A Danger To Our Rivers?

[Wildfisher]

I recently read a post on the Fly Forums expressing concern over  a Paul Proctor article about the Annan. These guys were worried about the river receiving too much attention and getting a hammering on the back on of it. Paul Proctor does this a lot, his articles seem to be  mainly centred around encouraging folk to head for rivers like the Don, Deveron, Annan etc etc.

This has been a worry for me with Fish Wild, although we tend only to cover the more known waters or extremely remote places that are never going to be in any danger in a, dare I say,  lazy society. That said  I still wonder  if  we should be doing it and that's just a small online magazine, not a mass circulation  publication like Trout and Salmon.

As Bob Wyatt once wrote, a few magazine articles and next thing you know your favourite fishing hole is a "destination".

What are your views on this?

[Scotaidh]

This is something I worry about too.  There are a few articles on fish wild that recount great fishing but don't reveal the loch (although it might be deduced) and I don't mind that at all.  A major magazine would find it more difficult to do that.  T&S done an article on Applecross, which I was planning to visit this summer now I'm worried I will get there and find it a wee bit more busier than normal.  Although they kept the location of the "best loch" secret.  You are right about the lazy public, long may the carpark by the 'bow hole be an adventure for them.

[Fishtales]

I have to agree with Allan. Most of the places the members here fish would only see a handful of other fishermen. If it isn't easy to get to then they are reasonably safe from the attentions of the 'bad' anglers. Any rivers and lochs that are easy to get to have already been hit and if they aren't getting the size of fish they are used to they generally move on somewhere else.

If anyone has a favourite spot that fishes well, is easy to get to, and within the scope of anyone to fish it, then keep it to yourself. There are more places that lie outside those parameters that everyone knows and can write about. The fishing element that we are talking about probably wouldn't even read all the way through an article where the biggest fish is six inches never mind six pounds, especially when they read about the effort to get there.

[Clan Ford]

I generally don't think its a big deal writing about locations, especially on rivers.  I think the range of skills required to fish a river effectively discount a fair amount of anglers but the most important factor "local knowlege" is not gleaned from reading an article in a magazine.  Granted you might hit it lucky with fish rising everywhere to the pattern that was "hot" in the article but the chances are it will not be like that at all - the water will be at a different height, there won't be a hatch of fly or it will be to a different one, or maybe the weather will just be different!  Then there is the location, most of the anglers in this country live in the south and few are willing to travel to fish some of the remoter locations.  I've read many times on the other forum how its easier and cheaper to jump on a plane to Sloviakia than travel to Scotland to fish for grayling.

The Clyde got a good write up in FFFT, its a hard fished river by people who really know what thery are doing, it doesn't give up its fish easily.  I doubt that the guys on the Clyde will notice any extra fishing pressure.

Norm

[sandyborthwick]

To be honest I quite like to share an insight onto a water, half of the achievement for me is finding and being successful on new waters anyway. I also think there are so many waters out there for Wild Anglers who IMHO are unlikely to hammer any water. The ethos of the wild angler is just different and I know there's a few idiots but they will always be with us. I practice catch and release but I trust most of my fellow Anglers to act with prudence. Most of the magazines are targeted heavily in favour of the commercial Rainbow waters some restraint in those is wise; however Fish Wild is mainly of interest to the Wild Angler and therefore less likely to attract the wrong element. A few location names in fish wild is a risk we take for opening up the possibilities to other anglers of our fantastic side of the sport.

Sandy B.O.

[Pearly Invicta]

Not sure rivers are put at too much risk but there is a real risk to small wild lochs.

[Malcolm]

It's the small gems that are at risk - especially on the mainland. On Shetland and Orkney they go out of their way to publicise their best lochs - it's virtually all fly-fishing there anyway.

However, I think half a dozen members of the swimfeeder crew could clean out a wee loch in a weekend and I've seen the signs in Assynt, Wester Ross and Lewis in fairly remote lochs. The one big loch I bother about is Fionn in Sutherland as I've heard a number of reports of it being pounded.

[Crawhin]

I've sometimes been surprised just how far from the road the angling idiots get  :shock: - but in general I'd agree that there are enough Lochs and Rivers in Scotland (many of them being pretty remote) to take the pressure of the wandering spotlight of publicity. I do agree with Malcolm/fishtales though that there are certain, vungerable waters that would be at particular risk by widely publicising them and these deserve a more circumspect approach.
I personally really enjoy hearing about new waters and getting tips through various sources. But, like most folk I suspect, these usually get filed away and rarely do I go charging off there the next available minute.   
Another aspect, apart from stocks, is relations with locals and landowners: A lovely scattered hill loch with a long, hard approach that I fished last year has lost it's boat, destroyed by idiots. The land owners are approachable folk, don't overcharge and allow easy access (yes, this is in Scotland! :lol:) but more such incidents and the story could dramatically alter.   

Ian

[doogs]

Dilemmas eh!  For me the attraction of this site is to whet the appetite for wild fishing when I'm able to, and i'm quite happy to find my own way. The beauty is there are so many variables, weather, flies, midges etc etc and perhaps more so on the rivers and burns.....

I don't want a step by step guide thanks very much.

[bluezulu]

The one big loch I bother about is Fionn in Sutherland as I've heard a number of reports of it being pounded.

i heard about this too. I doubt its online reports that have driven the 'wrong sort' in that direction though is it?

I worry about some of the easily accessible places where at the right time of year migratory fish are very vulnerable...where even a mug like me can catch 50 fish in a day (and whilst you or i might  release 48 or 49 of them others might not...). i fished a place like that late last year and i'm not going to report on it.

i had a great time  though 

it seems  we all take reasonable precuations- we don't necessarily give OS references for the more vulnerable places.  perhaps naively i also tend to believe that anything that involves a real walk  will deter most, and that my reports of an amazing day when i caught a- gasp-  fish that weighted over a pound (yes, it has happened) will not necessarily prompt a stampede.

but someone publishing a piece in T&S -or the times for that matter- is very different, and i am with mr wyatt on the dangers of allowing a place to  become a  'destination' ...that  has destroyed a few saltwater spots i used to fish (in a previous pre marriage life )  in the caribbean.

it was interesting in new zealand to be able to readily find highly detailed instructions (notably in a book by i think tony busch on the south island) to fishing spots and to visit them years after his book was first published and find them unspoilt. but then i considered that  maybe i just thought they were unspoilt  and in fact  local or more experienced visitors might have been cursing mr busch et al for ruining those places.