nevillejohn

A nice shoal of Roach videoed in the River Bure this morning. Watch Here

This might be better

Many years ago and I mean many perhaps 40 + there was a time when the Cocky Ruffe ruled in the river Bure and as boys it was almost impossible not to catch these Ruffe and they were considered as a pest fish as they used to swallow the bait down to their tail and we had great difficult extracting the hook, this was about the time the Perch stocks had almost wiped out by disease, presumably because Perch prey on the Ruffe and will take them readily and without the Perch about Ruffe numbers multiplied. This went on until the Perch made a comeback and the Ruffe numbers fell in most places and over the last few years they had become a bit of a rarity. Now over the last few years I have caught a few Ruffe but not many until recently when I am catching half a dozen every outing. Okay there's is nothing strange about that, but when I tell you I am catching a lot less Perch and almost every Perch over a certain size has badly damaged Spines that look to be rotten, so I am beginning to wonder it I am witnessing a problem beginning in our perch stocks ? Then again it may be nothing. Anyway I took a couple of little clips to show you want I mean. Perch_&_Ruffe.wmv

Yes that is true the amount of anglers who are walking about today with just literally a rod + reel+ lure and little else is shocking, often they have no net, no forceps and more importantly no idea. I find a dead decaying Pike which has presumably been washed down from the Wroxham area in general nearly every other week, which I assume has become a victim of the aforementioned clients, which is a polite way of putting it.

I know this thread has probably been done and dusted, but here is the sign in the entrance to Wroxham Broad as seen today.

Walking near the river at Wroxham today I witnessed this chap see video) hook a Pike on a lure he had no equipment other than rod + reel, the poor fish was yanked from the river and as you can see he didn't have a clue what to do, hence putting his foot on the fish, at that point I went over and asked him what he was doing and in his limited English he said he had left his pliers at home. By this time the Pike had been on the bank several minutes so I put it back still attached into the water at that point another angler guy asked me what the problem was, when I told him and he said he had some forceps in the car which he went and got I then handed the Pike out of the water and the guy with the forceps remove the barbed trebles. I then went to put the Pike back in to but the foreign guy said he wanted to keep it.... I told him he couldn't and put the Pike back in the river much to his dislike. Now I have heard people go on about this sort of thing, but to actually witness it in the middle of a busy Wroxham is quite shocking, I should also add he was not on his own. Here Watch

Visited Horstead Mill again this morning to see what was happening underwater. You might notice the brown tinge to the water this will be due to all the rain we have had and although the video is slightly less clear this has been overcome with the use of a small waterproof light, the water colour also gives the fish more confidence as they are less evident to predators and it's strange that they are not bothered by the light or the camera. Yet with all these fish about I watch other anglers struggling to catch anything other than a few small Dace. Incidentally I only took a little groundbait, about a hand full but looks how far it goes in the water, gets me to think I may put far too much in at times when fishing. Here Watch

Visited Horstead Mill again this morning after a few days doing other things like fishing and due to the dull weather had a small light with the camera which seems to work quite well, but you can be the judge of that. But what is surprising is how the fish have changed, gone are most of the Dace which predominated along with many of the Perch, which is presumably due to anglers introducing maggots in other parts of the pool. We are then left mainly with the Roach which definitely prefer a grain based diet which is why the bigger quality Roach are usually tempted by Tares, Hemp or Sweetcorn. Here Watch

Took my 3 year old grandson down to Barton Turf today and introduced him to some of the wildlife and an hour or two of fishing, We then had a little walk before we left which gave me a chance to drop the camera into the water. I was not expecting to see anything at all due to the river Ants murky water, but was quite surprised what actually passed the camera when I downloaded. Here Watch

What a swan looks like to a fish. View Here

I spoke to a chap who lives by the river Bure who applied to the EA for a license to trap these pests, but he was denied due to the fact he may trap the native species. But I can't see the two surviving together ? Surely if these Red Clawed are present the White clawed have long gone ? As for trapping I could pick many of these out with a litter picker and might do that when I feel more peckish.

I spoke to a chap a very knowledgeable angler and former bailiff on one of the major fishing rivers in Southern England and he reckons over time there will be a noticeable decline in the Roach stocks where these Crayfish dominate and looking at the videos and my own fishing expeditions at the mill I would say that it looks like this is already happening.

I am only using a camera that cost about £30 the placing is mostly guesswork and what little I can see from above. I could connect to an app on phone, but I guess it wouldn't help as I can't see the screen to make a phone call half the time let alone anything else. Some of things I see when I download the video surprise me as much as anyone else. I am making a small addition soon and that is a tiny light that fits in waterproof housing next to camera. This should improve the vision and I may have a little go when it's dark to see what is happening if anything.

They reckon these are really tasty and big business out of the Thames in London, but these were recorded in the river Bure at Horstead recently. On the Menu

I have another video for you watch again taken on the river Bure at Horstead Mill on 17 June 2017, it's not of the greatest quality but It is interesting and gives us fisherman or wildlife enthusiasts a further insight into just what goes on below in those murky depths. Please forgive the music as I just couldn't resist. Watch Here

Thanks for the welcome, I have a few more videos I will post in the near future.

Hello chaps I have been doing a bit of videoing using one of those little waterproof cameras and the results have been interesting to say the least. I have never been able to pass a river without looking into it, well this taking it one step further. I have pretty much left it as it is and yes it's amateurish, but then again that is exactly what I am. Location is river Bure at Horstead Mill and was videoed last week. Watch Here

Yes there is a charge and it states it on the signs when entering the broad from the River.