Suspicious or Not

[fruitowl]

Took the dog for a walk around local nature reserve where their is a pool which contains carp up to 20lb and tench up to 4lb, small pike and a few silvers nothing special.
time 5.20am
came across someone fishing with thickish line, with his daughter ( I assume) using a cheap telescopic rod she had a large sea fishing / pike float. he was using a small lead and worm asked if any good and if they had caught he just answered yes with a nod, noticed no landing net no unhooking mat and just a small tackle box and a couple empty carrier bags.
water slopes down on edge at about 6inches for every foot out after 2 to 3 feet drops at bit quicker.
got home called crime stoppers and reported as suspicious right or wrong ?

 

[mikench]

You did the right thing. We cannot all be Ivan Marks but what you saw was circumstantial evidence of fishing as it should not be done!

 

[flightliner]

Yes, you did right but did they respond in a positive manner?.

 

[thecrow]

The carrier bags would have been the giveaway for me, why have them there on the bank were they going litter picking? I doubt it. You could have tried to engage him in conversation and ascertained what they were about.

You don't say whether the water was club day ticket or free, if it was any of the first 2 I would have tried to inform someone or stayed and watched them which may just have made them uncomfortable enough to leave.

 

[Lord Paul of Sheffield]

You did the right thing
If they were genuine then if police turn up they have nothing to worry about

 

[no-one in particular]

Here's the unpopular view-The time of morning would have been a clue, unusual to be fishing at that time with his daughter but, if he was fishing for the pot and if he said had caught something and the bags were empty then perhaps he was not fishing for the pot, of course he could have been lying about catching something but why would he say that.
Thirdly, its a bloke fishing with his daughter with rod and line, its not as if he was wholesale netting and I would have thought if hes out at 5am trying to catch something to eat then he must be pretty desperate, so I would have left him be, why ruin their day with a bunch of truncheon armed officers turning up or some whinging fine and court case that if my estimation was right, he couldn't afford anyway and were they really doing any harm.
But that's just me, not a criticism of Fruit's decision.
I blame the Angling Trust for some of this, turning us all into spies and making us suspicious of everything and everybody, it never used to be like this and I find some of it over the top. Unless its an absolutely obvious case of blatant breaking of the law with clear evidence, I wouldn't want to know.

 

[mightyboosh]

Sounds dodgy. I saw a lot of this kind of stuff before I left the UK. One lad and his dad were quietly slipping roach or rudd in to a lidded bucket on the Exeter Canal. I called the bailiff, but don't know what happened. Such a shame. For decades there have been improvements in fish care in the UK, all seems for nothing now.

I remember taking great care with the pike I caught from Virginia Waters in Surrey only to watch them being bashed on the head by the Polish anglers who frequented the place. This was long before Poland joined the EU.

It's not just the UK. We have some of the finest, most productive fishing in the world here, yet people can't seem to stick to minimum sizes or bag limits. Just don't know what is wrong with people!

 

[fruitowl]

the pool is part of a nature reserve but free to fish the suspicion came because of the tackle and the lack of unhooking / netting equipment also the lack of communication did not seem happy to have me around.

 

[binka]

Just as the archetypal burglar is portrayed as wearing a black and white stripey top with a black eye mask, I reckon it looks suspicious with enough signs and reasoning to warrant your action.

As His Lordship says, if everything was hunky-dory then no bad has come of it all.

 

[rayner]

If you see illegal actions of any sort report it, if you have no evidence of illegal doings wait until you have before taking action.
Personally if I had ever seen a bloke fishing with his child I would just think that's nice.

 

[mikench]

Sadly, and not just in a fishing context, the presence of a small child is designed to create a benign reaction and to give credibility ! After all he can't be up to no good if he has a child with him!

 

[maceo]

I take a carrier bag with me when I go fishing, but just for putting rubbish in to take away with me. I don't like to litter up the countryside - even with fag butts.

I'd never considered that I might be thought to be up to no good as a result.

 

[swizzle]

I always take a couple of bags with me too, one to pick up any litter and the other to have a turd in should nature call.

 

[dicky123]

I'd be interested more on the feedback from ,Crimestoppers, myself? Did you get any?

 

[thecrow]

I blame the Angling Trust for some of this, turning us all into spies and making us suspicious of everything and everybody,

Sorry Mark but if those that poach our waters and kill our fish didn't do it there would never have been a need for spying or being suspicious, as you so rightly said "it never used to be like this"

 

[Chefster]

Was he polish/eastern European?

 

[Ray Daywalker Clarke]

Was he polish/eastern European?

It doesn't matter where they may, or may not have come from. You should have called the EA also, as i would think they may not have a Licence either.

I called the EA when i caught a couple fishing the local river during the closed season. I'm for the close season going, but they were not English and i didn't think they had a licence. They were not members of the club that controls the water, so i contacted the club also.

I rang the EA the next day to see if they caught them, i got, yes a patrol went along and the matter is being dealt with.

Thats all i could get out of the EA.

 

[maggot_dangler]

Yes Right choice .

PG ...

 

[ciprinus]

I always take a couple of bags with me too, one to pick up any litter and the other to have a turd in should nature call.

i sometimes take a bag with me too, but all she does is moans so is it worth it in the long run

 

[no-one in particular]

Sorry Mark but if those that poach our waters and kill our fish didn't do it there would never have been a need for spying or being suspicious, as you so rightly said "it never used to be like this"

Sadly true Crow, times change I know. but I don't think its such a great thing these days were we are all being pumped up about this, well not me, I decline and I think I will stick to a policy of clear evidence before I did anything; and even then I might not unless it was serious. If the punishments fitted the crime I might be more inclined to.
Its just too easy to be suspicious and I just wouldn't want to ruin someone's day based on my mistake. Its not as if Dixon of Dock Green turns up these days "allo allo allo, what are you up to then" and get a ticking off. You can get less for maiming someone on the road these days and the police well, I watched 7 of them wrestle a woman to the ground last year, not exactly Dixon of Dock Green.
I mean this bloke still could have, despite everything, duff gear, empty carriers bags, time of morning etc. just been fishing for fun, he was not doing anything illegal.
I am not saying Fruit did wrong or anyone else, each individual has to do what they think right, this is just my take on it.
I have only ever reported something once and that was I found a net submerged right across a river. And that turned out to be local professional boat boys after mullet, not immigrants, its not an exclusive immigrant crime.. But the point was, it was an obvious irrefutable illegal act with evidence and dangerous, not just some suspicion I might of had..
However, I appreciate its not always an easy one. Its just drawing lines in the sand, if you think you've done the right thing then you have done the right thing. Its not up to anyone else.