How accessible is fishing?

[chav professor]

My mate works for a local authority and helps young offenders.... I get a call... young lad wants to go fishing... has a budget of £60 and wanted some advice.... what to get, where to go etc...... were talking from scratch!

He seemed quite deflated when I suggested the first step is to get a licence which would have wiped out approximate half his budget.

Were talking about the poorest people in society, children transitioning into the adult world through a background of abuse, neglect, institutionalized care homes..... how accessible is fishing?

 

[binka]

I can see that this has the potential to be quite a wriggly can of worms.

I'm not sure of the answer except to say that in genuine cases there should in my opinion be concessions available to allow those of the backgrounds you describe to be able to pursue an interest that may be of benefit to them and therefore society in general if they then go on to acquire the confidence, self belief and skills to adapt in wider situations not to mention what it will give to them in terms of personal recreation and satisfaction.

Hey why not?

If you're out of work you will likely be relieved of paying council tax, receive subsidised dental treatment and probably get free swimming at your local leisure centre before 9am along with countless other benefits so why discriminate on the basis of the type of disadvantage?

There are quite legitimate reasons in some cases but personally I think that people are too often judged and therefore condemned on the face value of what they did and not why they did it.

Yes, I think that cost is an issue to a degree in relation to start up requirements but not as much so as possible lack of guidance on licence/permit obligations which would be more viable if the aforementioned concessions were in place.

And... someone with the time, patience and commitment to guide them through the first few steps until they are thinking independently.

Just my tuppence worth...

 

[aebitim]

Young lad wants to drive costs to much so nicks a car and causes devastation, thank goodness we can buy a one day licence and hopefully someone will offer to take him fishing to see if he thinks its worth persueing, reasonable expectations or what?

 

[nicepix]

Young lad wants to drive costs to much so nicks a car and causes devastation, thank goodness we can buy a one day licence and hopefully someone will offer to take him fishing to see if he thinks its worth persueing, reasonable expectations or what?

I don't think a licence would be necessary if someone with a licence took him or her and let them use a rod while the licence holder sat and watched. That's what I've done in the past.

Taking the issue back to when I started in the mid 60's the junior licence was around five bob. That was a lot of paper round money.

 

[slaphead]

£3.75 for a one day license, my local Go Outdoors were doing a Shakespeare rod/reel/line for a tenner omg.

Leaving plenty of scope for terminal tackle and the cost of a day ticket at a commercial.

Not much spent if he didn't turn out to enjoy it.

 

[rubio]

Qualified coaches can take people on their licence I believe but the rest of us are subject to the vagaries of a particular bailiff as to whether someone else can fish with your gear and your licence.
There are ludicrously cheap options for viable tackle a plenty, and any worker worth his salt will speak to the local constabulary who have a generous allowance for crime prevention/reduction opportunities(despite their protestations there isn;'t any money left)

 

[Peter Jacobs]

I'm not sure if this is still correct but there used to be some fisheries who offered a day ticket on their own EA license.

There is a water park on the Ringwood road that used to offer this type of fishing.

As I say, this was some few years ago so best to check, but if still valid it could be a solution to the problem.

Alternatively a few daily licenses to see if the youngster, over the legal age needing one, is really keen is a good way to go.

 

[laguna]

All the younguns these days want to be instant carpers and have little patience. Some though taken under the wing of a guiding adult can show and teach the basics and most of us have spare tackle etc.
The licence is the only problem depending on age, junior licences are cheap and many local clubs have concessionary days.

However no licence needed for sea fishing? even a £2.99 crab line and a bit of bait might encourage them to take up fishing, it could keep them out of mischief and occupy their time.

 

[chav professor]

Qualified coaches can take people on their licence I believe but the rest of us are subject to the vagaries of a particular bailiff as to whether someone else can fish with your gear and your licence.
There are ludicrously cheap options for viable tackle a plenty, and any worker worth his salt will speak to the local constabulary who have a generous allowance for crime prevention/reduction opportunities(despite their protestations there isn;'t any money left)

I shall get our mate to look into that.......... may have been offered the funding through that channel for all I know.

Its a difficult age group... not really a child... not really mature as an adult either (many say a lot of us continue to fail in that particular department).

Fishing is a great way to kick start a failing life if that is in-deed the way you 'connect' with the world. I know when I 'fail'.... fishing kind of works a bit of repair.... sometimes takes a bit of faith..lol