PAC Aims To Avoid Pike Cull

Clubs controlling fishing on three Midlands rivers are being contacted by the Pike Anglers Club, as it responds to claims they need a predator cull.

Four times World Champion matchman Bob Nudd claimed pike needed "thinning out" in the Warwickshire Avon, Soar and Nene, in his weekly column in a Sunday newspaper.

The call came after Nudd, who was made an MBE for his services to fishing, had roach snatched off his line by pike during a match.

But the PAC, which has campaigned for pike conservation for 30 years, slammed Nudd's comments as "selfish and misguided".

Chairman Colin Goodge said the three rivers Nudd named in his column in the News of the World did not need a cull.

"If they want scientific evidence we can produce it," he said. "By calling for a cull what does he expect to achieve, there's plenty of proof they're a waste of time and money and achieve nothing."

Evidence shows culls upset the natural balance and lead to an explosion in small pike.

The PAC maintains pike play a vital role in the ecology of waters and nature should be left to achieve her own balance between predator and prey.

In its letter, the PAC calls on club officials to see the bigger picture as far as balanced, sustainable fisheries are concerned.