Let’s celebrate all fish and styles of angling...

WE HAVE a new crucian carp record – and what a magnificent fish it is. Congratulations to Craig Smithson on not only the capture but for sharing the fish with Angling Times readers too.

Craig was the first to admit he wasn’t targeting crucians, his sights were firmly set on the stunning carp which inhabit the lake.

But thankfully he had the respect for the fish and the history books to make sure its capture was recorded properly, including carefully taking a scale sample as is required for verification with this species.

This might sound odd, but I know of ‘anglers’ who wouldn’t have even given it the time of day and unceremoniously dropped it back into the water.

As Des Taylor points out in his column this week, there does seem to be a certain amount of snobbery within our sport and, just like him, I think it’s unnecessary.

So what if you prefer carp over roach, love rivers to but shy away from stillwaters, or think that presenting a perfectly moulded Method feeder is more worthy than running a finely shotted stickfloat through a swim?

Our sport really is all things to all men, and women, and surely it should be about everyone’s enjoyment first and foremost, rather than trying to put others down. How you get that enjoyment is up to you but be thankful that there are such a wide variety of tactical styles, types of waterway, and species we can go at in this country.

Let’s celebrate each other’s achievements and be positive about fishing as a whole, it will serve us better in the long run.

Tight lines to all anglers for the week ahead… whatever species you’re fishing for and however you choose to do it.