Safety And Awareness Must Be Lesson Number One

Angling advice from the Energy Networks Association

Every year National Fishing Month will encourage many more young people to take up the sport of angling. Friends and family members will help with equipment, skills and share their love of this pastime.

As well as passing on skills and experience, Energy Networks Association (ENA), which represents the electricity networks in the UK, is calling on all anglers to share simple and invaluable safety advice with those they are mentoring in their sport.

ENA Chief Executive David Smith said:
"Thankfully the number of injuries has decreased in recent years, but occasionally an avoidable nasty incident occurs. It is critical young anglers learn from an early stage to only fish in legal areas, always keep rods horizontal when crossing under any power lines and to never fish in areas close to power lines where signs show it is not safe to do so.

"It is critical that those who are mentoring young anglers explain the dangers of not following this advice. Contact with an overhead power line will cause severe burns and could be fatal. Angling is a great sport enjoyed by a huge number of people. It takes an ongoing effort to ensure it is a safe one too."

The most common mistake is casting a rod under power lines, when people ignore signs or use an unofficial site. The danger is not only at the waterside, incidents have occurred away from the waterside when anglers have been trying out their rods, or walking under power lines with their rods held vertically.