grayson

Yup - even got an article in it this month too- I am guilty of the piece called Force Majeure.

Weirpools harbour everything - and do not be put off by what seem to be turbulent currents as it is often easy to fish relatively lightly in them, as the current on the bed is often very different to what you might expect. I have fished one weirpool on the Yorkshire Ouse for many years and can recall brown trout , flounder. eel, pike , barbel , perch and bream. Wonderful places to fish.

The EA destroyed a pit because you reported a fish ?? Or bandwagon jumping anglers doing it- I assume that's what you mean . The worst damge I have seen was done by a very well known northern club and by an Internal Drainage Board, The Club compltely vandalised a lovely chain of pits-trees ripped out, banks planed and access tracks built. It was an utter bloody disgrace and the Club (which now longer has the rights ) should hang its head in shame.IDB- put a JCB through my local trout stream- devastated it for a decade- bed ripped out ,trees removed etc. Thank God they are now having to be act more sensibly - again EA v helpful in achieving this.

Well if OP wants an insight into the reason the Angling Trust has so few members the litany of paranoia and conspiracy theories in this thread will provide rich pickings. Rarely have I read so many idiotic comments about the EA and conservation bodies. In my world - both game and coarse . but especially the former we work very closely with the EA. They have provided fantastic support in habitat management, stocking advice and so on. And of course we are open with them- I find the parochialism and sheer bloody mindedness of some clubs- 'we're not telling those buggers nowt' genuinely shocking.

Good .. ..you'll enjoy the conspiracy theory chapters too!

Glad you were paying attention Chris....

Excuse the self publicity but Jewelled Fishes ' successor 'The Glorious Uncertainty' has now been published by Medlar Press and I hope any readers enjoy it.

Well that's all clear then; world gone mad , nazis everywhere -, world's gone mad ..(continues on page 87)

Having met many EA staff over the years your offensive description shouldn't go unchallenged. Tell us . do you have a problem with EVERY official and legal provision relating to the sport?

'Thy rod and thy creel' by Odell Shepherd. Out of print for decades-written by an American academic on the glory of trout fishing. Quite amazing book- short but hugely thought provoking .

Glad you enjoyed it. New book out this Summer- see Medlar Press website for details.

Final word from me- I practised law for almost 40 years and have fished for 50 plus. I have also read the literature of our sport - and have done so since I was a kid in the 60s. You may not like what I say but please do not accuse me of ignorance. Good luck with your crusading - you might get some more suppport if you tried to make at least a bit of sense....

Err .. i give up; we have explained the law to you. You don't like it- you are entitled not to like it of course but sadly you cannot cherrypick the laws you like and ignore the ones you don't. Money is utterly irrelevant to the issue. And how many more times - trespass not an offence- therefore not for the police to enforce !

Youn misunderstand some of the points I made; canoeing on a river where you should not can potentially get you in fairly big trouble. Trespass is not illegal - it is not a crime but what is called a tort- a sort of civil crime if you like. What this means is that a landowner presented with a trespass problem is entitled to go to court and could be granted an injunction which would prohibit the trepasser from doing it again. And if they disobey - contempt of court - which is criminal and for which you can be fined or even jailed. I am aware Paul Heiny did some TV on canoeing- but so what - all it means is he either had consent or nobody could be arsed to do anything about his trespassing- if that is what he was doing. No idea what you mena by financial get out clause? Law is quite simple really - rivers are like most other types of property -just a bit damper..

The law is as I stated it; if you doubt me go and see a solicitor. Navigability means just that- it is not confined to big boats or little ones but is a classification of the river.All tidal rivers are navigable as of right.But it is not illegal in a criminal sense to canoe where you should not. It is trespass but that is not a criminal matter- it gives the landowner rights to remove you but unless you are doing something bad like poaching or attempting to nick stuff it is not illegal. The Agency have stautory rights to enable them to carry out their functions. There is not a law re canoeing in the sense that we have a big book of laws covering everything- in the UK we have statute law- written down- Acts of Parliament and Regs made under them and common law - not codified in the same way as Acts are but part of the law and developed by the courts over the years. Buy a law book if this stuff interests you- you might learn something useful

A few points to clarify- in England and Wales you can canoe on rivers which are designated as navigable; relatively few are and most navigable water is on big wide rivers of little interest to canoeists. There is no legal right to canoe anywhere other than navigable water except if you own the river (ie you are a riparian owner) or you have obtained the consent of the landowner. Which may be a parish council of course- but parish councils have no legal power to make bylaws on waters in their area. What they can do is impose rules in their capacity as landowner- if relevant . I do not like anybody claiming to fish or canoe as of right on other people's property. I have no issue with either group if they have consent and behave properly. I have no time at all for some canoeists- and a few fisherman actually -who have some bonkers notion of being freemen and only obeying their even more bonkers take on common law. Which bears little resemblance to the law I studied at University...

My fishing mate is looking for a 10' trotting rod - for grayling and chub on small and very overgrown streams. Needs to be 'quality'- nice cork handle etc. Am out of touch on most coarse fishing these days(too much fly fishing)- any suggestions please ?

It would be a good thing if your view on fishing was diametrically opposed to mine. Chuck in some sturgeon and burbot too why not ? Barbel live in rivers - full stop.

Errmm..if I won the lottery I would possibly be more focussed on how to jump the queue for a Ferrari 458 than buying a match rod. And I think I would not be lookiung for too many all round rods but rather a rod for every occasion . But for what it's worth I am delighted with my 15' Harrison GTi float - bit of a quantum leap from the 12' 1980 something vintage Shakespeare Omni it replaced . But horses for courses- the Omni is still a peach for small river grayling fishing.

It must be because I am old fart but sorry I just giggle at the idea of some bloke trying to catch a carp from a windy gravel pit being sponsored. My idea of sponsorship is a Grand Prix car sponsored by Martini or Boss , not some baldy bloke wearing a free jacket saying ' Brian's brilliant baits' .

The difference should be obvious- jouranlists are people whose job is to write;contributors are people who are not trained writers. I expect high standards of writing from journalists(and I am often disappointed) but I hope for such standards from contributors.

I don't think it was a journalist but a contributor. But to be fair the important ability journalists should have is the ability to write; obviously knowledge of subject is useful- or at least access to it- but nothing is more excruciating to read than the mangled cliche ridden dross which some expert anglers inflict upon their readership. And no names need to be mentioned ...

Hmm - I so much wanted to like Waterlog , beautifully produced and a quality publication all round.Shame about the writing , too much of which is not so much esoteric as Chris Yates parody . Chris can do whimsy but few others can.I cancelled my subscription as I found it near unreadable.

I am more of a game angler and as said above there is very little product placement in game press- although still far too much advertorial about best 14' salmon rod etc. I read AT and the gratuitous namedropping of brands is embarrassing. I recently read a piece about 'simple tactics for winter chub' and lost the will to live after reading of a ridiculously complicated set up awash with Fox, Korum etc references and referring to insanely expensive baits.God knows how I catch chub on cheesepaste using Maxima...and I do seem to catch my share, honest. But the worst is the picture of some glum looking bloke holding the inveitable fat carp and reporting that it fell to the new xyz34 mk2 bait he was 'fieldtesting '. Which translates as ' going fishing with some free bait my mate knocked up in the hope of flogging it to the gullible angling public'

Rarely buy the Mail but did so yesterday. Read so -so piece on fishing the River Test for grayling and roach (latter referred to as 'redfins'- copyright Mr Crabtree 1954) . The river was referred to as being a spate river.... There was me thinking it was a chalk stream . So this revelation makes my home rivers - Swale , Ure etc exactly what I wonder?