Thick or what?

[Peter Waller]

Have just been down to Oulton Broad Yacht Station where there are scores, if not hundreds of holiday makers milling around enjoying the sun. Two keen youngsters were down there fishing, and scores were watching. One youngster, about 14 years old, was engrossed in sorting out his feeder rod, whilst ignoring his pole. Well, Angling Times has advised having a sleeper rod out, and he was intent on using his one. Downside was that the boys were fishing right beside where the grockles and izzets feed the swans. Yep, you guessed it. His pole tackle was picked up by a swan. Holiday makers turned away in disgust, and probably horror, as the boy whipped his pole around in the air trying to pull for a break.

 

The line did break and the boy was plainly angry at loosing his tackle. I walked across to him, explaining that fishing on top of feeding swans was not a wise thing to do, and that hooking a swan did it no favours, and that doing it in front of an audience was extremely damaging to the image of the sport. No, he didn't swear at me, but, in a raised voice, told me it wasn't his fault, the swan swam into his line.

 

There are times when the sport of angling does nothing to help itself. Okay, some will argue that we all have to learn. But isn't it a pity that that youngster had to teach himself rather than picking up wisdom from an older angler?

[Angly]

Hmmm,

 

I'm normally nodding my head of in agreement with your sage posts Peter, but...

 

My young step son (9) caught a gosling not so long ago, completely my fault (obviously I wasn't supervising well enough), and much to the disgust of it's parents I had to bring it in and unhook it (actually not hooked, line caught around leg), to release it apparently none the worse for it's experience. It's the first goose family to come round and see us for feeding now when we fish there!

 

After the kids initial catalogue of errors, could you not have shown him how to pull the swan in and unhook it?

[Peter Waller]

Hmmm,

After the kids initial catalogue of errors, could you not have shown him how to pull the swan in and unhook it?

 

I would have, if I could have. But I was initially too far away, actually in my car, and too slow to get there before the line snapped. The lad's elastic must have been right out, could we have pulled it in? I'm not so sure.

 

Okay, so maybe I have forgotten how it was to be young and that common sense has to be developed but in well over fifty years of angling I have never hooked a swan, not even as a child! Surely common sense should have kicked in? Or was it that I was lucky enough to have my own very wise Mr Crabtree? In fact several of them!

[Anderoo]

A lad trying to run before he can walk, and the result is a PR disaster and damage to the wildlife we say we help to protect.

 

If the bye laws are tightened up and our only justification to go fishing is because we happen to enjoy it, it's scenes like this that will be the final nail in the coffin. It won't take much to turn the public from mildly interested to defiantly anti - hooking a swan will certainly do it.

 

As will calling for otters to be 'controlled' because they happen to eat fish.

 

What would have happened if someone had videoed it and put it on the web or local news?

 

You can blame the modern fishing scene with it's multi rod set-ups and instant anglers, but honestly, how little common sense do you need to realise that if feeding swans are around you'd better be bloody careful?

[Peter Waller]

Thank you, Anderoo, exactly right.

[Dick Dastardly]

PR nightmare! Yet Ive had it happen twice to me in the years Ive fished.A tufty whilst floater fishing on an AN get together at that and a tern tern whiolst carping with multiple rods.

 

Yes the Tufty was my fault.Even though I was only using the one rod but a moments error in judgement allowed the bird to get hooked in its leg/body.Gentle persuassion brought it in and the small barbless hook slipped out but thank god no non anglers saw it it must have looked horrendous. Yes my fault.

 

The tern was in my mind as close to unavoidable as there is. A large flock of them decended on the lake in the evening and they were flying very low taking insects.One hit a line and the line caught inbetween its wing feathers.Once again fortunately no Joe Public and the bird released apparently none the worse.

 

Another time it seems to happen a lot is with swans at night.During the day they often cross multiple rod set ups and are quite happy to lift their feet over any lines they encounter.At night though its a different story! Whether they dont see the lines or are asleep I dont know.

 

I totally agree that most encounters can be avoided with a bit of commonsense and dilligence but not all.

 

Peter I think the young lads attitude might have come about more from the embarrasment of the situation?

 

Regretable but as Anderoo says its sights like this that will sway public opinion away from us,same as birds/animals caught up in discareded/lost tackle.

[Andy Macfarlane]

I can't deny being on the wrong end of a few birds in my time. At Ayr Harbour, many years ago, I caught a Great Black-Back Herring Gull, which was terrifying once I got the bird on land. Till then, it had been a live 'kite' on the end of my beachcaster. A good 200 yards of line stripped off my Penn in quick time and what a bend in the rod. If a Cod or a Pollack could do that, I'd give up pike fishing tomorrow. It dived for my mackerel strip on the cast, gobbled it instantly and then took to the sky. It took a good 5 minutes to wind it in. Once you have a Black-Back standing beside you, you realise they're actually very big and this one, although defeated by flight, was now ready for a ground fight. I can't deny absolutely crapping myself. It decided I wasn't much of a presence and decided on a head-to-head. Honestly, like to boxers sizing each other up, we were circling each other, deciding who is going for who first. They're really quite tall and these things swallow whole 2lb mackerel on one go and now I had to grab the thing, literally wrestle it to the ground, pile what weight I have on top and set about removing my 5/0 O'Shaughnessy from it's throat. It was bleeding but the injury was pretty minor and I dare say gulls have a pretty accommodating throat setup for swallowing spiny fish, tin cans, poodles and children. Letting it go again was the worst part. I've seen small gulls diving at people and I really didn't fancy a gull with a near 6 foot wingspan and a 10" beak going berserk. Luckily it must have been so frightened by the experience, it bolted as soon as I let go but I was shaking. That's the worst by far.

 

I've caught probably half a dozen cormorants on deadbaits, at a depth of 40-50 feet! The difference on the alarms is obvious. It's not so much a run as a smoke-inducing scream from the alarm. The swinger head whacks off the reel and then you watch as the line peels off your spool in quick time. You actually start to wonder if there's enough line on your spool!! What do you do? You can't strike it. You can't just flip the bail-arm so you just watch in wonder, hoping for the best. Normally the cormorants surface with your bait across it's bill and then you see if you can coax the bird to drop it with a few tugs. Sometimes they drop it but sometimes the hook finds a hold and then you have to wind the thing in. Cormorants are unusually compliant though. They seem to know that you're trying to help and they behave themselves quite admirably. It could just be stupidity but I'd like to think they know. They're not nearly as terrifying as gulls either. There's not a lot to them under all those feathers.

 

I also caught a swan with a Salmo slider one day. I was fiddling about with my multiplier on the boat and my slider was hanging about 3 feet from the tip of my rod. This big swan, which had been hanging around, obviously looking for food for a while, just reached over the side of the boat and grabbed the lure. "Oh flip!!" (or words to that effect!), I've got a birdsnest (how ironic) and the swan now has a treble in it's bill. If it flies now, I'm in trouble. I've heard all the "Break your arms and legs and drown you they can!" stories but I'm less gullible. It's a swan, not Joe Calzaghe . I grabbed it by the neck and quickly unhooked it, Luckily I had crushed barbs and the point hadn't gone in more than a couple of millimetres. That was one angry swan. It was making itself look as impressive as possible and hissing for all it's worth. It's all show though. It preened it's feathers, shook it's head in disgust and paddled off looking decidedly ruffled by the whole experience. He's been back though. He's ringed, well used to walking along the bank and he's well nosey. He'll stride right up and root about in your bags for a sarnie and as far as he's concerned, you're just a spectator.

[Gav Walker]

I've had a few accidental bird captures over the years, as have most anglers i would imagine. i think the point is we should have the sense to be carefull when the danger is obvious.

surely its just common sense regardless of your angling experience?

gav

[Dick Dastardly]

Exactly Gav.

[Andy Macfarlane]

Common sense is right but it doesn't always stop it happening.