Leon Roskilly

I had my first mullet of the season earlier today. 7lbs 10oz! (My previous PB was the last fish of last season - 5lb 8oz) I was too excited to continue fishing so packed up. My hands are still shaking!! Tight Lines - leon

I'll be dropping in too, to help out Tight Lines - leon

I'll be dropping in too, to help out Tight Lines - leon

In many places, around the world (some quite surprising places in fact) the value of recreational angling has been recognised, fish given sports status, marine reserves created, angling promoted. But nowhere has this happened because the authorities took the initiative. It's always come about through anglers, fed up with years of moaning and nothing changing (except for the worse), actually getting organised and working to bring about change. Tight Lines - leon

quote: Originally posted by chesters1: [QB]you wont get a reform ,johnie foreigner would prevent it. [QB] Like here Chesters? http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/news/articles/86.html Tight Lines - leon

Some observations from Malcolm Gilbert, commenting on the New York Times Editorial "Troubled Seas": 'Couple of points of interest. The 200 mile EEZ did not prevent US domestic fleets from overfishing AND nor would withdrawal from the EU prevent the UK fleet from depleting stocks! Despite much rhetoric from UK commercial fishing spokespersons, I am of the opinion that even if foreign fleets were excluded from inside the 200 mile/median line, the increased enthusiasm (and investment/effort) from the UK fleet would lead to an even worse overfishing situation.' Our fishermen are no saints, falling for the 'Rotten Johny Foreigner' argument put about by the powerful UK fishing lobby does the fish no favours at all. The Icelandic fisheries are geographically isolated. The cod we find in our waters in the winter, go to other European waters in the spring. Our bass move offshore to spawn. Unless we co-operate in the good management of our fisheries within the EU, everyone will grab what's available to be grabbed before it moves on and to the next nation's waters. The proper reform of the Common Fisheries Policy is our best hope for the future, and believe me, like it or not, it's the only deck on the table. Tight Lines - leon

Well, they've put back the announcement of the results of the CFP review, now the online chat with with the European Fisheries Minister, Commissioner Fischler has been postponed too, to 17th June See details at http://europa.eu.int/comm/chat/fischler2/index_en.htm Still, on the bright side, this gives Sea Anglers even more time to frame questions and ask them in advance (details of where to email questions are given on the site) Let's not waste the oportunity. Tight Lines - leon Sea Anglers' Conservation Network (SACN) http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/sacn/ [ 09 May 2002, 03:23 PM: Message edited by: Leon Roskilly ]

You can get all the details at http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk You can also read some of the excuses that license dodgers try out and pay your license fee online Tight Lines - leon

You can get all the details at http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk You can also read some of the excuses that license dodgers try out and pay your license fee online Tight Lines - leon

Not sure whether it's still the case, but they have a right of access to your property to see whether you have 'equipment capable of receiving a television signal'. I feel pretty aggrieved because I have to pay the full BBC licence fee, but I'm living in an area where we can't receive BBC channel 5, nor can we receive any 'free to air' digital channels through the arial, even if I was to buy one of those new Pace Technology digital receiver boxes (cost £100, but no subscription needed). (It took a long time before we could receive a Nicam stereo signal) So, all that licence money going into developing services which I can't use You used to be able to pay a different scale to watch colour or black and white. Why do I have to pay full whack for services I can't access? TL - leon

Not sure whether it's still the case, but they have a right of access to your property to see whether you have 'equipment capable of receiving a television signal'. I feel pretty aggrieved because I have to pay the full BBC licence fee, but I'm living in an area where we can't receive BBC channel 5, nor can we receive any 'free to air' digital channels through the arial, even if I was to buy one of those new Pace Technology digital receiver boxes (cost £100, but no subscription needed). (It took a long time before we could receive a Nicam stereo signal) So, all that licence money going into developing services which I can't use You used to be able to pay a different scale to watch colour or black and white. Why do I have to pay full whack for services I can't access? TL - leon

Not as much as with the Germans! Walking back to the bar in our hotel with a dutch colleague, a car pulled over and the driver said something in foreign. Our colleage went over, and after a short conversation the car did a tyre screaming U-turn and went back the way from whence it came. Where's he going we asked. 'He wanted directions to the Holiday Inn' said Jos, 'So I told him to go back to the motorway, drive South to the next exit, then follow the signs for Leiden. He would eventually see the sign for the Holiday Inn' 'But Jos' we remonstrated, 'He just had to turn left and he would be there!' 'Ah yes!' said Jos, 'But he was German!' Thinking about it afterwards, Jos had given exact and precise directions, which would have eventually got the guy to the hotel. The mistake the German had made was not to ask for the quickest route to the hotel!! Another subtle facet of dutch humour TL - leon

Not as much as with the Germans! Walking back to the bar in our hotel with a dutch colleague, a car pulled over and the driver said something in foreign. Our colleage went over, and after a short conversation the car did a tyre screaming U-turn and went back the way from whence it came. Where's he going we asked. 'He wanted directions to the Holiday Inn' said Jos, 'So I told him to go back to the motorway, drive South to the next exit, then follow the signs for Leiden. He would eventually see the sign for the Holiday Inn' 'But Jos' we remonstrated, 'He just had to turn left and he would be there!' 'Ah yes!' said Jos, 'But he was German!' Thinking about it afterwards, Jos had given exact and precise directions, which would have eventually got the guy to the hotel. The mistake the German had made was not to ask for the quickest route to the hotel!! Another subtle facet of dutch humour TL - leon

quote: Originally posted by chesters1: [QB]who do these govening bodies govern???? [QB] They govern the 'sport' and (as I understand it) are responsible for the rules governing the sport. Note, I say sport and not pastime. So, unless you are a match angler they won't bother you much. And even if you are, and you are fishing a match not run under NFA rules, you needn't be too bothered Think of it like cricket. If you want to play a match on the local green, using two sticks instead of 3, as a wicket, as long as everyone is happy to play to those rules on both teams, who cares. But if you want to play at Lords, or against a county team, it's cricket's governing body who are responsible for the rules (er, laws actually!) you will play under. The problem is that being a governing body, they are recognised by the authorities as the official representatives of the 'sport' at the highest level, and it is their advice to government etc which might affect you in some way. You can moan about it, who cares? You can join them and add your tiny voice to all the other members seeking to influence them. Or you can step forward and play an active role (for little thanks, a lot of criticism, and very little time for fishing). Like it or not, that's the way of it! Tight Lines - leon

Yes, some people draw a distinction. The problem is that fish reared in the warmer climes, south of Englands chalky cliffs, grow faster and bigger. So, imported mature fish would easily smash the national records. Want to be the holder of the UK carp record? Easy, just import a big fish from the south of France, put it into a local lake and wham! the record is yours. So, some people think that there should be separate record lists for fish bred and born in the UK. Some folks will only fish for such fish. Some will denigrate the targeting of non-native fish! Me, I reckon that a Medway caught mullet is worth at least two of any mullet caught elsewhere!! Tight Lines - leon See the latest Medway Mullet Group newsletter at http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/medway

Yes, some people draw a distinction. The problem is that fish reared in the warmer climes, south of Englands chalky cliffs, grow faster and bigger. So, imported mature fish would easily smash the national records. Want to be the holder of the UK carp record? Easy, just import a big fish from the south of France, put it into a local lake and wham! the record is yours. So, some people think that there should be separate record lists for fish bred and born in the UK. Some folks will only fish for such fish. Some will denigrate the targeting of non-native fish! Me, I reckon that a Medway caught mullet is worth at least two of any mullet caught elsewhere!! Tight Lines - leon See the latest Medway Mullet Group newsletter at http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/medway

Each 'sport' has a governing body, recognised by the the government as representing that sport. The National Federation of Anglers are the recognised governing body of coarse angling. (The Salmon and Trout Association are the governing body for game fishermen, the National Federation of Sea Anglers for our saltwater friends) With three governing bodies representing angling, the government was sometimes a little confused about what they were supposed to be doing for anglers (each body seemed to want conflicting things at times). So we have 'unity' in the form of the National Angling Alliance (NAA). As there was some contention within angling as to whether the three recognised governing bodies was truly representative of all anglers, some other players were also invited onto the NAA (eg the Specialist Anglers Alliance) I could go on and on here, but that's enough!! Tight Lines - leon

I've had pike take all sorts of baits not meant for them, but it's rare enough to be an occasion when it happens. Have you had a visit from a flock of cormorants recently? Tight Lines - leon

I've had pike take all sorts of baits not meant for them, but it's rare enough to be an occasion when it happens. Have you had a visit from a flock of cormorants recently? Tight Lines - leon

They've got foxes! Imported by early colonial gentlemen who missed their Sunday hunt wearing pink coats. Running down kangaroos with a pack of dogs didn't seem to be the same thing at all! We'd get £20 for a fox's skin, back when I was hunting the Australian bush with a rifle circa 1964. Oz has long been isolated from the rest of the world's flora and fauna, and as a result alien plants and creatures can explode in numbers. I remember trying to hack through paddocks of giant Scotch thistle outside of Melbourne. Apparently some scotsman had passed that way by stagecoach, throwing thistle seeds to the wind. If the thistles weren't bad enough, prickly pear made progress difficult. Then there were the blackberry thickets, much taller and thicker than those in Britain. (As an aside, did you know that blackberries were spread in Britian during roman times? They spread out the distance of a days march per year. Legionnaires would eat blackberries for breakfast, and their seeds would be deposited when they next had a dump!). Back to Oz. The mimosa (sensitivity) plant sometimes made walking barefoot painful when I lived in Cairns, though it was fascinating to see my footprints plants 'squirming' behind me in the grass. Again Mimosa is spreading like wildfire, causing a lot of ecological damage. Then there was the cane toads, imported to wipe out the alien cane beetles (hundreds of toads in my back yard when it rained. And boy did it rain during the wet!), not to mention wild pigs and camels. Signs in Victorian woodland warning you to be careful of the packs of wild dogs (Alsation/dingo crosses are nasty animals!) And they were talking about introducing rhino, to help preserve the species! Tight Lines - leon

They've got foxes! Imported by early colonial gentlemen who missed their Sunday hunt wearing pink coats. Running down kangaroos with a pack of dogs didn't seem to be the same thing at all! We'd get £20 for a fox's skin, back when I was hunting the Australian bush with a rifle circa 1964. Oz has long been isolated from the rest of the world's flora and fauna, and as a result alien plants and creatures can explode in numbers. I remember trying to hack through paddocks of giant Scotch thistle outside of Melbourne. Apparently some scotsman had passed that way by stagecoach, throwing thistle seeds to the wind. If the thistles weren't bad enough, prickly pear made progress difficult. Then there were the blackberry thickets, much taller and thicker than those in Britain. (As an aside, did you know that blackberries were spread in Britian during roman times? They spread out the distance of a days march per year. Legionnaires would eat blackberries for breakfast, and their seeds would be deposited when they next had a dump!). Back to Oz. The mimosa (sensitivity) plant sometimes made walking barefoot painful when I lived in Cairns, though it was fascinating to see my footprints plants 'squirming' behind me in the grass. Again Mimosa is spreading like wildfire, causing a lot of ecological damage. Then there was the cane toads, imported to wipe out the alien cane beetles (hundreds of toads in my back yard when it rained. And boy did it rain during the wet!), not to mention wild pigs and camels. Signs in Victorian woodland warning you to be careful of the packs of wild dogs (Alsation/dingo crosses are nasty animals!) And they were talking about introducing rhino, to help preserve the species! Tight Lines - leon

Whilst we in the UK are accidentally getting rid of barbel and roach etc by turning them all into females, guess what the Aussies are up to! http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?...p?id=ns99992255 I know that Oz is a man's country, but male only carp. Isn't that taking it to extremes? Didn't myxamatosis come from Australia? Imagine if someone decides to start illegally importing their genetically modified carp! Tight Lines - leon

Whilst we in the UK are accidentally getting rid of barbel and roach etc by turning them all into females, guess what the Aussies are up to! http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?...p?id=ns99992255 I know that Oz is a man's country, but male only carp. Isn't that taking it to extremes? Didn't myxamatosis come from Australia? Imagine if someone decides to start illegally importing their genetically modified carp! Tight Lines - leon

True Story! My friend and I were working on contract in Holland, and out for a bar meal before drinking copious amounts of alcohol on expenses. The food was good and plentiful and at the end of the meal Peter pushed his almost empty plate away with the observation 'I'm full'. The elderly Dutch gentlemen at the next bar stool regarded him quizically. 'Why do you want to tell everybody that you are a fool?' he enquired. Peter, thought for a moment, and slowly attempted to explain to the 'foreigner'. 'No, no, I meant that I have had enough to eat' The dutchman replied 'Ah, so you are fed up!' .......... Peter's mouth opened again to explain further, then he saw the warning twinkle in the old guy's eye. Not only are the Dutch the world's best multi-linguists, they love puns!! Tight Lines - leon

True Story! My friend and I were working on contract in Holland, and out for a bar meal before drinking copious amounts of alcohol on expenses. The food was good and plentiful and at the end of the meal Peter pushed his almost empty plate away with the observation 'I'm full'. The elderly Dutch gentlemen at the next bar stool regarded him quizically. 'Why do you want to tell everybody that you are a fool?' he enquired. Peter, thought for a moment, and slowly attempted to explain to the 'foreigner'. 'No, no, I meant that I have had enough to eat' The dutchman replied 'Ah, so you are fed up!' .......... Peter's mouth opened again to explain further, then he saw the warning twinkle in the old guy's eye. Not only are the Dutch the world's best multi-linguists, they love puns!! Tight Lines - leon