Is angling an old mans pastime?

[Jeff Woodhouse]

Sadly they haven't made a fishing game for the PS2 or Wii yet to rival with Grand Theft Auto or any of the other savage and highly violent games that kids love playing. So instead of going out to sample angling in real life they pick up knives or obtain guns and turn in street gangsters killing each other not realising that unlike the games, in reality you DO die.

Part of it is sloth-like children growing obese and over protective parents not allowing their children out in case one of you (or me) turns out to be a paedophile and tries to do them some mischief on the bank. It's all a part of our present sick society that pays too much attention to a few bad (and sickening) news items, but let's face it, it always went on probably in about the same ratio as now.

When we were kids

we would go fishing all day with little more than a jam butty and bottle of squash.

I don't know, posh Brummies. In our day jam was reserved for Sunday breakfast and for a drink we had a bottle of water with a stick of liquorice in it and you waited until it melted and then shook it up to look like dandelion and burdock. The target was to try and catch a gudgeon (or two) over 6 drams and if you caught a perch you walked home on air. All the kit went into an ex-WWII military gas mask bag and you sat on the dry mud or concrete on your ar$e. Kids would never do that now!

We are a dying race. 2030, angling will cease.

 

[Stealph Viper]

A lot of fisheries i frequent insist that no Children under the age of 16 are allowed to fish unless supervised by an Adult who must be 18 or over.

So unless an adult takes the time to supervise these kids, they won't be going fishing until they are 16, by then they will have found Women, Alcohol, Drugs and Loud Music.

What chance has fishing got .............. :wh

It isn't maybe until they get older, and settle down and want a pastime that they turn to Angling, then try and get someone to show you what to do, plenty of courses to teach Kids apparently, but courses to teach adults, erm no, unless you pay for them of course.

As Jeff has said, then there is the Playstation 3 and the Xbox 360 to contend with, i mean it's entertainment value for the kids, especially now they can play LIVE where they can play the game against people from all over the world, and chat to them LIVE also, they chat to there mates all day, arrange wars amongst themselves on the Games, they love it.

 

[Peter Jacobs]

We are a dying race. 2030, angling will cease.

I think you are absolutely correct, Ron!

As to 'surveys' I rarely give them much time or thought unless the full details are published together with the 'results'

Let's face it; you can design a 'survey' to give exactly the results you want to publish, target a particular 'audience' to participate, and hey presto; the answers you wanted to see in the first place.

As to guiding or teaching the under 18's age group, how many people want the invasive and costly (£64) CRB check? As of the end of next year you are asking for trouble unless you have gone that route.

Ridiculous!

 

[preston96]

As to guiding or teaching the under 18's age group, how many people want the invasive and costly (£64) CRB check? As of the end of next year you are asking for trouble unless you have gone that route.

Ridiculous!

We have let those who are a cancer to mankind begin to win.......and we are letting our kids down, a lot of them never mix with older folk, family life has changed, youth clubs are going, young men rarely sit with their elders in old fashioned pubs.........and as you say Peter anyone who would be prepared to give their time now and again have to go through checks.

I did exactly that when my lads scout troop asked for help and yes i found it invasive but we cant let the sick bast*rds ruin society........the CRB check should be free to anyone who is prepared to take it, the government owes it to society.

 

[The Scarlet Maggot]

When we were kids

I don't know, posh Brummies. In our day jam was reserved for Sunday breakfast and for a drink we had a bottle of water with a stick of liquorice in it and you waited until it melted and then shook it up to look like dandelion and burdock. The target was to try and catch a gudgeon (or two) over 6 drams and if you caught a perch you walked home on air. All the kit went into an ex-WWII military gas mask bag and you sat on the dry mud or concrete on your ar$e. Kids would never do that now!

We are a dying race. 2030, angling will cease.

Wonderful mental imagery there! Nice one..

Fishing in the UK might peter out, popularity wise, but I think there will always be anglers. Angling will probably enjoy a renaissance at some point, back to grass roots and simpler times in the not so distant future, a kick back against the “catch the fish at all costs” ethos. Since moving abroad it’s given me another perspective, not only of the British fishing scene, but a more global outlook, I reckon fishing’s like fighting, sex and drugs (beer) it’s a human compulsion and will never die, unlike trends, i.e. over the top PC attitudes or social fear which seem to be so prevalent wealthy countries.

 

[Poshpaul (Angling Trust and PaSC)]

Most parents would be quite happy to take their youngsters to football, rugby,

Good point Barry but having coached youngsters at cricket and Rugby (I was a qualified Rugby coach!!!) they're happy to take them but too many then disappear grateful for two hours safe and purposeful babysitting!!!

The recent survey results about the fitness of our kids suggests the sedentary opportunities prevail (says Poshers sat at a computer!!!)

The modern quandary still prevails. There was no tradition of angling in my family and I was left much to my own devices..getting help from mates and helpful adults on the bank-side. However I was always out...once I could swim my parents were happy to let me out to fish river, pond and lake...I told them where I was going, what time i would be back (which they always added at least an hour to). How may kids would be allowed that freedom now? Unfounded fear, couch potato culture and a far greater variety of recreational activities result in these diminishing numbers.

What we should be doing is highlighting those areas where work encouraging young anglers is evident - such as the Staffordshire project reported on by Gary Knowles in the latest Coarse Fisherman or the work done by clubs like Bay Malton or Warrington Anglers, up my way, to promote angling and educate youngsters.

Anyway looking at the attendance at the John Ledger memorial there was a pretty youthful crowd there......which either means that we all behaved like kids....or if I had had my eyes checked I may have spotted a few bites!

 

[Cakey]

well if anyone knows of a big breasted redhead that needs lesson I dont mind risking getting into trouble .................:wh

 

[Stealph Viper]

That is the pint i was making, there are a lot of Schemes to promote Angling for Youngsters, but, what about Adults that want to learn, how much support is there for them ??

If an adult can Fish, they can teach there youngsters to fish.

I agree whole heartedly with Schemes to help Youngsters and Troubled Youths to try to find them something else to do than just to join Gangs ans to get in to trouble, but families should also be helping to promote these ideals Internally.

Teach all age groups to fish, from young, to old, and both sexes too.

---------- Post added at 09:11 ---------- Previous post was at 09:10 ----------

well if anyone knows of a big breasted redhead that needs lesson I dont mind risking getting into trouble

Are you completely sure on that .................





Wait, there is more ................

 

[Cakey]

thats not a big breasted red head
thats a big red head

 

[Stealph Viper]

You didn't define her other characteristics .....................

 

[Nathan]

I would say generally that angling is mainly taken up by the older generation but there are youngsters on the scene. I first took out my little brother when he was about 12 & he's loved it ever since. I'm 25 and started when i was 18, i wish I had someone who could have shown me the sport earlier. Its one of those things i was instantly drawn to & i think angling offers a lot more then just the sport.
There's a pleasure & sense of satisfaction that comes when fishing that nothing else seems to recreate. The feeling of being close to nature is also something i enjoy & something i may not have had if i'd never started fishing.
The excitement of seeing your float dip, feeling a pike strike your lure, hearing your clutch go as a carp strips line from your baitrunner are all wonderful moments.

 

[Graham Marsden]

We have let those who are a cancer to mankind begin to win.......and we are letting our kids down, a lot of them never mix with older folk, family life has changed, youth clubs are going, young men rarely sit with their elders in old fashioned pubs.........and as you say Peter anyone who would be prepared to give their time now and again have to go through checks.

Spot on there Paul, we make laws to protect children but forget to make sure that the side effect does not have an equal or worse effect than what the law was made for in the first place.

Here's a couple of minor examples of what I mean that happened to me recently:

Every Sunday morning I take my 14 year old grandson to play football for his local team. Three weeks ago I decided I'd take my camera to get some shots of him playing and of the match. I was stood with a group of other parents and grandparents of the kids in our team and we were winning easily.

Five minutes from the end of the first half the ref blew his whistle and stopped the match, then ran off the pitch to the opposition's coach to speak to him. To make a long story shorter the opposition coach had reported me to the ref for taking photos and the ref came to me to tell me I'd got to stop as I had to get signed permission from both coaches (which I hadn't got as I didn't know I needed it).

Just a week ago I went to watch my 9 year old granddaughter in a school concert. Before the concert started the head teacher warned us all not to take photos or video as two parents had objected to it and it only need one parent to object to make sure scores of parents and grandparents will never have a record of that concert to look back on.

What an absolute bloody farce all this nonsense is. Surely we must reach the point soon when we realise we've gone too far?

Back on topic, I think fishing will be with us for many years to come providing we don't allow the antis to win, and that it will settle to a popularity level around what it is now but with more younger people in the spread. Like most things it will come (almost) full circle and become a 'cool' thing to do amongst all the electronic gaming that now dominates.

 

[Poshpaul (Angling Trust and PaSC)]

what about Adults that want to learn

The Staffordshire scheme in Coarse Fisherman has members up to 22 years of age. However you do make a very valid point Stealph.

Another issue is, that looking at the recent survey data, we have not made much penetration within many ethnic communities. Now many of these communities do have a strong family based society which would seem a strong foundation for development.

I do not want this point to invite comment on a still small number of individuals who either deliberately, or through a cultural ignorance, treat fish and fishing in a manner which we rightly decry. What I am saying is that there are whole sections of our society where angling has not penetrated or not made an effort to penetrate. These sections of society appear to have the strong culture of communal family involvement in other activites which we, at times, appear to wish to return to as some "golden age".

I would be interested to know if there are projects, particularly in the large urban centres where many of these communities reside, dedicated to introducing families to angling?

 

[Stealph Viper]

That is an excellent point Poshness.

Not only in Multi Cultural Circles, but, also in Women, controversial i know, but hey, get women on our side we'll win every arguement against the Anti's.

I would pay £64.00p for a CRB check to teach others how to fish, there families would have to help support their fishing, and fund there fishing though, i couldn't afford to do that myself.

 

[Graham Whatmore]

I taught the youngsters in Lydney for three years, once a week and occasionally at weekends at no cost to anyone except my time and theirs, no certificates needed just my own experience.

Youngsters learning how to fish know next to nothing so what they are taught by people like me will serve as their basic knowledge until they get older, more adept and wiser. All it requires is the basics of fishing, how to set up, how to tie knots, how to cast etc etc you can't teach anyone how to catch fish but you can give them the basic knowledge to increase their chances of doing so.

I agree wholeheartedly about stupid laws, what these modern laws have done is attempt to protect children but what they have succeeded most in doing is isolating them from the experience of life amongst their elders. I wanted to go and see one of my friends children perform their nativity play this year at the local school but I wasn't allowed in because I wasn't an immediate relative, how stupid is that?

 

[S-Kippy]

I agree with all this....particularly Mark's point about free time and Dads being required to ferry kids about at the drop of a hat.I've been out late twice this week picking my own & other people's kids up in conditions which I would rather not drive in....unless I was going fishing which I daren't even suggest at the moment !

And the "no unsupervised kids" rule might seem harsh but chatting to the people who run my local commercial said they had to introduce this to stop parents using the place as a pseudo creche. They were dumping kids on the way to work & picking them up on their way home.Lot cheaper than a childminder.

Nothing wrong with that if the kids are mad keen on fishing but I was told it was often 1 rod between 6 with the kids basically running riot on the lakes all day.Hence the "no kid" rule but I'm a little surprised more places dont do some kind of coaching for kids. I'd happily help out.

As for £450 for a days guiding ! I'll do it for half that and GUARANTEE you a blank !

 

[Muffin]

Well now I know why I'm one of the only under 30s I know who is stupid enough to go out in freezing temperatures and sit by the side of a river......cause I decided it would be fishing first and kids later (if ever!)!!!

Seriously though, once your kids are a certain age surely you can take them fishing, so I dont see that as an excuse. I think to be more honest the younger generation of today are persuing more fashionable hobbies such as Stealing cars, robbing houses and drinking.

PS, its not just age that dictates you as being an experienced angler or one who can pass their knowledge on to others, as Steve rightly states you can learn fron anglers of all ages and experiences.

I'm really looking forward to trying to get my nephew into fishing, and seriously hope that more younger people get interested in our sport and that when I get as expeienced as most on this website that I'm not the only one still fishing and typing on this forum!

 

[preston96]

Spot on there Paul, we make laws to protect children but forget to make sure that the side effect does not have an equal or worse effect than what the law was made for in the first place.

Here's a couple of minor examples of what I mean that happened to me recently:

Every Sunday morning I take my 14 year old grandson to play football for his local team. Three weeks ago I decided I'd take my camera to get some shots of him playing and of the match. I was stood with a group of other parents and grandparents of the kids in our team and we were winning easily.

Five minutes from the end of the first half the ref blew his whistle and stopped the match, then ran off the pitch to the opposition's coach to speak to him. To make a long story shorter the opposition coach had reported me to the ref for taking photos and the ref came to me to tell me I'd got to stop as I had to get signed permission from both coaches (which I hadn't got as I didn't know I needed it).

Just a week ago I went to watch my 9 year old granddaughter in a school concert. Before the concert started the head teacher warned us all not to take photos or video as two parents had objected to it and it only need one parent to object to make sure scores of parents and grandparents will never have a record of that concert to look back on.

What an absolute bloody farce all this nonsense is. Surely we must reach the point soon when we realise we've gone too far?

Back on topic, I think fishing will be with us for many years to come providing we don't allow the antis to win, and that it will settle to a popularity level around what it is now but with more younger people in the spread. Like most things it will come (almost) full circle and become a 'cool' thing to do amongst all the electronic gaming that now dominates.

Graham.....i wonder if, by law they can stop you taking photo's?

as far as the school play is concerned imo the school should make it clear from the start that parents/grandparent s WILL be allowed to record in some way their memories..........if a parents object then their children should be withdrawn from the play.

I despair for the future unless common sense starts to prevail.

 

[S-Kippy]

Seriously though, once your kids are a certain age surely you can take them fishing,

You can Muff but trust me that is not such a wondrous thing as it might sound.Its flippin hard work until they are at least competent.

I found the key is that either you fish or the kid fishes....but not both. I learned that the hard way.

Skippy

 

[Poshpaul (Angling Trust and PaSC)]

as far as the school play is concerned imo the school should make it clear from the start that parents/grandparent s WILL be allowed to record in some way their memories..........if a parents object then their children should be withdrawn from the play.

Simple and brilliant Paul.

Perhaps you could be a little less harsh on the objecting (or objectionable) parents....perhaps their kid will not be allocated a role on the stage and the school will expect the parents to explain to the child why they ain't third shepherd for the left but fourth crown maker from the right - backstage!

I have a fully enhanced CRB check...and colleagues who do not possess one may be interested to note that the check does not say "Poshers you are as pure as the driven snow" it actually merely states "Nothing recorded".

Remember that the vast bulk of abuse, physical or sexual, is perpetrated on kids by their parents or immediate family or close family friends.(and those who work in the field agree that the majority of those abusers rarely get caught) - think back to your school days....and the really badly behaved kids who totally disrupted school but were never, never off sick. Now think why, if they hated school so much, did they always ensure they were in school...often the first in and last to leave!?

Stranger danger is actually a very, very rare event.(Yes it does happen - I know) In fact the paranoiac emphasis on the suspicion of strangers probably puts kids at more risk in that they are terrified into ignoring potential places of safety.

Gosh this is a bit heavy for the festive season!