Keith Arthur’s views on the news
They’re in a controlled environment, so how do they know?
IN the Get Hooked on Fishing classroom at Northala Fields, in West London, we have a large tank of native British fish.
In it are a dozen examples that have come out of the lakes – a small tench, roach and rudd from the original stock, plus some smaller roach, roach/rudd hybrids and three common carp that have bred naturally in the lakes.
The classroom is heat controlled and is shuttered, so it’s dark until the room is opened up, usually around 10am, and closed when it gets dark in winter and after about 6pm at this time of year.
The fish are fed 2mm coarse pellets, sparingly so as not to soil the water and overwork the filters.
About a month ago they started feeding like mad and became much more active.
It wasn’t rising temperature that made them change (it’s always warm), and it wasn’t more light, so they must just know when it’s right to start building up for the rigours of life in spring, mostly spawning.
It’s obvious to people that keep fish in ponds, but they are subject to natural variations in light and heat – these fish aren’t. Clever eh?
So it’s a matter of conjecture whether the recent sudden burst of hot weather – London had its hottest April day for nearly 70 years – actually made a difference.
Fish will naturally eat more at this time of year apparently.