Page 28 - Anglian angling on the broads

28 Environment Agency Angle on the Broads Environment Agency Angle on the Broads 29

from the truth; this magnificent fish A brief history of the
is as vulnerable to damage and Bait mounted ‘head up’
disease from poor angling practices on hook trace
as any species. So please consider
this and the advice offered in the pike of Broadland
following paragraphs and continue Stop Pull
to work with us to protect the pike
stocks which reside in the waters of Vary time – length of pull to vary the Stop!
the Norfolk Broads and surrounding action of the bait Bait
flutters
fisheries. down
Whilst many of you will fish from the Nowhere in Britain is more identifiable with pike and
bank, a lot of holiday angling is done Let bait fall again
from on board a cruiser, day boat or – repeat until pike fishing than Broadland. The pike, a truly ancient fish,
dinghy. This immediately presents bait is at rod tip Pull hard to get bait
its own problems in handling your to rise in water has existed in Norfolk for considerably longer than the
pike once caught. To accommodate
this situation safely, please ensure Broads themselves.
you carry an unhooking mat or put Diagram 3: Sink and draw
some suitable padding on the deck
or bottom of the boat before starting a proper weigh sling; do not place decking it may not recover. Once in Fossils of pike excavated at West more widely available to the
to fish. Contact between the pike the hook of your scales through the the water support the pike until it Runton in Norfolk date from over public, the Norfolk Broads became
and the hard surfaces of a boat do pike’s gill cover, it is barbaric and decides to swim off itself and savour half a million years ago, whereas it increasingly popular as a major
great damage to the fish and must may severely damage the gill rakers the pleasure of having safely caught is now generally accepted that the holiday destination. The reputation
be avoided. Also have that minimum and jaw. and returned such a magnificent vast majority of the Broads were of the Broads as an angler’s paradise
32-inch landing net set up and at If a photograph is required of your creature. man-made, formed from peat soon spread far and wide, helped
hand when fishing. catch ensure that the fish is held Hopefully with our joint effort, you diggings cut by hand from as early by the flourishing publication of

If the tackle is set up correctly and low above the ground whilst being and other anglers can come and as the 9th century. newspapers, sporting and country
safely, when you hook your pike photographed – it is far more catch those same pike over and over For centuries, man has hunted the journals and books dedicated to
play it firmly and get it to the net as sensible to kneel or crouch rather again, making each other’s holiday pike in Norfolk, initially for food and angling. What a glorious place those
soon as possible. Once netted lift it than to stand holding the fish high angling a pleasure and for those who much later, for sport. We can only Norfolk Broads must have been
onto the handling mat in the net and above the ground. Once weighed live and fish these same fisheries all imagine and wonder at the numbers to fish – crystal clear waters that
dependent on its size, prepare it for use the weigh sling to carry the pike year round, an equal pleasure. and sizes these pike would have teemed with life, vast beds of water
unhooking with forceps. back to the water. Don’t carry in your David Batten attained during periods of our history plants, endless shoals of fish and
hands or arms, if it flaps or struggles huge pike that grew fat in such an
If it is a large specimen it will be and you drop it onto the bank or when circumstances were so much ideal environment.
easier to unhook it laying on the mat, kinder to the environment. A much
you may find this easier if you kneel smaller human population managed No precise records of captures
astride it. If it is a small pike, under the land and water sympathetically, from these early days seem to have
10lbs or so, it may possibly be easier without the intense farming practices survived although several vague
to chin lift it and unhook it off the that have devastated the Broads in mentions exist of 30 and even 40
mat. Either way with bait or lure, take only a few decades, from the wildlife pounders. In later years, some of
a firm hold on the pike’s lower jaw havens that they once were. the largest fish were recorded and
by inserting your hand under the gill Accurate records of pike fishing often set up, including John Nudd’s The reputation
cover, avoiding the gill rakers in the exploits go back little more than 42 pounder of 1901, J.W. Butler’s
process and run your finger up to the one hundred years, but fortunately impressive 35 pounder of 1932, of the Broads
centre of the ‘V’ of the jaw joint. Broadland has escaped the Tom Stevenson’s beautiful 31
Now gently pull the lower jaw open melodramatic pike lore that has pounder of 1937 and A. Jackson’s as an angler’s
and away from the upper jaw or characterised other areas of 35 pounder of 1948.
take the weight of the pike and lift Britain, where pike have often Jim Vincent was the first angler to paradise soon
it for unhooking. been shrouded in mysterious and carve his reputation with the pike
unbelievable tales of huge and of Broadland. First and foremost an spread far and
With the pike’s mouth open locate,
release and remove the hook(s) monstrous fish. ornithologist and one of the first wide.
from the pike and place them safely Towards the end of the 19th century, conservationists, he was employed
away from you and the fish. If you This pike found a spinner with leisure time and rail transport on the Whiteslea and Hickling estate
bait irresistible
are going to weigh it, do so using throughout his life to improve the