Fishing revisited

There is evidence of our hunter gatherer ancestors fishing as far back as 40,000 years ago. Putting food on the table was the major objective back then. In the Bible, at least four of the disciples of Jesus were fishermen and the Son of God urged followers to become ‘fishers of men’. Is there any other sport with a longer history?

Since Dame Juliana Berners’ first book on fishing, dating to around 1420, much has been written about the sport of angling. It is said that Izaak Walton’s The Compleat Angler has seen more published editions than any other book except for the Bible. It was more than 350 years ago that old Izaak described fishing as the ‘contemplative man’s sport’. Samuel Johnson was an admirer of fly-fishing, but of other sorts of fishing could mutter only ‘it is a worm at one end and a fool at the other’. In more modern times, Bernard Venables published the iconic Mr Crabtree Goes Fishing, which sold over two million copies and inspired a post-war generation of mostly boys to get the fishing habit. But what is anglings’ role today and where might it be heading?

There appears to be a steadily growing acceptance that in parts of our society, too many young people are addicted to social media and excessive employment of electronic devices, some suffering the consequences of nature deficiency syndrome. There are relatively few dissenting voices to the concept of the need for children to once again reconnect with the natural world. Alas, the days when groups of mischievous ten year olds would excitedly head off along the towpath with parents confident of their safe return are largely a distant memory. Village ponds, lakes, canals, rivers and streams were all exploration grounds for developing a lifelong interest in the natural world. Growing up in the 1960s, there was hardly a boy in my cohort (fishing was male dominated back then) who didn’t possess their own rudimentary fishing equipment, often procured by saving up hard-earned pocket money in anticipation of a future trip to Woolworths. The more adventurous of us learnt to breed our own maggots, forever fearful that mum might get wind of our illicit activities, with dad knowing the score and staying shtum.

At Canal & River Trust, the UK’s largest waterways charity, we firmly believe that some of the modern stresses and strains of life can be mitigated by getting out on the towpath, for life is better by water. For the past two years we’ve hosted a nationwide programme of fishing activity under our Let’s Fish banner with almost 8500 attendees, aged from 4 to 84, taking part during 2019. Some attendees are lapsed anglers looking to get back into the sport for age is no barrier to participation in fishing. A 90-year-old angler, Yorkshire’s Donald Peirson, entered the record books this year as the oldest national championship team member ever. Most Let’s Fish attendees are young people of junior school age. Rather like rugby, football and cricket, fishing was traditionally seen as a male preserve but, as elsewhere, things are rapidly changing. During 2019 Let’s Fish 34% of participants were female and mums who are increasingly engaging in the sport alongside their offspring.

Canals developed a reputation in the industrial revolution as dirty grimy industrial places. Without them, the history of these islands would have been substantially different. They were the motorways of the industrial revolution, but all that was a long time ago when Britannia ruled the waves. Some feel into disrepair, abandoned forever, while a few are even being restored. Happily, the majority did survive the rigours of road and railway competition and today they are a place for leisure, health and wellbeing. If you are looking for a place to fish or if you decide to set up a school fishing club, the most local fisheries of all are the nations canals. Over eight million people reside within 1000 metres of one of the trust’s waterways and this figure rises to over 28 million people living within five miles. There’s a 50% chance that you have a canal fishery somewhere near you.

Intrigued as to the potential of fishing as a tool to both engage children in nature and as an aid to mindfulness, editor Paul Jackson recently took the plunge (fortunately not literally) when he attended a Canal & River Trust Lets Fish session. Paul explains, ‘I booked on to a taster session on the Grand Union Canal at Foxton Locks during the autumn half term. My allocated coach was the excellent Bryan Dray from the Wellingborough Nene club who ran through the basics and then it was my turn. I was quickly engrossed, finding that once concentrating and focusing on the float and the challenge of catching the next fish, it was impossible to focus on anything else. Attendance was impressive with close to 40 people turning out during the day. Everyone managed to catch at least one fish with some participants reaching double figures including a range of species such as perch, bream, gudgeon and roach’. Typically, around a quarter of people return to Let’s Fish events multiple times. They were getting the fishing habit and learning new skills as they steadily progress up the fishing ladder. The typical next step after that is to join a local fishing club.

After a couple of decades of declining interest, there are encouraging signs of an angling upsurge, including the joys of friendly competitions with a modern-day record attendance at the recent Angling Direct sponsored the National Junior and Cadet Canal Championships. Gone are the days of a thousand young anglers lining the banks in a competition, but this year’s event attracted over 90, up from just 20 three years ago. Fishing can mean different things to different people. For those seeking solitude, it offers the perfect opportunity to get away from it all. For those who have a competitive streak, pitting their wits against others in a fishing match can be the highlight of their sporting weekend. Is there more skill in tempting one large fish to bite or is having the nous to attract and catch dozens or even hundreds of smaller specimens a more noteworthy achievement? Well, that debate has been ongoing for centuries and the jury is still out today.

The Canal & River Trust are now working with an increasing number of schools delivering bespoke Let’s Fish introductory taster sessions. These might be a standalone event or as part of a package of activities associated with the curriculum through our Canal & Rivers Explorers programme. You can find out more information on our website: www.canalrivertrust.org. uk/explorers Fish populations in canals also offer a potentially interesting opportunity for ecological fieldwork within the biology A Level syllabus as well as impacts of non-native invasive species. For enquiries about this or how to start your own school fishing, get in touch at fisheries@canalrivertrust.org.uk