Is the Coarse fishing closed season still relevant?

15th March, the start of the Coarse fishing closed season

If you are planning a fishing session this weekend or at any time over the next three months, Try to imagine what it was like to realise that today, the fourteenth of March, would be the last day that your coarse fishing rods would not see daylight for Three. Whole. Months…

I used to stare longingly out of the windows of my school at the sunshine. A sun which had been absent for too many long weekends during the winter, and which was now warming everything it touched. All I wanted to do was to go fishing. But a group of suited old farts in London said no.

If the fourteenth fell on a school day, it was even worse! I do confess to ‘playing hookie’ from school sometimes even with my parents’ permission, just so I could go fishing one last time before the closed season.

The fifteenth of March started the long dark wait for fishing to return in June. There are few times that I have felt that miserable.

The closed season for coarse fishing was first imposed around 1878. The thought at the time was to protect fish stocks during spawning. Without the scientific knowledge that we have today, it probably seemed a good idea at the time. In fact, it seemed a good idea for 117 years. The decision about when to impose a fishing ban or ‘Fence off season’, was bitterly argued over between organisations in both the north and the south of the country. There was never a consensus taken as to when the closed season should be and a general agreement to ‘split the difference’ in dates was imposed.

We know now that different species of fish spawn at different times of the year, most of which are not covered by the closed season. The dates of March 15th to June 15th was probably just as much about the gentry protecting Trout and Salmon stocks from illegal netting as it ever was about Coarse species.

In 1995, the ban on fishing was lifted on Stillwaters’, and was extended to canals in 2000. But it still remains on rivers to date and there is much opinion and controversy about it. Personally, I think that governing bodies of individual waterways are able to control angling activity during delicate or vulnerable times for fish stocks. The temporary closure of individual waterways is a perfectly good way of protecting fish during spawning, and the blanket ban on fishing for months on end is now outdated. Angling presence on the bank can also keep away unwanted predators, plus the fact we get to make the most of the better weather after a miserable winter.

Having said all that, there is something missing from angling since 1995 and 2000.

Young anglers will never know the feeling of turning a calendar over to reveal June, and the flush of excitement that it brought to coarse anglers. Tackle shops that had struggled for three months were now a hive of activity and were a hub for information. The smell of maggots was back in the shops, new lines were wound on, floats were repainted, even hooks were sharpened instead of being thrown away back then.

There would be no sleep on the night of the fifteenth, and for many the thought of waiting for daylight was too much. Anglers would sit out and wait for the stroke of 12 and the sound of swishing rods would break the silence of the night.

For the rest of us, opening your eyes and realising that you could go fishing again was like being reborn. The fact that the fishing season was nine months long cannot be just a coincidence.

I can still recall with great fondness the smell of freshly sawdusted bait. The feeling of excitement as I tried to thread line through rod rings with trembling hands, and I cannot put into words the thrill of that first cast.

So, we were back on the rivers, canal, lakes and drains once again. The thought furthest from our minds that, in nine months’ time, we would be feeling that sickening knot in our stomachs as it all came to yet another end.

But it would be worth it for the anticipation of the glorious sixteenth…

For now then we allow our rivers to rest and consider ourselves fortunate that we can still pursue our beloved sport elsewhere. As the weather and water warm, so the fish turn their attention to spawning. Anglers should be aware that the fish should be allowed to spawn in peace and, if there is unusual splashing and commotion going on around the venue you are fishing, the responsible thing to do is to inform the governing body, owner, or club official and then go home. Leave the fish alone to do what they need to do and come back in a week or so when they have finished.

A responsible angler will always put the fish first.

Juniors Sec...