Wintle?s World ? A little too precious?

[Dave Slater]

<blockquote class=quoteheader>Peter Jacobs wrote (see)</blockquote><blockquote class=quote>

That said, there are some almost unfished secions of the RDAA and CAC rivers, and with annual rents going up all the time, (and less and less club anglers fishing the rivers) then the syndicate might be the way forward on a lot of rivers.

.</blockquote>I hope they stay almost unfished for as long as possible Peter. I prefer these places to the more popular stretches. They may be lost eventually but I hope not. If they all become syndicate the cost will be too great to join them all so I hope most of them stay in club hands.Wimborne used to have a stretch called Hardings which was my favourite venue as it had hardly any angling pressure. Oddly enough it started to get busier the last season they had it but alas there is no fishing there any more. Incidentally the syndicate I have just rejoined is on the Upper Ouse. I like fishing there occasionally as it is very different to the Avon and Stour so makes a nice change foe a few visits.

 

[Paul Boote]

Syndicates the way forward?

I reckon not if we want the youngsters we keep banging on about that Angling is missing to take over from us, to fish and to run things when we're gone.

Anglers have "got a lot older" over the past decade or two, many becoming "comfortably off" if not actually downright affluent in the process (courtesy of the property dividend of the past two and a half decades). And as they become older and more affluent they have, as middle-aged people tend to do, decided to indulge and "pamper" themselves, to use their buying power to access a few of the luxuries that weren't available to them as youngsters. Nothing wrong with this, of course, until too many of these Greying Boomers begin to think that what they want and think is the One True Way, that "I've worked for what I have, so should be permitted to spend my hard-earned money in any way I see fit...", that it's all going to the Dogs anyway...

Fine. Okay. But...

They should also ask themselves them following questions:

"How and where did I start my fishing? With some peese-poor cheapo or hand-me-down tackle on some p'-poor piece of water ... on a hammered free bit or on the busy waters of some far from exclusive local club...? [cue a teary eye or two for cherished memories] But you just don't see kids fishing anymore ... it's the Internet's and the Media's fault ... In my day..."

Careful what you wish for when you buy into a nice little syndicate.

 

[Dave Slater]

Paul/Peter,

Personally I don't think any one type of water is the way forward. There should be a mixture of club, day ticket, free and syndicate waters. They all have their place. Personally I think clubs should have a mixture of busy and quiet venues. The busy venues are usually busy simply because they consistently produce. Some of us prefer somewhere quieter and these waters usually contain good fish but that is not the main reason for fishing them. If syndicates poach waters from clubs I think this is very wrong but it is nice that some waters are syndicate. The good thing about syndicates is that not too many rules are necessary if the members are vetted carefully.

I started my fishing on park pools and canals and then graduated to the odd trip to a river for a special treat. The river trips were so exciting then but the park ponds and canals taught me how to fish properly before being taken on the river trips. I think youngsters today have it a bit easier with the commercial waters but everything in life these days is geared to instant results. In my local area quite a few youngsters fish but they often become disillusioned and pack the sport up. This may be because it is too easy now and the excitement of trying to catch those first few fish is lost as overstocked waters are too easy.

On the other hand, as I personally believe, it may be simply that they have things they enjoy doing more.Each to their own. People enjoy doing different things in life.

 

[Gary Dolman]

This thread demonstrates exactly where public perception & reality diverge. Fishing is more diverse now than ever,with the advent of commercials, carp & the proliferation of specimen groups.

The public generally believe that fishing is fishing is fishing.

Many older anglers tend to be generalists, and enjoy and are proficient in several different areas of the sport, however, many youngsters are able to now come into the sport and consistently catch fish of a size that could only be dreamed of 30 years ago. Many of these fish have not grown to specimen proportions without considerable cost and effort on the behalf of fishery owners, and therefore they are far more likely to be "precious" about their investments. Whereas, if you are used to fishing for naturally occurring fish then unless predation becomes a major factor, otters seem less of a threat.

There has to be a middle ground somewhere, but if we choose otters as the battle ground then we have no chance of swaying public opinion, and will cause more opportunities for the anti-angling brigade to use against us.

Where cute furry animals are concerned there is little room for reasoned scientific debate, but one word of caution to the doom mongers I can remember when escapee mink from fur farms were going to be the scourge of rivers & lakes!!

 

[Dave Slater]

Paul,

Another point regarding the younsters. In the sick society we live in today many parents, understandably, would not allow youngsters to fish alone as I sometimes used to do at park ponds and canals. Equally many adults would be wary of offereing to take youngsters fishing for fear of being accused of being some kind of perv.

In our youth we could be taken fishing by an adult quite innocently and this was how I started my river fishing.

Sadly no more.

/forum/smilies/sad_smiley.gif

 

[Bryan Baron 2]

Agree completely Dave.

Even worse if your a single male. My dad always took the local kids fishing with us these days i would not be sure. Not only the chance of being called a perv but if something happened could even be sued.

I use to fish on my own locally from a early age and further afield from about 12 dad would drop me of and pick me up later. From 14 i would catch the bus.

 

[coelacanth]

<blockquote class=quoteheader>Dave Slater wrote (see)</blockquote><blockquote class=quote>

Personally I don't think any one type of water is the way forward. There should be a mixture of club, day ticket, free and syndicate waters. They all have their place. </blockquote>

Aye, by mentioning them earlier I wasn't necessarily condemning all syndicates.

Some syndicates I know of make fishing available where otherwise it wouldn't be,with a small number of members each of whom have made an investment significant enough to reassure the owners of the water that their behaviour at the waterside will be of a higher standard.

Some will no doubt havetaken over previously club-controlled waters where the club in question wasn't willing to make the time and effort investment requiredto ensure that the water was properly maintained and cared for (whatever your interpretation of that is) orsome members treated the locale with contempt and the committee didn't have the bottle to deal with it (see elsewhere on the forum about alleged relocation of a large Pike).

Some aspiration for those who apply themselves properly to their fishing, learning appropriate bankside etiquette, how to properly care for all fish when caught (regardless of whether it happens to be your "target" species)etc. etc. isn't at all a bad thing, but we also have good old-fashioned greed and selfishness. I'm sure some syndicatesstill mean there are @rsoles on the bank, just fewer of them.

 

[Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA)]

Great article Mark and I couldn't agree more.

I have met people in my life who wouldn't put a rod together if they didn't have the chance of beating a PB or of winning money.

And I feel sorry for them!

 

[Phillips Jerry]

We go fishing to catch fish and after a while you want to catch bigger fish and can't really see a problem with trying to better your pb as long as you are enjoying it and not a slog.And yes sometimes we must take stock and make sure we are enjoying our sport. I enter very few competions and yes the money is nice , but it's mainly to prove a piont. Can someone train otters to eat swans,forget the otters lets have a few crocs