Do they ever learn

[Anderoo]

A great ambassador for the sport, not to mention public face of a company or 'star writer' of a magazine. If I had any business ties with him he'd have been gone after his last little episode, let alone this one. A bit sad that a 'star' angler can behave like this with impunity isn't it?

 

The difference between him or others like him and the rest of us nobodies is that we're not the public face of a company or the sport itself. He brings angling down with him.

[Dick Dastardly]

Ive been watching this thread without comment up till now. First of all let me say that allthough I have met Nige I only "know him" the same as most oin here ie through his "celebrity status" This celebrity status has brought him a lot of advantages and of course brings him the bad things as well.BUT it must be remebered that to a greater extent he has created this "celebrity status" himself.Yes I know that its the press that does this but you have to publisise your catchs in the first place,something we all have a choice to do or not. Also when the press starts to build you up as the next angling star you can either go with it (indeed even encorouge it) or nip it in the bud very quickly.

 

Every ones veiws to this are different.Some just dont want it as they think it will interfere with their fishing,others want it because they think it will help/enhance their fishing.Some do it as they think the publicity will help any buisness interests they may have.And some of course do it just for their own ego.

 

I suppose the same can be said for publicity seekers in any walk of life. As indeed can the fact that if you want all of the so called benifits from your self created celebrity then you must also accept the downside.

 

I have no smpathy for Williams but neither do I try and take the moral high ground by looking down on what he has done. I have broken several angling rules over the years a will most likely never be whiter than white....but also I take nothing for my angling other than the personal pleasure it gives me. Also maybe I would be tempted to do an insurance fiddle on my boat if I could afford insurance in the first place! Point is though that if I was caught for either I seriously doubt that anyone else other than the law would give two hoots yet alone want to discuss it!

 

When he broke the Law by getting caught moving baits to Ireland he did himself no favours with the defence he offered which insulted the intelligence of both the authorities and other anglers.I would have thought that people who pay him to use his celebrity for buisness reasons would have easily been able to ignore this indescretion as his value as a sucsessfull angller to them would have been of far more importance.This recent situation though is different. I dont think its really a matter to be disscussed on a fishing website and certainly has no reflection on any angling issues that surround the guy.It does indicate the guys moral charecter though.

 

My main annoyance though is once again some one who has made a good living from pike angling has once again brought it in to disrepute raising many of the more angling related issues.

 

No in my opinion he has made his own bed and must lie in it.

 

Mark,I do agree that many anglers slag "known" anglers off just because they are "known" without actually knowing them or anything about them other than what they have read. Its wrong and does get on my tits,classis British lets knock them if they are sucsessfull. But I refer back to my point of its only yourself that can make yourself known.

[Stretpegger]

Well said Budgie you have spoken a lot of common sense there.It is indeed a British trait to knock any high flyers etc off their perch.

 

Must admit i have mixed feelings on the whole celebrity angler cult that seems to dominate the angling press these days.I sometimes feel all their "star status" goes to their head in their articles.I have also been fortunate or should that be unfortunate to bump into a few of these guys on the bank over the years.The majority it has to be said are decent enough guys,but some are just downright arrogant and rude.Make you wonder if they have had a sense of humour bypass.Certainly im sure the PR dept of the tackle companies they are sponsored by would shudder at their antics!

[peterpikefisher]

if you do the crime then you do the time

then after that keep your ar*e in the air and your nose to the floor and work things out (go strait)

don't be a silly ar*e again in time you may be forgiven for your past failings.

[dant]

Budgie thats a very well reasoned and written viewpoint from an obviously experienced angler who's probably seen one or two things in his time. I pretty much agree entirely.

 

The two cases could very well be taken as an example of how the natural environment is held in regard at this point in time.

The first err of the angler in questions judgement and in my opinion by far the worst of the two could of had potentially (however large or small) terrible consequences, is met by a small fine and then the second, a bogus insurance claim is met by a much stiffer sentence.

 

The livebait thing is pretty much indefensible. The second offence is less so to a certain extent. I don't know if the guy is a full time angler or not, if so, how much cash do you earn from that? Nobody knows the circumstances behind it. Were there any personal reasons that pushed him into making the desicion or was it just pure greed.

The second offence dosn't really to my mind have too much bearing of angling itself regardless of whether he's a famous fisherman or not. The fact it was a boat dosn't really make much difference, would it be different if it were the carpets in his house.

Would say a known writer get lambasted for trying to pull off a claim on his computer?

Insurance companies are, as many of us know personally, far from upstanding keepers of morals.

 

The guy might just be a bit shifty and may of gotten away with all sorts of things in his angling 'career', nobody knows or will know.

A soiled reputation will probably turn out to be far more costly both finacially and mentally than any fines he occurs.

 

Just my opinion on a matter I know very little about, like everyone else.

[Guest tigger]

Insurance companies are, as many of us know personally, far from upstanding keepers of morals.

 

 

 

Agreed......I think they're more corrupt than the criminals!

[Neil G]

IMO I don't think anyone will know the full story of either incident.

 

I hope he manages to recover from this and regain some credibiltity

[Peter Waller]

If we except that angling is a sport then rules and standards must be accepted. Cheat and you are disqualified, that is what gives a sport some form of credibility.

 

Williams is a disgrace to himself, a disgrace to our sport.

[Neil G]

Lots of people bending the rules in this sport though due to it not being policed thoroughly.

 

What Williams did was bad and he's going to get rightly punished for it but he's one person. At the end of the day angling, and in particular the EA need to get on the case to sort out more of the 'dodgers' out there (and polish of course). lol

[pikergonecarpin]

After seeing the free disgorgers in Angers Mail this week i decided to buy it (just for the disgorgers honest!, i'm always losing them) I even decied to give it a read!

 

Inside there was a small article on Nige's misdemeanor, it states that he has been dropped as a columnist for them. I wonder if Greys will now follow suit?

 

I'm not sure what to think on this. He's obviously a great angler, but this boat thing and the smuggling incident last time have seriously cast doubt on his credibility imo.

 

Paul.

Edited August 7, 2008 by pikergonecarpin