Dave B

So what you're saying is that most people that go fishing aren't lovers of the countryside or open air - they're carp catching machines programmed to arrive at a lake, bombard it with 10 kilos of bait, catch as many carp as they can and then bugger off home? I do beg to differ yo some extent. I think most 'anglers' partake in the pastime because they enjoy being outside and they enjoy the wonders of nature. You can't be an angler and not enjoy either because the two come hand in hand. Sure there are loads of commercial stillwaters out there, where it's easy to drive down the gravel driveway, park up and have a short walk to your swim around a tarmac path - but there are still plenty of wild birds and animals around these lakes. Then of course there is the other end of the scale - the syndicate and club waters. These tend to be older lakes and are often overgrown and brimming with wildlife. The guys that fish these types of lake are very much at one with nature - it's impossible not to be.

Go on Steve, Apply for it - you know you want to!

Yeah, and apparently, cos we iz fik anglurs we dunt now tha diffrince bewtean an otta an a mink! Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Harpenden, Herts Posts: 1,354 Re: Angling trust calls for otter cull Could the problem be Mink not Otter? I wouldn't rely on any member of the angling fraternity to tell the difference.

Electricity Wurz - the way I see it, if we run out of gas, oil and coal - at least we'll have a little bit of leccy in the UK courtesy of the wind!

A very good friend of mine phoned the AT recently and asked "What do I get for my twenty quid joining fee as a sea angler?". The girl at the end of the phone didn't have an answer, and he was told to call back the next day, which he did. "So, what do I get for my £20 as a sea angler?" The answer was quite simply.... 'Err, you get to enter some fishing competitions that mean you can try out for the England Squad'. I'm not kidding you, that was the actual answer given. And the ONLY answer given! Now, after reading the AT forums, I suggest that they add to their crib sheet the following... Question: "What do I get for my £20 as a sea angler?" Answer' Well you get to fish some competitions that mean you can try out for the England Squad.... And you can post replies on our forum, which is overrun with crazed loonies determined to do their best to destroy your sport'!!!!!!

Oh well, nevermind! Let's face it - a multi billion pound, 350 turbine electricity plant sanctioned by the Government versus a few local commercial fishermen.... hummmm... not much contest there really is there? The fact is we are gonna see loads more of these projects popping up all over the place. There's nothing we can do about it, and more importantly we shouldn't be thinking of doing anything about it. The fact of the matter is, the World is running low on resources and these wind farms are a small step in the right direction to safeguarding a small amount of power for the UK. Yes, there will be fishing grounds disrupted and even closed off, but there are still thousands of square miles of fishing grounds left for all to explore. The fact that this particular wind farm is situated on 'some of the best bass and squid fishing grounds' is unfortunate for the local commercial lads, but that's life I'm afraid - plus they'll be getting some form of compensation. Consider it a redundancy and go get another job! Moaning about it isn't going to change things.

Well, I agree with you Sutton. I only really use my Veals SureSpin MKII or Fox Mullet Master rods during the summer months, either those or the MTI 15lb Offshore - that's about as heavy as I go, even when tope fishing. There's no need to use heavy kit unless you need to use stupid amounts of lead. I did say it was 'some' of the UK's best bass fishing. In fact, the best bassing in that area is a little further off (You know where I'm talking about Sutton!) I've only ever kept one bass over 9lb, and that was for a barbeque on my 30th birthday. More often than not I'll take three or four in the 4-5lb range and put the bigger ones back - like you said the biggies are prime breeding stock, and those smaller bass taste far sweeter! Last year I spent the entire summer fishing with Kiddy Sidewinders - the Minnow pattern, and they proved to outfish livebaits on many occasions from four or five different ports around the UK. If everyone's using live sandeels - I'll go onto a shad, it always seems to pick up the bigger fish. The only livebait I really love to use is a live mackerel or scad - the bigger the better! All this rubbish about using 'joeys' makes me laugh. If there's a bucketful of small mackerel, I'll go for the 1lb 8oz bait every time - it makes absolutely no difference to the bass. You'd be surprised at how many 2lb bass I've caught, and have seen caught, on a mackerel just a few ounces smaller! My main concern about the Gabbard and surrounding area as far as the fishing is concerned wasn't so much the bass - I just want to get out there over the next couple of years and have a go for the turbot! I know they're there, it's just a case of tracking them down and fishing for them!

Barry is a good friend, and one of the best boat fitters I know. And he's a damn good skipper and angler to boot. He's no good on the boat after a night out on the beers with Tuggy and I in the 'Lifeboat' though! Ha Ha!

Say goodbye to some of the UK's best bass fishing!

Hi Howard, I'd leave it a few weeks if I were you. The sea temperature there is around 2 degrees, which is way colder than it should be at this time of the year. It's been really hard to catch from the boats, but the next couple of weeks should hopefully see things improve. The annual run of spring codling usually begins at the end of Feb, so I'd look to plan your trip around then or the start of March.

Well here's what the ASA (American Sportfishing Association) have to say on the matter! http://www.asafishing.org/newsroom/news_pr100509.html

What about 'shoot and release' Steve? This article clearly focusses on Grouse shooting, Pheasant shooting, Deerstalking and Salmon fishing. All of which are kept for the table. I don't think many (if any) salmon are released once caught in Scotland. Yet again, like you say, the phrases used in this article are way out of line.

"Sir, People who catch and kill fish for fun are demanding the deaths of otters who catch fish in order to survive. “Country sports” enthusiasts are already responsible for the deaths of countless animals — possibly running into the millions — as they “protect” their target species until they are ready to shoot or catch them. Now otters may be added to that ill-fated list. Such selfishness and savagery should not be tolerated". Kate Fowler - Head of Campaigns, Animal Aid I don't think that Kate Fowler realises that if it weren't for anglers there probably wouldn't be any otters in the UK. Who is it that looks after our inland waterways? The EA. And who pays for most of that? Us anglers that buy rod licenses. The EA are pretty quick to react to chemical spillages and other disasters that help protect our rivers and lakes. They also do a hell of a lot of maintenance and routine work to many of our waterways to make sure each individual environment thrives. Sorry Kate, but you can't have it both ways.

And I bet the doddering old fart doesn't also realise that this so called 'entertainment' results in some bloody great grub on the plate. 'Deerstalking, Pheasant shooting and Salmon fishing'. I think it's a great idea. Good on the Scottish Country Sports Tourism Group! More of the same please throughout the entire UK!

Ha ha ha. Brilliant. We should have asked the bookies what odds they would give us. I suppose it'll go on, and on, and on forever. It's like Groundhog research. I bet there are marine scientists up and down the country wiping hard drives and burning papers to detroy the evidence so they can all get funding and do it all again for another 15 years. Talk about an easy life.

LOL, he's not a happy chappy is he? I just can't see how a few otters can eat £40,000 of fish from one lake? Did the lake just have two dozen ornamental kois in it or something? I wasn't aware that the entire country was being overun by otters either. I thought that they were few in numbers. Unless, of course, the otters he's talking about are jet black and have wings? I'm sorry, but if you stand by and watch the fishing lake that you've leased for over 65 years go down the pan then you've got something wrong with your head.

I think it's about time you wrote something for the National Press Steve. You write extremely well, and I'm sure some of the major papers would welcome some words from you. Name and Shame 'em so to speak.

I did hear a rumour over the festive period, that the AT were thinking of calling for a cull on Polish immigrants that were stealing carp for Christmas dinner and putting syndicate lake owners out of business - but it obviously never made the public domain!

It should be down to personal choice, of course. I love eating fish and so do my family. I always return most of what I catch. I never take small fish, even when they are well in size. I only take quality fish that will feed my family. Oh, and papiskMUSE I suggest you take up carp fishing and leave the sea fishing alone mate!

That is by far the biggest load of B******s I have ever had the displeasure of reading. No wonder you only made it half way through Elton! Just loved this bit that was repeated... yawn...over and over... yawn....again.....yawn.....throughout the... yawn... document. "• Providing more and bigger fish using a variety of tools and mechanisms" Well, I'm off to me shed to get me chainsaw and angle grinder, plus a few pulleys and cogs to see if I can't go save those poor eels that we all keep murdering!

If you really want to protect eels, surely the easiest thing to do is kill all the pike, perch, chub, kingfishers, grebes and cormorants found in/ along the rivers that the elvers swim up? Then there'll be loads for the commercial lads to take - happy days!

Well, I have read Keith's little gem in the latest AT and I too am very confused with what he has written. It's under the title 'We don't need this rubbish!'. Keith is way off the mark as far as the article that Steve wrote for me is concerned. I think the biggest joke in Keith's piece is the dig at Boat Fishing Monthly magazine not 'doing its job' and the implication that I don't check my facts as an editor. Yet again Keith is totally wrong. As Steve has mentioned previously on this thread, all the 'facts' in the article came from the AT themselves - work that one out? As far as charter boats catching 200 cod, again I'm afraid Keith dropped another clanger there. I know a handful of boats that have come very close to that number on many occasions over the past two years in the Channel. Like your respected UK charter skipper source said - most anglers tend to move off the fish when they've caught enough, but I'm afraid there are still crews that want to fill their freezers up. It's not that hard to catch 20 cod per man with 10 lads on the boat at some specific marks in the Channel mid summer these days - I've been there and done it myself two years on the trot. However, I prefer to catch half a dozen then sit back and take pictures as the rest of the crew fish on. Fishing News were factually correct when they said some boats have caught 200 cod in the 6-8lb range in the past. In fact this year the average size was much larger than that, but the numbers were the same. It's nothing to be proud of in this day and age, but it does still go on and you're talking less than one tenth of a percent of all the charter trips that take place each year. I hope you read this Keith. You're being fed 'duff info' mate. Do you actually read Steve's aricles? Or do you make assuptions on what somebody else tells you he's written? I would suggest the latter. In my opinion your latest column was just a cheap shot at myself and Boat Fishing Monthly magazine.

And Barry, thank you for posting the e-mail on this forum. Whether or not the original sender is legit doesn't matter really, the important thing is that such an e-mail was sent to so many people in the first place. The last thing we need is a full scale slagging match - what we need is Angling Unity (that name rings a bell...)

Hi Mark, I think we have an idea who sent the e-mail round. The problem is that it was sent to a large number of anglers and influential people who may have believed it. I thank you for coming on here and clarifying the situation. Like I said, the offer to promote the AT in BFM each month is still there when you are ready. If you want to just crash something out each month and e-mail it to me, I'll tidy it up and mail it back for approval before publication. Even if it's just a few hundred words on anything at all that the AT are doing for sea anglers - it's a start. I know you're a busy chap and you need more funding, but it's a catch 22 situation for you as far as I see. If you don't promote the AT to sea anglers through the myriads of free channels available, then take up on membership is still going to be slow - which equals less money to employ more staff and build a force to be reckoned with. The longer it takes for membership to grow, and the work that the AT is doing to become public knowledge, the more time there is for bad feeling and wrong opinions to be formed - which again equalls less money to build with. Regards, DB

Well, well, well gentlemen, this is a rather large can of worms to be opening isn't it? The truth is, I have kept each and every e-mail sent and received between myself and the Angling Trust. They completely dispell this latest load of rubbish being circulated. The truth is I contacted the AT soon after the 'big' launch and offered them a page in Boat Fishing Monthly every month, but had no response. Then, my advertising manager did exactly the same, but again, no response. I agreed with Mark Lloyd to print a 'right to reply' feature, word for word, after someone obviously read one of Steve's articles, which I did. I also said at the time that I would help in any way that I could to promote the AT through the pages of BFM by giving them editorial space if they could get copy to me. But surprise, surprise - I had no more contact. Contrary to popular belief, I am a very busy man and don't have time to 'mother' large organisations that should have the manpower and staff available to prepare 800 words every month. As for the quote supposedly from ex BFM editor Jim Whippy, I can assure you that I am very interested in going fishing - I love it, it's a way of life for me - a religion. But, I am also VERY interested in angling politics, which is why I choose to print Steve's article each month, and have my own say at the end of each one. To show my readers exactly what's going on right under our noses. Yes, I have an opinion - but that opinion has been based on the shoddy, 'we don't care' attitude of the organisation that is supposed to be protecting our sport. I can't do any more than offer free editorial space in the magazine to promote the AT. They point blank have refused to take me up on the offer - unlike the Welsh Federation, the Scottish Federation and the old NFSA did when I was editor of Total Sea Fishing magazine - they all had regular pages that were well written by people within the various organisations. It seems to me (based purely on the fact that I have had very little, if any communication with the AT) that the Angling Trust is really not that interested in sea anglers. If I were offered free editorial space every month - published word for word and not re-written to suit the magazine's political slant (just tidied up where grammar is concerned), I would jump at the chance to reach more potential membership. This has obviously not been the case with the AT, and one has to wonder why? We're all very busy, far busier than we were two or three years ago. Staff cutbacks and tightening of the purse strings has seen to that. Surely the AT have someone that knows what's actually going on within the organisation that could string a few sentences together every month? I'm not bitter about the AT as an idea for an organisation, I'm just concerned that the left hand doesn't even know where the right hand is, let alone what it's doing. And that is not the way to protect our sport. Any organisation worth its salt should be sending out press releases to all the major magazines and jumping at the chance to reach as many potential members as possible. They should be on these forums, and all the smaller local club forums, doing everything they can to gain support - not 'waiting' for anglers to come to them. As for this supposed e-mail that's 'doing the rounds' within the inner circle. There is no excuse for circulating e-mails in the public domain that are both defamatory and plainly wrong. The offer of a page per month for the AT in Boat Fishing Monthly still stands as it always has done. But I doubt anyone within the realms of deepest, darkest AT land will ever take me up on it! You can't help the helpless.