Coarse fishing is rooted in English gentlemen’s tradition from back in the days when English upper class men classified their fish into two different categories. The fish that were more worthwhile in terms of skill required to land them, such as salmon and trout were classified as ‘Game’ fish while all others fell into the category of ‘coarse’ or ‘common’ fish hence the name for the style of fishing. Among the most common fish caught in coarse fishing are the barbel, carp, bream, dace, chub, eel, roach, pike, perch, tench, and rudd.
The sport of coarse fishing is thought to have originated as a sport in Britain sometime around 200 hundred years ago for the sole reason that most of the fish included in the category of fishing are native to the British waters.
Like any form of fishing, the sport includes a rod and reel, bait, hooks, weights and fishing nets in order to make a clean sweep of the waters. At times coarse fishers will also use attractants which are flavour additives that make bait more enticing to fish and increase the chance that you will have a bite.
When it comes to coarse fishing there are three basic categories of how you can proceed: float fishing, ledgering, and pole fishing. Float fishing includes the use of a bright item called a float that sits on the top of the water so that you can see if there are any disturbances in the line. Since the object is fixed it also helps you determine the depth at which your bait and hook are sat.
Ledgering is when you place a weight down the line near the hook so that the fish will bolt and hook itself. The weight can also be used to make casting easier. Pole fishing is essentially the same as float fishing only a pole is used in the place of a rod and the line is simply dropped down from the pole into the water.
