Brian Crawford

Hi Dancy, I have no idea myself but if you contact a Bristol tackle shop I'm sure they will help. You could always try searching "Bristol+Angling" Tight lines, Brian

Firstly, I would like to thank everyone contributing to such an interesting (for me anyway) discussion of what we have :confused: and what we may wish to see. Even if we have covered old ground, I feel it is still worth trying to fly the flag for innovation and perhaps radical thinking to move forward in the way our sport is administered and financed. Just for the record, I believe all interested should visit the websites of members of the NAA to try to grasp our present situation and marry this to the thoughts of Lee, Mike, myself and others. Firstly the National Angling Alliance, as a single entity, as far as I fathom have no website. They(!) can be contacted at Fishmongers Chambers( ), 110 Upper Thames Street, London. EC4R 3TW and via E-mail at hq@natangler.org.uk. The three National Joint Angling Governing Bodies (JAGB) are the National Federation of Anglers, (NFA) www.nfadirect.com although it will cost £15 per year to access this site! The National Federation of Sea Anglers (NFSA) http://www.nfsa.org.uk (free and informative) The Salmon & Trout Association (S&TA) www.salmon-trout.org. (free and informative) Then there are three other members of the NAA, The National Association of Fisheries & Consultatives (NAFAC) www.nafac.co.uk (free and informative) The Specialist Anglers Alliance (SAA) http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/saa (free and informative) The Anglers Trade Association (ATA) www.thesportslife.com/ata.htm (free and informative) All six organisations have independent administrative frameworks and all allow individual membership. Thus there is obviously 7, yes 7 different administrative bodies at a national level in angling. The JAGB's get Goverment funding, the others rely on subscriptions and fund raising - what a waste of money. :mad: It is mad :mad: to think of this vast (?) amount of money being spent when if there was just one National body funded, everything could be simplified and centralised around one sound administration and sub-committees. We could also then involve the ACA and the British Disabled Angling Association http://www.bdaa.co.uk (which is a registered charity) and have all major angling concerns under the one system instead of the 7 (9) listed. Brian [ 27. November 2003, 08:37 PM: Message edited by: Brian Crawford ]

No Video players or DVD's in the 70's Tony. We'll have to wait until someone digs the series up and re-edits it. Give Lol my regards. I fished Earlswood with him for eels when he and I were in the National Anguilla Club. I knew about his prior capture of those eels. I did the same thing for "Screaming Reels" Brian

In the first instance I would contact the Sectretary of Preston Boats, for details of access and fishing. It is some time since I fished there so would not wish to give wrong or misleading information. You could try http://www.multimap.com or similar map based sites for road access to the Severn in that area. I do have quite a few Ordanance Survey maps of the Severn from Wales to below Worcester but they are now in the stacks of boxes in my loft. I'll have to dig them out after Xmas and advertise them. Brian

Hi Andy, I found the following Videos useful. Pole Fishing - Mark Downs On the Cut with Dave Roper Dickie Car Fishing on Canals All produced by Clean River Fishing. These may be available on hire from one of your local tackle shops. Good book, "My Way With The Pole" by Tom Pickering I found this excellent and gives full instructions for a good introduction to pole fishing. Before any smart-arse asks what do I know about pole fishing I've been at it for over 15 years. I've done well in canal matches, instructed many kids into the art, particularly with whips (I have a large collection)(again - no comments please )as I find kids can enjoy fishing better without problems of reels to start with. They get great satisfaction on catching fish on pole rigs they tie themselves. Also, I was once employed by Preston Innovations as a pole rig tier. Tight Lines, Brian

I fished this area several times in the 80's and 90's. It does hold big barbel, chub, pike, etc. Main problem is car security, especially after dark. I know several anglers who have had bad experiences including cars blown up via ignited petrol tanks. Better waters are Lymm Angling Club's stretch upstream of Shrewsbury, if they still have it, or BAA stretches downstream of Bridgnorth. The Telford Angling Association has some excellent lengths of the Severn, but again, be careful where you park! Never leave tackle or anything else visable in your vehicle! Tight lines, Brian

I quite agree with this issue. However, disabled anglers in particular, are trying to get their act together with support from grants and various forward-looking angling clubs. There is a National Disabled Anglers Association, a National Disabled Angler's fishing match, several waters established mainly for disabled anglers, etc. I was most impressed when living in Telford at the efforts put in by the local Angling Association, led by Malc Kelly and many others to ensure disabled anglers were not discriminated against in their quest for decent angling and its access. The new disability access laws coming into function next year have repercussions for many angling clubs who have to provide access for disabled anglers on all waters on day tickets. I just wonder how many clubs will stop day tickets on waters with difficult access! As far as I know, and I confess to being a little out of touch :confused: , disabled anglers still do not get enough support from Sport England or the NFA, game angling or sea angling. As an example, the BCU www.bcu.org.uk £28 per year, appear to do far more for their members. Regards, Brian

Hi Eric, Yes, it's the one & only, back from the land of frogs to the land of toads (Natterjack variety), here at Askam. Further to boating fishing on the Lakes, boats can be launched at several sites on Windermere, but often either non-powered ones or with a maximum engine size of 5hp and only open boats. For further info contact, Windermere Tourist Information Centre, Tel. 015394 46499, E-mail windermere@southlakeland.gov.uk Lake District National Park Authority Bowness Information Centre Tel. 015394 42895 Windermere Lake Wardens, Tel. 015394 42753 National Trust North West Regional Office Tel. 015394 35599 Ref. Fishing - A Guide to Fishing in South & Central Lakeland (free from above tourist office)An excellent basic guide to most Lakeland waters. The Lake District Anglers' Guide, by Laurence Tetley. £10.99. Regards, Brian

Hi anc, Sorry about the porn link! I should have checked them first. I didn't remember to omit the "www" . It is o.k. now. Regarding moorings, there are some on the River Levan where it exits Windermere at Newby Bridge, near the hotel. I live about 20 minutes away at Askam in Furness. Lots of bass fishing here also. Brian

Hi and welcome anc. Glad you found us. Lots of people to help you here. Good sites, http://www.lakedistrictfishing.net http://cumbrian-angler.freeservers.com http://www.rods-n-sods.com http://www.carlsons.co.uk http://www.sodo.freeserve.co.uk All boats fitted with engines must be registered and display their registration numbers port and starboard at all times. Heard nothing about position of fishfinder, although Chris Sodo may help more, he is the local expert and has a fishing book of the lakes published (£5.99). There are several launching sites. Moorings are available, probably expensive. Chris can help on this also. You can anchor where you want as long as it is not on the skiing plots or where the depth is more than 150 feet. Most pike anglers just drift baits along the offshore drop-offs. In 2005 a 10mph limit comes into force. Tight lines, Brian [ 23. November 2003, 10:07 PM: Message edited by: Brian Crawford ]

Lee, I totally agree with you on this but cannot see a way this could be made compulsory. I cannot see tackle dealers turning a sale away just because a customer has not got a licence with them - what about mail-order tackle firms? I hate saying this as after 5 years living in France, I really believe their licencing system is far, far superior to ours. However, I could not see it happening here. If you wished to fish in France 10 years ago you just bought a permit for your local Department (similar to our county). Part of that fee went to the Government as a tax, the rest went to the Department Fishery Committee (DFC)(similar to our consultatives). They controlled all public waters in the Department, all rivers, canals and lakes connected to any river or canal system, with free access to all these waters, even on private land. Clubs/Associations based on towns and villages "controlled" the parts of waters within their boundaries, aided by the DFC and "policed" who fished these waters. It worked quite well. I was able to fish all these public waters in my Department for a fee of £40 per year to include angling licence and permit to fish with up to 4 rods at any one time except on a few game waters which had a 1 rod rule for game fish or 2 for coarse fish. No close season on any water except for pike, perch and zander, 31st January to about 25th May, plus game fish close seasons. A couple of years ago, this changed as almost every Department in France decided to unite and share "public" waters. My licence then cost £50 but it meant I could fish all rivers, canals and waters connected to them in most of France if I so wished. A few Departments kept control of a few popular waters so they could increase funds. All Departments sent representatives to a National Angling Assembly. Now Lee, if you could tell every coarse angler in England and Wales that if they paid £30 per year they could fish all rivers, canals and all waters connected to any river or canal with nothing extra to pay, with total right of access, then they might be interested. However, because of the way angling is set up here with so many heads deep in the sand, somehow I cannot see it happening. Still it was nice trying to imagine some of the responses of our angling clubs to such an idea!!!Good job I have such a thick skin! Having said that, the BCU and Ramblers Association appear to be getting more than that for much less and the Angling Clubs appear to have no say on that issue. Pehaps Blair might consider Nationalising all waters in a similar way to the French! That's what we get for not being in the Top 20 sports!!!! Brian [ 23. November 2003, 09:04 PM: Message edited by: Brian Crawford ]

Well done lads. You are now the country's second best participant sport. Hope you can win the World Cup as many times as English anglers have. Brian

I had a pot leek once when I was a kid but it made a mess on my bedroom floor! My mum made me use the loo ever since. Brian

corydoras Oxford Dictionary definition "fishing" - "sport of trying to catch fish" Lee, while I agree much of what you say is correct, I still believe NAFAC is a good potential way forward as the framework for individual representation onto a semi-regional committee to a national one is already there. As is the funding as I said earlier, the EA licence is compulsory and a part of that is already paid to consultatives. All I suggest is a reasonable increase to the cost of a licence. The EA could take a small percentage of this for extra admin costs and forward the balance to the NAFAC coffers. These millions could be used for additional publicity. Bear in mind the EA already saturates the media concerning rod licences. It all depends on whether NAFAC feels it is up to the job, but there again, with a massive boost in income, it could then employ professional administrators and publicity officers for each consultative and at "head office". Sorry I've been so quiet of late but my computer was zapped in a thunderstorm in France, just before I returned to the UK at the end of July. Then my wife & I had to live in a tent at Ulverston until end of September, until our house purchase went through. I'm now trying to get back up to speed. Brian

Concerning a new national organisation for angling. On reflection, I believe we already have such an animal. All anglers (Coarse and Game) pay for a national Rod licence, although this actually licences the angler to fish with up to two rods in England and Wales. Part of this licence fee actually goes to regional fishery consultative organisations in the form of grant aid from the EA out of licence fee income and other government grants. This income for consultatives is augmented by members of the consultative paying an annual subscription. Membership of consultatives is very (usually) broad based on river catchments, and more representative of local angling interests than the NFA is or ever was. If the rod licence, due to increase to £23 next year, was increased to £30 instead and the extra income given to consultatives via their national body, The National Association of Fisheries and Angling Consultatives (NAFAC), I feel we would then be in a position to have a real representative national organisation supported by reasonable funding. A body which would then represent all coarse and game anglers and angling in England and Wales (and Scotland also if they accepted a rod licence), and one which would have the clout to take on the battle for lottery handouts. The basic framework is there. I have been a member of three different consultatives so understand their potential to expand, represent and in the accepted meaning, govern. Brian [ 20. November 2003, 07:31 PM: Message edited by: Brian Crawford ]

Leon, thank you for those site references. I see that angling is actually mentioned in the small print. Phil, I agree with your comments about lottery handouts. Perhaps we need to encourage more people who fall into lottery assisted groups into angling!!!! Brian [ 20. November 2003, 07:51 PM: Message edited by: Brian Crawford ]

Steve, Shooting is an olympic sport but also not in the top 20, also hunting indirectly in the form of dressage and show jumping. Brian

I support comments made by Phil, Peter and Lee and others about the need for anglers to fund themselves. This issue has been raised many times. In the 1970' and 1980's I criticised the National Anglers Council, which was formed to do the job in the 1960's, that the NAA was formed to do in the 1990's. The NAC claimed also to represent all anglers. However, it was the only body the Government would officially talk to and which received a grant. It paid a large slice of this grant to the NFA, game anglers and sea anglers who in turn paid back a large slice of this to the NAC in order to keep their block votes to ensure no other organisation had a voice in important decisions. At the time, the NAC and NFA had no individual membership. I publically critisised this as how could they claim to be representative of all anglers. However, this was at a cost of my part-time employment with the NAC as Education Development Officer for the Eastern Region in 1984. It may be a coincidence that following this both the NAC and NFA allowed individual membership - but with no voting rights. The NAC died when its funding was reduced. The NAA has taken its place - nothing has changed. All the thousands of anglers not a member of the few clubs and associations affiliated to the NFA or other NAA bodies do not get a say in how they are "represented" The official line is that as they are not a member of an affiliated body, they are not entitled to a vote in how their sport is organised. This is my key point. If the sport were funded correctly, any angler would be able to have his/her view expressed and considered by the managers of angling and to have the option to vote on all issues concerning their sport - if they so wish. The bottom line is how to get such funding - not from any government I believe. The only way forward is for every angler to have to pay at least £5.00 per year for membership of a new Nationaly organised group. The £5.00 could be charged in a similar way to the EA licence and available from post offices but would need an amendment to the current Fishing Acts. Possibly a pipe dream but if it came off has the potential to raise up to £10 million per year. We could afford to fund professionals for management, education, publicity, training, research and overall representation and unification of our sport. It will never happen of course but I do believe in a democratic world, even in angling, I am allowed my opinion and right to constructively criticise and suggest solutions even if a bit far-fetched. Brian

Sport England today unveiled radical changes to the way sport is funded in an attempt to recreate the success enjoyed by England at the Rugby World Cup. The organisation, which distributes National Lottery cash, is cutting back financial support of minor sports to concentrate on major sports. They have set up a lottery fund of £130 million for the top 20 sports in Britain - and have vowed to put in place measures to prevent the money disappearing down a black hole. The sports to be given priority in order to increase participation are split into two sections. There are 10 Sport England priority sports: badminton, cricket, football, golf, hockey, netball, rugby union, rugby league, squash and tennis. 10 UK Sport priorities: athletics, canoeing, cycling, equestrian, gymnastics, judo, rowing, trithlon, sailing and swimming. These sports will receive 80% of funding distributed by Sports England. So, now we know where we stand. When was the last time we had a world title in any of these sports. Perhaps angling has been too successful winning all those team and individual gold medals. Pehaps we have been too successful in being the most participation sport apart from sex. I wonder what the NAA response to this might be? Or did they already know? Well done guys. Anyone for hockey? Brian

Each to their own. I have taken many groups of kids from schools and youth clubs to places like Makin's and they have always had a great day's fishing in a "safe" environment. I feel they really do have a place among angling venues. Brian

In theory all fish in all freshwater locations belong to someone. Therefore to remove any from a water, in other words, to take them home, is theft. This is so even if the intention is to return with them the next day. Some particular clubs or angling associations may allow such a practice but I cannot think of any. However, when I lived in France, I was allowed to remove up to 50 silver fish from any public water in my region, take them home and use them in the same or on a different water on any future date. That's France. I now live in South Cumbria and it is a very different kettle of fish (sorry!) as you all should be aware regarding livebaiting or deadbaiting with coarse fish and freshwater eels. The local angling association I have just joined here, makes its situation very clear, "Coarse fish cannot be removed from (Association)waters, with the exception of pike which can be taken up to 4lb from all (Association)waters but cannot be transferred to other (Association)waters." I will be trying to get the words "and freshwater eels" added after the words "Coarse fish" at the next AGM. Another Rule states "Only roach, rudd, perch and pike may be used for live bait for pike, and must be used on the same day and same (Association) water where caught. It is prohibited to take a fish away for use as live or dead bait at a later date." I think that makes the situation quite clear for members of this Association. Other angling bodies may wish to include something similar in their Rules. I would be interested to view arguments for and against such adoption. Brian Crawford

I think there should be separate records for river caught eels and eels caught in stillwaters. Brian Crawford

Be advised, eels are not at all worthy of eating. They are very slimy fish, difficult to skin, hard to kill, their blood is poisonous, very nasty and should be returned at once to the water! Brian Crawford

I agree with all you say Peter, pike are killed through ignorence. The PAC tries to educate anglers but of course, most anglers do not read weekly angling press or log onto this web site. Therefore concerned pike anglers like yourself have to look at educating anglers through other media on a local level, posters, leaflets in local tackle shops, giving talks at local angling clubs, anything that promotes the message of conservation. Serious pike anglers must be proactive. I have seen lots of pike killed needlesly but I speak my mind to those responsible and to clubs and at consultative level. Where consevation issues are relevant I do not care who I upset. Brian Crawford

I have had some of my best eel catches using prawn baits. Brian