Disclosure

[Peter Waller]

Why, bug*er me gently, I'm much the wiser for all that!

 

I'm going fishing, far less stressful!

[Graham Elliott]

Just for the record.

I had posted on 2 subject threadss the week before this thread even started.

 

 

Graham

[Rocca]

Hello AN,

"Smallminded and selfish" one here. I will not comment on Lees personal attack on me, not worth the effort.

 

Budgie,

Lee called all members of Hazelford Piscatorials "greedy" and painted an untrue picture of the society. How can you think it wrong of members of said society to come on here and defend themselves? If it "****s" you off that they are new posters, and its seems only Godolphin is by the way, and you dont know all the background then you should read another thread instead.

 

This is a well read site and people like Lee shouldnt be allowed to get away with personal attacks and truth bending. Such personal comments would have been "moderated" on many a forum.

 

I would have posted earlier myself but felt no need as the Eelfisher has put the record straight.

 

Regards,

 

Tony.

PS. Good site by the way.

[Peter Waller]

Hi Tony, welcome to AN. Thank you for a very reasonable and moderate reply to the thread in question. It is a pity that all of those opposed to Lees's posting have not replied in a similar style.

 

Lee, bless him, is Lee. Yes, he can be outspoken and yes, he can dig himself some very big holes; and yes, many of us are not happy with his involvement with the RSSG; and yes, he can be offensive; but for all that some of us regard him as a friend that we have never met. On balance his heart is in the right place!!

[dogfish]

Peter

I am certainly not opposed to Lee's postings and have found many of them entertaining and thought provoking in the past,Especially when they are about fishing.

I originally posted after the post on the HPS and Tony in particular.OK Names where not named nor the venue mentioned but a lot of people knew what it was all about.Surely a direct question would have been better rather than the way the original post was framed.

I feel that I was also subjected to unnecessary Questioning about my opinion and involvement,indeed,even my status as a 'Trent Angler' (if that is important).On that score a few people may be surprised at how long and to what extent I have been involved.

I have not chosen to make my fishing a public matter and have always been pretty secretive and solitary.

Surely we should all be free to post without being attacked or scrutinised for so doing.

I think if you want to raise questions about other anglers and their motives then you should be prepared to answer similar questions yourself.If anyone chooses to make things personal then be prepared to 'reap the Whirlwind'

Best wishes

Cahal

[GlennB]

trent.barbeler:

Open to All. Keeping open to all fishing open for all is well worth the fight

Lee.

Hi Lee -

I have no clue about the background to all this .. it seems to run deep.

But maybe you can explain how you can be a champion of 'open to all' fishing, yet sing to us all about how you just bought private access to a stretch of the Trent?

Heavy irony? If so, it was too deep for at least this particular simple soul. I assumed your story of your horsey-field was true. Please explain.

 

cheers

 

Glenn

[Peter Waller]

Cahal, I agree with your general sentiment and I do think Lee owes you an explanation for his comments. Clearly he has gone to ground, which is a pity.

 

But there is an exception, in posting in public you are laying yourself open to scrutiny, we all do. Thankfully AN has a good history of fair moderation.

 

Yes, it has become personal, and long winded. That's regretable.

[trent.barbeler]

Dear Peter W,

 

Thanks for the character references mate. On the face of things, your assumptions of my humble self might just be right. Then again, they might just be wrong. A meet in person, a shake of a hand; Then you'd know. I would.

 

I also wish to apologise to the Barbel Fishing World ownership. In my humble defence I can say honestly that I didn't know the bus trip to Anglers Net land had left accidentally leaving the "gang" behind. Do you actually want them back? If so I'll pop them back in a hot air balloon!!

 

Land ownership? You'll never know. But Steve who's ten times sharper than the rest knows or should do. I reckon it’s you who are the mesmerizer Steve as I dont come close to you.

 

Moving on towards the "gang”, surely no one can doubt now that they exist? As I said, they attack anyone who dares to disagree with their opinions. As they have of course on here with me. Hunt’s in packs. No matter. I'm a big lad. But many don't post because of intimidation so I find this all so dreadfully sad. Stand up to em!! And "NEVER" post under a dodgy name. Especially when you've also made a career out of slagging others for doing it. Winks,winks as a famous golfer once said when he found his clubs full of "woodworm". Dowhh. Ask Steve. He'll get that as well probably.

 

Interesting how the "litter" issue was addressed? You know, the bit where I said it became impossible for the walking public to actually see any in the pitches? I told my camp that the litter would amazingly appear everywhere after I posted that one. Bingo. Regarding the council, I have written the appropriate letters and have also asked for a meeting. Best in the circumstances to clarify the whole of this litter/rubbish aspect because after all, angler’s reputations and their fishing are at stake here.

 

RSSG? When Ray and I resigned we did so for specific reasons. Some of those reasons were disclosed and some were not. We did not disclose certain reasons because we couldn't substantiate our growing suspicions at what was going off inside committee. Many things just didn't sit well. Still don’t. When we resigned it was noticeable that those left appeared to want to close the RSSG down as quickly as possible. We actually wondered why? Now, at the end of a long haul and obvious plants we see open to all Hazelford being taken over. How many old RSSG committee men are in this syndicate? The iron lady was not for turning but some undoubtedly did.

 

Again no matter. RSSG was a bad experience for Ray and me as we were made scapegoats for hidden agendas. Didn't anyone wonder why Ray and I resigned without consultation with the committee? It was the general membership of the RSSG I felt sorry for but our position became completely untenable.

 

Many thanks in this thread goes to Poldark. AN very own dear Dennis Darkin. He sees the truth and dares to suggest it. I did laugh Den when the BFW wanabe's attacked you and said you were posting anonymously!!! Talk about knows all knows nowt! Remarkable how they all wound their necks in when I told them you were actually quite “famous”.

 

Why is it I wonder when someone challenges opinion or actual deed within angling they get torn to pieces? I am not disputing that the Hazelford few don't have a right to do what they have done. I am not disputing that the Barnsley club also don't have the right to let these anglers have the white water swims either. But what "I" am doing is "challenging" this action. Challenging what is being said also.

 

It is interesting that no regard in this thread has been given to those who have fished this venue for years. The Hazelford few have simply swept these people from their minds presumably. Do they actually know any of these anglers? Anglers that have fished there in some instances for nearly fifty years? All of these litter louts I suppose??

 

Take Wilf and Peggy for instance, both now retired. Wilf left school at 13 and went straight down the pit where he worked until like many others before him, had to retire at 56 due to ill health caused by coal dust. They spent their life savings on a static caravan in the area spending a lot of their summers both fishing in the white water below Hazelford Weir. These pegs are always a sure banker for a few fish and are of course very sought after by people like Wilf and Peggy.

 

Then there's Billy Chapman and his life long pal James "Chivvy" Henshaw. Billy and Chivvy were best men at each others wedding and both worked at the "Ordinance" at Chillwell. Both also now retired fish together a couple of times a week in the summer. Chivvy has problems with his legs now so Billy helps his pal down to the river with his gear more often than not. Once again, Hazelford is their favourite venue as it’s always been a banker for catching fish.

 

I know around 20 more like these lovely people personally and scores more besides who are "nod or waving" acquaintances I have seen down the river for years.

 

Think now about these people. Think about what they have put into this venue over the years and how much it means to them. These are not rich people, just working class that have spent a life working hard whilst paying their way. These hard working people expected to fish this venue for the rest of their days like we all do elsewhere on our own favourite venues. (even the Hazelford syndicate have their own favourite venues close to their homes lets not forget that!) Many of these locals just fish for what comes along. They remember the days before barbel during their lives when roach were king along the Trent. Think now about your own local fishing if it was taken over? Move on somewhere else I suppose and just accept it? Why the bloody hell should you after a life time of giving support to the club who owned the fishery? Remember, Barnsley are a club with a membership. A lot of the regulars that fished this venue were members. How nice of their club to have consulted them as they gave their fishing away!!

 

Tony Rocca gets upset because I say one or two sharp things. Believe me; I have no words for what these people are doing to these local people who have fished this venue for many years. I would be ashamed if I did such a thing. Even more ashamed to be laughing at my actions. Laughing or feeling smug isn't going to plug the hole left in these lovely people’s hearts next season. So I'm not worth the effort am I? You've got off damned lightly Mr Rocca as I've got loads of things I want to say to you!! So have many more besides me!! But none of that will do our campaign any good so we’ll paper the bottom of Joey’s cage with that one!!

 

Also know this. If this venue held no barbel, I doubt that not one amongst this band would give a flying fig about the litter there or even the venue itself. This entire thing is not about litter. It’s about Trent barbel. Why didn't these people volunteer to bailiff the stretch if they are so concerned? Clean up the venue in an act of good faith in the close season like hundreds of thousands of hard working open to all club men do year in year out? If this issue was truly about cleaning up the venue or policing it properly why did they have to take the fishery over for themselves??

 

I think we all might know the answer to that one.

 

So shame on you all. Shame for your bully tactics on here. Shame for depriving all those "good" people from fishing this venue. Shame for blaming anything but your own personal interests. Shame for you saying all the things you did once before about another venue to then go and do exactly the same yourselves. And I get called a hypocrite??!! Give yourselves a talking to why don’t you.

 

And the obvious question. What am I going to do next? No. I’m not going to bang on infinitum on here. I'm going to challenge you all properly. I'm going to try my hardest to get Barnsley to reverse their decision. I'm going to campaign to keep open to all fishing open, for everyone that relies on it already for their fishing right throughout the UK. I will do this openly head on, not skulking behind corners or acting deceitfully. Because unless someone makes a stand, this sort of thing will spiral out of control until everyone’s fishing comes under threat. And fishing is all about getting away from it all, not wondering if the fishing will actually be there next year.

 

I'm also not alone in all this. I already have support from many. Not massive, but we are working on improving that. But in my case, I urged support in our camp "NOT" to post on this thread. For us, this is a serious matter to be addressed in a serious but level headed way. Open to all are us, not slanging matches so don’t expect me/us to enter into one.

 

So there you have it. An honest declaration of our intent for the future.

 

We are out of the trees. We’re coming.

 

Regards,

 

Lee.

[trent.barbeler]

Dear Cahal,

 

I responded to your post aimed directly at me,concerning what you assume I say and what I do on behalf of other anglers regading giving Trent fishing information "when asked".

 

In my reply, No offense was intended, implied, nor meant.

 

Dear Peter,

 

Gone to ground?? Have you been drinking? We don't like foxhunting. Do we??

 

Regards,

 

Lee.

[Peter Waller]

Taken at its face value, and I have no reason to doubt Lee, a well put together justification for what has been said. Thank you Lee. Just one small point, and if I don't ask it, someone else will, your own piece of Trent, how do you justify that? No, I'm not criticising, just curious!

 

As I understand the whole matter a Barnsley club has lost its water to a syndicate. That being the case then shame on all those involved in the syndicate.