The farmer has always been a target for rustlers. They will decimate a herd of cows overnight. Any valuable animal is never safe from these thieves, even fish.

Carp lakes will stock fish of varying sizes to suit a mixed bunch of anglers' needs. In order to attract the more experienced carp fisherman the fishery will need to contain a number of big fish for the specimen hunter who will be willing to pay well for the opportunity to catch them.

The largest carp ever caught is a 94 pound specimen from Rainbow Lake in France. The fish was well known to anglers having been caught several times before during the preceding years. It was named 'Briggs' after one of its captors and became a star in this particular fishery.

With such a well known fish in the lake this will encourage other would-be record breakers who are hoping that the fish will put on a few pounds by the next time it is caught. It is a prime candidate for breaking the magic 100 pound record barrier within a year. The fishery owner will no doubt ensure that his security is adequate as the fish is now a bigger target for the thieves.

Rustlers will sometimes risk their own lives to steal big fish. There have been instances reported where they fished a frozen lake, walking across thin ice to the gaps so that they could place their nets. They ply their trade at night in dangerous conditions in order to steal the fish. The stolen carp can survive transport for a long distance just wrapped in wet sacking, much further if carried in tanks of water. There are always unscrupulous fishery owners willing to pay large sums for these fish without asking too many questions.

In the UK the Environment Agency is starting to clamp down on the fish rustlers. They are about to get powers that will allow them to remove and destroy any illegally stocked fish. Stolen carp or non indigenous catfish will no longer be easily introduced to fuel the greed of a few angling crooks.

It is a good thing too, as illegal stocking leads to the spread of diseases and the destruction of the sport. Angling by its nature is an environmentally friendly sport, its biggest attraction is that it allows city dwellers and country folk alike to appreciate the outdoors. When a few crooks exploit the angling world in this way it spoils the sport for everybody else.

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Mark Jenner is a keen angler enjoying all aspects of the sport. He spends most of his time in pursuit of trout, pike or carp as well as occasionally doing some sea fishing. His sport and pike fishing web site reviews many items of game and carp fishing tackle including carp fishing rod and fishing flies.