B says,  it is very popular in some european countries.

Post edited at 20:17
In reply to ThunderCat:

I thought, as Lister so astutely pointed out, the only thing you were likely to catch in a canal was a black ribbed knobbler...

In reply to Tom Valentine:

Carp is a traditional dish in Poland at Christmas - sometimes bought live and kept in the bathtub until it is killed and cooked.  Is the British distaste for fish caught in canals due to a fear of absorbed pollutants, rather than the actual taste of the fish themselves?

 Bottom Clinger 19 Apr 2022
In reply to thebigfriendlymoose:

Keeping the fish in fresh water (like a tank or bath)  helps wash the muddy taste away, so I’ve read. And basically the cleaner the water the fish lives in the tastier the fish. I’ve eaten perch from clean glacial lakes and it is delish. Like also, but not as good as , perch (which is almost plaice like, bony towards the head end).  Conversely , I’ve had trout from stocked ‘ponds’ which aren’t so good. 

 Dave the Rave 19 Apr 2022
In reply to ThunderCat:

A mate back in the late eighties ate Pike that he had caught in our local Cauldon Canal.

He said, “ it tasted like shit mate”.

 Maggot 19 Apr 2022
In reply to ThunderCat:

When I was a kid we used to go fishing down Bingley 5 rises, pull out gudgeon by the dozens, chuck em back in. Other places, get the occasional perch and have that fried up when we got home.

 wilkie14c 19 Apr 2022
In reply to ThunderCat:

Did a lot on match fishing on canals in 80/90s and the method was very close in at either side of the spot you were fishing while all the time flicking bait over to the far side but not fishing on it. Then with 2 hours to go, if all goes to plan, better quality (heavier) fish were feeding with confidence on that far side and we’d fish over there making up the bulk of your weight in fish in just the last part of a match. 

This is where the very long poles came into their own- they allow you to fish very light tackle, so light it’d be impossible to cast it with conventional rod & reel. also, when a boat came, you’d just lift the whole lot up in the air at the last second and let the boat go past, then dropping the tackle straight back in with minimal fuss.

Cut fishing was a perfect waste of time and very competitive. Nowadays I’ll have a wander with the dog and a lure rod, sneaking out the odd pike.

 Mike-W-99 19 Apr 2022
In reply to ThunderCat:

Used to cycle along the Union Canal in Edinburgh a lot. Always a smattering of folk fishing and saw the occasional large pike getting landed. Whether it was for the pot or put back I don't know.

In reply to ThunderCat:

I used to fish a lot* and canals were very much part of it. The usual catches were roach, rudd, gudgeon,  tench, chub, pike, perch and bream. Carp were a later intro and not always welcome at a decent size, especially if you were, as one other poster mentioned, fishing on light gear.

Technically,  all UK coarse fish can be eaten but most, especially from still water (canals are pretty much still) taste like absolute shite. 

Countryside canal fishing could be great. Lovely surroundings, not technically difficult, quiet and relaxing for an hour or two.

City canal fishing less so. Shopping trolleys, local pissheads wanting to pass the time, angry boat owners,  cheeky teenagers, litter.

*no longer a passtime of mine. The ethics/morality of hooking something through its lips for my pleasure caught up with me after a while.

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 Dave Garnett 20 Apr 2022
In reply to Tom 

> As a basic example , very few Britons have ever eaten carp and yet, as Tony B says,  it is very popular in some european countries.

I have, although it was in South Africa.  They taste of mud unless smoked or the flesh is soaked in milk (not great, even then).  It’s a bacterial product called geosmin that tends to accumulate in the fat of fish that feed in muddy rivers and lakes and isn’t anything to do with pollution.

Given the variety of excellent sea fish available in Cape Town, the carp was an experiment with a smoker I didn’t feel the need to repeat.

Pike is very bony (and made me ill) and pike-perch /zander, very popular in Europe, also tastes a bit muddy unless covered in horse radish sauce (horrible).

Post edited at 08:07
 Tom Valentine 20 Apr 2022
In reply to Dave Garnett:

I've tried pike and it was bony and earthy. I was disappointed to find a similar taste in grayling.. so maybe the Don near Wharncliffe  is a poor source.

 Kevster 20 Apr 2022
In reply to all:

Ive tried many species of fish, in quite a number of countries. Including UK. 

Carp arent a stand out tasting fish. Pike is very bony, perch though white was pain. They do seem to take the taste from the water, fast clean waters will give a better flesh than a muddy slow or still water. Trout suffer the same imo. 

Fresh water is never as good tasting as salt water species. But if all you have is fresh water, then thats what is eaten. If thats your heritage & what youve grown up with, then thats what youre happy eating. Think chocolate as an example. American and european chocolat isnt as good as cadburys... unless you talk to an american or european....

I believe (but have no proof) that barbel can be poisonous - maybe their organs?

Another issue with fresh water is parasitic worms. Birds like grebes, cormorants (and I dare suggest sea gulls) will populate a limited size body of water with enough parasites to stunt fish growth across a whole population. (I cant anymore but used to have the citations to memory). 

These arent limited to fresh water - basically all mackerel in the super market will also have worms for example, BUT in fresh water they can be at a far higher prevalence. 

This is why I try not to eat freshwater fish, and look to clean fish asap where ever they come from.

Canals arent as polluted as they once were, but I know canal boat owners, and theres a number who dont move mooring but do have on board toilets. Thats enough to make me go euwe.

K

 wilkie14c 20 Apr 2022
In reply to Kevster:

Narrowboat toilets are either a pump out tank, composting toilet or cassette toilet, in all case none of the black waste is emptied in the canal. Grey water is however - kitchen sink, shower and hand basin is drained directly in the canal and who doesn’t have a cheeky wee in the shower

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 Dave Garnett 20 Apr 2022
In reply to Kevster:

> Fresh water is never as good tasting as salt water species. But if all you have is fresh water, then thats what is eaten.

Actually, now I think about it, fresh piranha is pretty good.

 Tom Valentine 20 Apr 2022
In reply to Kevster:

That's terrible news to me- fresh mackerel is my all time favourite fish 

cb294 20 Apr 2022
In reply to Kevster:

Don't worry about worms or other parasites in fish, they cannot really harm you even if you eat your catch as sushi, with the exception of the very rare fish tapeworm (Diphyllobotrium latum). Once you cook your fish they are no issue at all.

The one common poisonous bit in European freshwater fish is raw eel blood (and to a lesser extent also catfish blood).

Freshwater fish is great, in particular all kind of salmonids (trouts, salmon and the like, the species separation in the common names does not make any sense anyway). Pike is also good, e.g. roasted with dill and parsley and wrapped in bacon strips, but it definitely must come from ultra clean water. I normally only catch and eat pike when on holiday in Sweden.

Carp can also be good, especially deep fried, but they must not be too old or too fat, come from clean ponds, and should only be eaten at the right time of the year (months with the letter R, as a general rule...).

I agree about avoiding fish from city canals.

CB

cb294 20 Apr 2022
In reply to Tom Valentine:

Don't panic. At uni we would take our magnifying glasses to the canteen after the parasitology lessons, and you could indeed find certain worm species in every single mackerel, herring or cod filet you looked at. Good trick to gross out the engineers on the next table, but completely harmless.

Back in the 80s some clever guys also did this as a PR stunt live on TV at the opening of the traditional Cologne herring diner to ensure continued funding of the local parasitology department.

CB

 Kevster 20 Apr 2022
In reply to cb294:

we too had similar. The mackerel for our parasitology practical came from the supermarket (so we were told). Either way, its easy to find them in uncleaned fish. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anisakis

If you want some light reading before dinner.

Mussels and cockles are just as easy to find parasites in.....

as for canal boat waste... hmm. I suspect its the same people who hang their dog poo bags up in trees. Most owners are good, its the skanky ones you gotta watch. 

I didnt know about eel blood, how does that work with eating live elvers? But then magic mushrooms arent all safe in volume either.

In reply to Kevster:

> we too had similar. The mackerel for our parasitology practical came from the supermarket (so we were told). Either way, its easy to find them in uncleaned fish. 

> If you want some light reading before dinner.

> Mussels and cockles are just as easy to find parasites in.....

> as for canal boat waste... hmm. I suspect its the same people who hang their dog poo bags up in trees. Most owners are good, its the skanky ones you gotta watch. 

> I didnt know about eel blood, how does that work with eating live elvers? But then magic mushrooms arent all safe in volume either.

Thanks for that...🤮

Post edited at 15:28
 McHeath 20 Apr 2022
In reply to thebigfriendlymoose:

> Carp is a traditional dish in Poland at Christmas - sometimes bought live and kept in the bathtub until it is killed and cooked.  

Also to a degree here in Berlin. I knew one chef who kept his carp in a bathtub for a couple of days before every Christmas Eve, but was too squeamish to bang them on the head when the time came. He sacrificed one cheap hairdryer a year to electrocute them, or so he claimed. 

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 Iamgregp 20 Apr 2022
In reply to Dave the Rave:

My friend caught a huge pike and serves it at a dinner party, it was absolutely delicious, but rather bony.

But then he's one hell of a chef so really knew how to prepare it.

 CantClimbTom 20 Apr 2022
In reply to Tom Valentine:

> Different nationalities/ cultures have different ideas about which fish you can/can't eat. 

Carp were introduced to the UK by the Romans... for eating! 

 McHeath 20 Apr 2022
In reply to Iamgregp:

There's a fantastic pike recipe which I tried once: quenelles de brochet (literally: pike dumplings). You fillet your (preferably not too huge) pike, then spend about 2 hours with a pair of fine-nosed pliers removing the seemingly hundreds of small and very tenacious Y-shaped bones; you're left with an unseemly heap of mangled pike flesh which you mince, then mix with crême fraiche and various other goodies before forming small dumplings and poaching very gently. The result, served with capers and beurre blanc, ist absolutely delicious; I suspect however that it would be equally delicious with most other freshwater fish. I've never bothered putting the theory to the test though, it was just too much hard work!

Post edited at 17:18
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 Tringa 20 Apr 2022
In reply to ThunderCat:

As others have said, the fish are returned to the water.

The problem I have is the fish should not have been caught at all, if they are going to be put back.

If people want to eat meat/fish then it is fine by me.

I am close to being vegetarian but I can understand folks who are not. Very, very  infrequently I have  hake, monkfish, scallops and mussels and they are superb, but it is beyond me why anyone would catch a fish but not eat it.

Dave

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 Kevster 20 Apr 2022
In reply to Tringa:

I guess different things are acceptable or of interest for different people. Personally I don't get coffee or football. 

Strangely I find having pets harder to justify than going fishing. If I ate my pets, that'd be morally superior. However I do frequently catch for the table, but not always. So am something of a hypocrite. Maybe the cat will make tomorrow...

Let's not get into high altitude mountaineering or soloing. Possibly as contentious as eating meat these days. However I'm sure we can all agree that eating muddy gudgeon out of a canal isn't really on the agenda. 

 Billhook 20 Apr 2022
In reply to ThunderCat:

A long, long time ago I used to get a lot of pleasure from fishing - but times change.

Many years ago I  recall canoeing  from Catterick to York over three or four days with a group of young adult trainees on the river Swale in Yorkshire.  We passed over a small group of Barbel.   I couldn't avoid trying to impress the young adults.  So I caught one - it wasn't by normal fishing methods either.  OK, so I was showing off!

I immediately felt sorry for the poor old fish which was now impaled  on the end of an improvised spear and told the trainees they could gut it and eat it.  Being teenagers they were close on starving - or so they claimed.  So cook it and eat it they did.  They said it was fine.  But I just couldn't face even tasting  any of the poor old fish.  Yes I love fish n' chips but then I'm a hypocrite like many people. 

 Tom Valentine 20 Apr 2022
In reply to Billhook:

I've never been against fishing but  also never seen why it's so popular.

I got an inkling , though, when my my mate  hooked a barbel on the Severn, passed me the rod and told me to bring it in.

The next few minutes made it clear to me why people consider fishing to be a genuine sport and if I could be guaranteed that sort of action three or four times an hour I'd go out and buy all the tackle tomorrow.

Clauso 20 Apr 2022
In reply to ThunderCat:

Canals. If you could catch there, then you could catch almost anywhere.

I only ever fished two matches: the first one was won by a bloke who drew the peg that I'd spent the previous day fishing and feeding. I didn't make that mistake again.

I won the second match with three fish; three big fish. I decided to forego subtlety in favour of big bait for big gobs. It paid off.

Come the weigh-in, the officials asked me "Have you got 'owt?". I pulled the keep net out of t'cut.

"F@ck me!... Where did you get those?'

'I tickled them. Am I in with a chance?"

"... Probably not: there's a bloke back there with a brace of 15lb roach.".

I subsequently gathered my sweepstake spoils while the runner-up, 7lb of bits and intense pole RSI, gave me daggers. Happy days!

 Kevster 20 Apr 2022
In reply to Tom Valentine:

It's an excuse to not do much often somewhere absorbing. You know that place, in the present, flow, zone.... Like in climbing. You can get that fishing too. Scuba is another place I've found it easy to acquire. 

 Billhook 20 Apr 2022
In reply to Tom Valentine:

> I've never been against fishing but  also never seen why it's so popular.

>.

My wife asks me  that.  But its hard to explain the anticipation prior to that float just slipping under the water knowing its a fish. 

 mark s 21 Apr 2022
In reply to ThunderCat:

I started on the canals in leek. Haven't been fishing for years now. The turning pools were always the best spots .

In 95 I went to Holland carp fishing and fished the canals there. Nothing like our canals. About 6 times as wide. Caught a few 20s out of them. You couldn't night fish the lakes but could on the canals so slept on them and fished lakes in the day.

 Toerag 22 Apr 2022
In reply to ThunderCat:

I had smoked Char and trout in Bavaria last week - the Char was better, and I preferred both to Salmon.

Is it actually illegal to take coarse fish for the table? Obviously UK anglers practice catch&release for societal/historic reasons, but are the eastern Europeans actually breaking the law?

 wilkie14c 22 Apr 2022
In reply to Toerag:

Yes they are, it has been an increasing problem over recent years. Police and Environment Agency make swoops on problem areas and fishing clubs now use multi language signage at their waters in an attempt to educate but it is a rising problem nationally.

In reply to Toerag:

> I had smoked Char and trout in Bavaria last week - the Char was better, and I preferred both to Salmon.

> Is it actually illegal to take coarse fish for the table? Obviously UK anglers practice catch&release for societal/historic reasons, but are the eastern Europeans actually breaking the law?

If it's from a privately owned water, definitely.

The rest will probably be British Waterways which will probably theft too.

 Bottom Clinger 22 Apr 2022
In reply to wilkie14c:

You’re part wrong: the legality depends on the rules stipulated by the water owner (or riparian, I think?) which can’t overrule the laws (see below link). Most coarse fisheries choose to NOT allow the killing of fish.  However, it is legal to take perch and pike from Coniston for example:

https://www.gov.uk/freshwater-rod-fishing-rules/fish-size-and-catch-limits

At risk of generalising here, but the stories we hear of Eastern Europeans illegally taking fish in England are true, mixture of ignorance and not giving a hoot. 

 Bottom Clinger 22 Apr 2022
In reply to Toerag:

My grandfather was a char fisherman (and founder member of Windermere and District Angling Association). He used to fish for char and taught me. Char is delicious. Sadly, numbers have plummeted in places like Windermere and Coniston. I have his old char gear, amazing technique. 

Oh, just remembered I’ve recently acquired an old trout fishing rod which I will show on here later. 

 arch 22 Apr 2022
In reply to ThunderCat:

It's not just the fish that have taken a bit of a hammering in certain places around the country, the Swans have too.

1
In reply to arch:

> It's not just the fish that have taken a bit of a hammering in certain places around the country, the Swans have too.

And ducks/geese.

Our local lake has been decimated of wildfowl due to poaching.

 arch 22 Apr 2022
In reply to TheDrunkenBakers:

What with Cormorant and Otter predation, and poaching of fish by Humans, some waterways are becoming devoid of fish.

One club I'm a member of have spent quite a considerable amount of money re-stocking a lake, only to have to sit by and watch the Cormorants help themselves to the Fish. 

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 Kevster 22 Apr 2022
In reply to arch:

Let's not forget the massive drop off in insect life too. No food no fish.

cb294 22 Apr 2022
In reply to arch:

Load of load of, you cannot seriously deplete an ecosystem top down, unless you are a human employing technology.

CB

In reply to Bottom Clinger:

> but the stories we hear of Eastern Europeans illegally taking fish in England are true, mixture of ignorance and not giving a hoot.

It's also an issue of strong cultural tradition, too. Similar to mushroom gathering; I've seen plenty of Poles in the New Forest, gathering mushrooms. I'm pretty relaxed about that, and rather wish we had a similar level of folk use of the natural resources. The ones I've met have been a bit cagey at first, but then chat once they realise I'm not looking to dob them in. They are generally collecting for their own use. The Forest is now plastered with 'no picking' signs around autumn.

On the other hand, I've seen evidence of organised collecting gangs from France; people with large bags of mushrooms, waiting at the side of the road to be picked up, and not at all keen to chat, even when I dropped into French. That's commercial picking, and a different thing altogether.

In reply to arch:

> One club I'm a member of have spent quite a considerable amount of money re-stocking a lake, only to have to sit by and watch the Cormorants help themselves to the Fish.

Well, if you will stock a larder for the cormorants, what do you expect?

 Bottom Clinger 23 Apr 2022
In reply to captain paranoia:

One a side track: Esthwaite trout fishery stock the lake with tonnes of trout and Ospreys now breed there. The owners embrace the Ospreys (even though they do take lots of fish) and cash in on them with “Osprey Safaris”…

https://www.esthwaitewater.com/osprey

Its a win win win.  

 Martin W 24 Apr 2022
In reply to Bottom Clinger:

Similar to the Rothiemurchus fishery near Aviemore: https://rothiemurchus.net/outdoor-activities-at-aviemore/wildlife-watching-...

 Doug 24 Apr 2022
In reply to Martin W:

although those birds can be watched just as well from the pub garden on the other side of the River Spey


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