On 14 Oct 2017 at 7:24pm George billson wrote:
I was just wondering how rare eels are at pells pond (seeing as I had one while roach fishing the other day) if so how big do the get? I was also wondering what the best bait for them would be. Also I've heard of tench being in there, can anyone confirm this?
On 15 Oct 2017 at 1:32am Rod wrote:
30 years ago you were guaranteed to catch eels in the Pells. Not sure if you get so many these days though.
On 15 Oct 2017 at 4:58am Landporter wrote:
Maggots and worms for Eels....as above, you would be guaranteed to catch one 30 years ago. Now, since the reintroduction of the Otter, the Eel population has dropped by 90%.
Can't remember the last time a saw a Tench in there either, there certainly used to be but the Carp usually get all the food before them so they die out. Not saying there isn't any, there's just not many caught. Always found Tench to be found right up the end nearest the Ouse.
On 15 Oct 2017 at 7:18am Xplorer2 wrote:
Landporter, the catastrophic decline in the eel population is nothing to do with otters, which have never been reintroduced: they’re indigenous. There are almost none in the Ouse catchment anyway. You may be thinking of mink, which are introduced (escapees from mink farms mostly), but there aren’t that many of them about either.
The eel decline has two causes. 1) They’re susceptible to PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), which are fat soluble pollutants that concentrate in the eel’s body fat, and 2) a parasite that infects their swim bladders.
Any eels you catch should be released to protect the population.
On 15 Oct 2017 at 7:33am Landporter wrote:
Otters being reintroduced to all counties in the UK (i've seen them in the Ouse around Wiley's bridge) have seen certain areas of waterways and private fisheries absolutely devastated by Otters. Eel is Otter's staple food.
On 15 Oct 2017 at 3:02pm Biologist wrote:
I'd rather see an otter than a pile of fish bred to amuse a bunch of fishing types
On 15 Oct 2017 at 3:15pm 'Kin elva wrote:
save the eels
On 15 Oct 2017 at 3:49pm Landporter wrote:
These are Eels we're talking about (so called) Biologist. They breed in the Sargasso sea and head into freshwater to live a majority of their life before heading back to spawn. How the feck are these bred for "fishing types"
On 15 Oct 2017 at 10:37pm Xplorer2 wrote:
Lndporter, what you’ve seen around Willey’s Bridge are mink. Otters are almost unknown around here. I’ve only ever seen one in Sussex once, at Pulborough Brooks, and it was a wonderful sight. Yes there are otters around the country, but tolerance is the better approach (and I speak as a lifelong angler). What would you do - bring back otter hounds? Trap them and release them in someone else’s catchment? Poison them?
On 15 Oct 2017 at 11:16pm Harold wrote:
Mink are are real problem at the moment, no one culls them anymore.The new ducklings on the Pells won`t stand a chance. Its always said by old timers that mink eat a third of each, fur,feather and fish,normally the moorhens go first.All the water voles have gone where I fish,and you will find fish bones on the banks.
On 16 Oct 2017 at 5:20am @xplorer2 wrote:
It was too big for mink. I've seen mink plenty of times whilst fishing the river and pells.
On 16 Oct 2017 at 8:45am Biologist wrote:
@landporter. You said this "private fisheries absolutely devastated by Otter". I did not mention eels
And yes I am a biologist
On 16 Oct 2017 at 10:41am Hamid Barr wrote:
The biggest danger to the fish stock of our lakes and rivers is cormorants. They can devastate a place very quickly.
Why do they come inland being seabirds? Could say something about the state of fish stocks off our own coastline.