Fishing Patrols

[Fastd]

Had a few hour to kill today so decided to visit a venue on the outskirts of Leeds that I used to fish as a kid back in the late seventies.

 

The venue is on the edge of a very large council estate and has always been a venue where you wonder if your car would survive the day, many of the swims had dumped cars in them, glue sniffers and drug addicts were rife and how any kind of wildlife survives near the pond with number of airifles around ever survived I will never know.

 

Its a pond i fished a lot as a teanager as the locals "knew my dad" and so I had no problems as a kid.

 

How things change.

 

Over the years the pond has gradually been developed by the council. No local clubs would take it on due to the associated problems. The brickworks and kilns knocked down. The bridal path blocked off to stop boy racers dumping cars. The area has been landscaped with gravel paths and concrete pegs replacing the previous knee deep sticky grey clay that stuck to absolutely everything...all in all amassive improvement. Its never been stocked but last time I fished it I had 3 tench about 4 lbs each and 21 roach for 22lb...not bad for a free venue.

 

So its half term, theres lots of kids fishing it and a few who knew what they were doing. My question to the first angler I met of "catching owt" was answered with "not since the poles started fishing it".

 

Its not the first time I have heard this as another local pond has had problems with carp being crossbowed and filleted during the summer. Seems a group of eastern europeans have been fishing and removing everything they catch, including the spawning tench in the edge. The guy I was talking to said he had caught only 4 tench that year compared to the previous years "hundreds".

 

It was a nice day so I sat down and watched him fish. Shortly after a voice called from the top of the bank "caught owt" and I turned round to see a "coppa" ( well actually a community support officer ) in full livery. Turns out that there have been so many reports of illegal fish removals that it has been put on the rounds of the local community officer (who happens to be an angler) and he expressed his commitment to educate the offending party.

 

Seems that as license payers you have rights to ensure that laws are not broken ...and to anyone who fishes lakes where these kind of offences are being alledged it may well be worth contacting the local community support officer. they may only be pretendie police but they look the part!

 

Cheers

Dave

[stuchef]

a very fine point you have made sir.

 

i was stationed in northern ireland for 3 years only got back march this year alot of the club men i use to fish with had experienced this with the bream out of the lower bann. 1 day 1 of the lads was fishing and down from the higher pegs walks 3 eastern europeans carrying 3 big carrot sacks full of bream there must of been close to 100lb of fish.

 

only thing is you will find these groups can quite often carry weapons around with them and there also in groups of 3 or more so the lone angler on the bank can not allways aproach these people.

 

as for contacting the community support officer brilliant idea however this is not the first time i have heard this argument i belive it needs to be going further and more needs to be done to educate and if need be bring some kind of law enforcement into the equation

 

tight lines

stu

[dapper64]

This is a subject I feel quite strongly about,there have been a lot of carp taken out of the canal and a still water where I live ,both these waters are club waters.these people come to live in our country and I am told they work hard but that doesn't give them the right fish our waters for free or eat the fish they catch,I work hard and I pay to fish these waters but I put my fish back for other anglers to catch.If something is'nt done to stop fish theft then there are going to be lot less fish for a lot more anglers to catch because if the people taking fish knew the law and obeyed it I suspect they wouldn't fishing at all. If they started killing all the pheasants and deer on private estates there would be hell to pay.

Edited October 23, 2007 by dapper64

[Ken L]

Shh ! Its not happening and you're being a nasty racist for even suggesting such a thing.

BTW. I don't even bother trying to fish my local lakes anymore because all the bigger fish have simply been removed. Must have been the pixies that had them away.

[dapper64]

Shh ! Its not happening and you're being a nasty racist for even suggesting such a thing.

BTW. I don't even bother trying to fish my local lakes anymore because all the bigger fish have simply been removed. Must have been the pixies that had them away.

or the frogs (there I go being a nasty racist again)or the toads.

[Guest Brumagem Phil]

Shh ! Its not happening and you're being a nasty racist for even suggesting such a thing.

BTW. I don't even bother trying to fish my local lakes anymore because all the bigger fish have simply been removed. Must have been the pixies that had them away.

 

 

So why do they only take the BIG fish ken? After all, a 7 or 8 pound carp will feed a fair few people.

 

The big fish get taken by people who wish to stock other pools. Have you ever fished Lifford reservoir? Theres a handful of 30's in there and at least 60 20's........where do you think they came from?

 

You just wait till the pixies start dropping 20's into the currently empty (or is it???) Swanshurst park pool.

[Guest Rabbit]

Shh ! Its not happening and you're being a nasty racist for even suggesting such a thing.

BTW. I don't even bother trying to fish my local lakes anymore because all the bigger fish have simply been removed. Must have been the pixies that had them away.

 

What the hell is it got to do with racism? Unless of course you start from the point of being one, and the taking of coarse fish simply adds fuel to the fire.

Locally in Gloucestershire and Worcestershire we have a problem with the taking of coarse fish but I and others will talk to these people and show them the errors of their ways. We even have a network of anglers who alert each other via mobiles when such an occurrence happens, believe me half a dozen anglers 'educating' the offenders does have an effect. and such incidents have decreased.

Turning a blind eye will not help, nor will by and large the police or the CPO''s... (God forbid) but anglers can. If we can't help our own sport, no one else will.

[Ken L]

So why do they only take the BIG fish ken? After all, a 7 or 8 pound carp will feed a fair few people.

A 7 or 8lb carp is a big fish. So is a 2 or 3lb pike. In fact, anything big enough to go on a plate is a big fish these days at Sandwell Valley.

 

Yes, there are still a few fish left, but not enough to make them worth bothering with.

[Newt]

What the hell is it got to do with racism?

It's called Irony.

 

Definitions of irony on the Web:

• sarcasm: witty language used to convey insults or scorn; "he used sarcasm to upset his opponent"; "irony is wasted on the stupid"; "Satire is a ...
  
• incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs; "the irony of Ireland's copying the nation she most hated"
  
• "A. . . perception of inconsistency, [usually but not always humorous], in which an apparently straightforward statement or event is undermined by its context so as to give it a very different significance. . . [V]erbal irony. . . ...

[gozzer]

Had a few hour to kill today so decided to visit a venue on the outskirts of Leeds that I used to fish as a kid back in the late seventies.

 

The venue is on the edge of a very large council estate and has always been a venue where you wonder if your car would survive the day, many of the swims had dumped cars in them, glue sniffers and drug addicts were rife and how any kind of wildlife survives near the pond with number of airifles around ever survived I will never know.

 

Cheers

Dave

 

Hi Dave, being a 'Loiner' I have been trying to think of the place you mean, but without success. I can think of a few that partially match your description though.

 

As for the Eastern European thing, we've discussed it many times before, and it seems to be that some areas are apparently effected more than others.

I have only heard anecdotal evidence of this in the Leeds area, never a first hand account. Somethings I have heard, have been an obvious case of 'Chinese Whispers' or an 'anglers exaggeration', because the alleged size of some of the fish 'taken' from waters I know, are beyond belief.

We have a large Polish contingent in my area, but I have never seen or heard of them 'stripping' waters of fish.

I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but I find it hard to believe it happens on the scale of some reports I hear.

The taking of fish for 'the pot' is a very emotive subject with some anglers, and I have been called a "vandal" for admitting that I have taken the odd fish myself.

 

John.