A New Year – An Old Challenge

Happy New Year !

My 2017 species hunt has begun

In 2010 I managed to catch 24 species of freshwater fish in a calendar year, in 2012 I managed 31.

2 young children have put a serious dent in my fishing time for the last few years, but I have been blessed with a 4 year old who is rapidly developing a love for being outdoors with a “fissin lod” in his hand…..So I am now raring to go and just can’t wait for the weather to warm up and my fishing to begin in earnest.

After lots of trial and error on my previous species hunt expeditions – and with google as my friend I have a great list of locations for the more “difficult” species of fish.

So in 2017 I hope to bag the lot,, all 42 of them plus a couple of estuary fish such as Flounder and Mullet.

The sharp eyed reader will notice that there are a few fish on the list such as Vendace, Schelly and Shad which are on the protected species list – I have no intention of catching these species but will go and visit the locations where I know they exist and take a picture or two of the fantastic scenery and share them with you.

I wonder if anyone has completed this challenge before  ?

Whilst the weather is still cold I hope to tick Silver Bream off the list first. They don’t exist in the North West of England so a trip over the Pennines will be necessary to a lake near Barnsley which reputedly has a good head of these lovely little fish. I think a Grayling from the River Mersey near Stockport (oh how times change!) is also on the cards.

I have only caught 2 Silver Bream before – during my 2012 species hunt….. I was guided onto these fish by Jeff Hatt on the Coventry Canal.  A  remarkable stroke of luck saw me catch 2 Silver Bream on my first two casts followed by nothing for the rest of the day. I would bet against a repeat of that remarkable stroke of luck.

So here is the list of fish which I will be trying to catch this year

1. Roach
2. Rudd
3. Perch
4. Tench
5. Bream
6. Silver Bream
7. Pike
8. Salmon
9. Sea Trout
10. Brown Trout
11. Rainbow Trout
12. Char
13. Grayling
14. Vendace
15. Schelly
16. Dace
17. Chub
18. Gudgeon
19. Ruffe
20. Minnow
21. 3 Spined Stickleback
22. 9 Spined Stickleback
23. Bullhead
24. Stoneloach
25. Spined Loach
26. Barbel
27. Bitterling
28. Catfish
29. Smelt
30. Bleak
31. Shad (Twaite or Allis)
32. Eel
33. Lamprey (brook, river or sea)
34. Carp
35. Crucian Carp
36. Brown Goldfish
37. Zander
38. Motherless Minnow/ Sunbleak
39. Grass Carp
40. Ide/Orfe
41. Pumpkinseed
42. Sturgeon
43. Goby
44. Flounder
45. Mullet

I wonder if anyone has completed this challenge before ?