Converted antis

As usual, Barrie has some thought provoking statements, but I have to at least partially agree with Des Taylor on the subject of summer pike fishing. Lure fishing is okay, providing of course you have or use the right gear, but summer deadbaiting (at least in my area) is generally carried out by 'anglers' who don't, and are beyond educating too (I know, I've tried). The competent pikers don't deadbait in my area until mid Sept at the earliest....

Same sentiments from me too Barrie, I'm afraid.

Fine article in most respects, but you've left me at least, a little confused over the political persuasion of these anti-anglers.

You state that the U K version are definitely not right-wing, but pseudo-leftist, ie false or sham leftist.

So if they are only pretending to be on the Left, and are not on the right, then what the hell are they?

light, or reft?

i don`t think that it matters if these antis are "lefties" or right wing.it`s the media that we have to be careful of,they print sensationalist stories about angling,shooting,hunting etc that are miles away from the true facts.over the years i have seen much written about the "savage blood lust"of people that go hunting\shooting,by people that have probably never been near to any of these activities.joe public has been led to believe that all foxes,deer etc are "torn to bits"which simply is not true.yes,a small percentage of foxes got killed by the hounds,but these were always the sick and injured,death in these cases was instant,instead of a "natural" death,which is slow starvation caused by inability to catch food.as for stag hounds,they were trained not to attack the deer,which were usually cornered and shot.yes accidents happen and these were the incidents that were portrayed as the everday goings on within the hunting fraternity.personally,i never liked stag hunting and i thought that all hunting and shooting groups should have brought in a few new guidelines to modernise hunting,eg,muzzle the hounds,that would have stopped the odd fox being accidentally killed.just like we do,the hunts used to look after the habitat of their quarry and disliked the idiots that used to indiscriminately kill deer,hares and foxes with unsuitable guns and lurchers etc.
if the antis ever target angling with the determination that they have with hunting(and now shooting)we will see pictures in the gutter press of fish in disress through being caught,deeply hooked etc.its fact that in most angling mags etc,people have written that too much fishing pressure leads to a fall in the condition and possible deaths of fish such as pike and barbel etc.it is fact that a small percentage of fish die from mis handling at the hands of novice anglers and sometimes even experienced anglers.you can be sure that the gutter press(fed with info from the antis) will tar us all with the same brush,just as it has with the "discarded tackle" left by us anglers,in their eyes,we all leave line on the banks and it leads to the death of thousands of birds every year.
no matter what we say,in their eyes,we get pleasure from sticking hooks in fish and dragging them from the water,thus getting pleasure from injuring an innocent fish!

jon helyer states that summer deadbaiting is carried out by "anglers" who don`t use safe tackle and are beyond educating.a prime example of how the antis could say that all anglers are like this and fishing should be banned.you will see film clips on the news ,showing idiots mistreating fish and people saying,"it`s about time that this barbaric practise was made illegal".the population,ignorant of the facts,will support a ban,just as they(and a number of them are anglers) did with hunting.

Madpiker. No argument there mate.

I think the jury's still out on whether they can attack angling with the same degree of success as hunting with dogs.

After all there was much truth in the perceived barbarity of dogs ripping apart other animals for the gratification of the few.
Joe public may be a bit soft-centered about animals, but they are not stupid and wont easily swallow such argument about fish.

My post was merely to clarify confusing terminology.

the way that society is going at present,i feel that in time,people will get "softened" enough to regard anglers as barbaric.what people forget is that nature is barbaric in itself,ie the strongest survive.predators catch and kill their prey in often bloody ways.people humanise animals and seem to think that they lead cosy happy lives and feel the same fear as us when threatened with danger.why is it,that hunting was banned on "barbaric" and cruelty grounds,when society allows cows etc are tied up and have their throats cut and bleed to death,fully conscious,without being stunned so that they are "clean"and can be eaten by people of certain religious beliefs?!is religion any more justifiable than the pursuits that people follow for pleasure?
i don`t wish to get into any arguments with anyone on this subject, i just wonder why the vast majority of "joe public" is against the hunting\shooting\fishing brigade,yet happily eats cheap supermarket food and junk multi national meat products in a bread roll and tolerates ( what i feel is)blatant cruelty on religious grounds,strange world we live in

And still no adverse comments about summer lure fishing.....I thought this would have been a cert for plenty of comments.
I by the way lure fish rivers through the summer and enjoy every minute of it.
I believe the majority of live / dead bait anglers are far too busy 'traditionally' catching carp and barble to consider fishing for pike until winter when they 'traditionally' fit a trace and trebles to their carp rods.
Todays lure fishermen have never been better educated and equipped to speedilly land, unhook and release a predator with the respect they deserve.

i`ve no problems with summer lure fishing,provided that the lure angler is competant and has the correct kit to quickly land and return the fish.
around the area that i live(somerset)i find that once the water temps rise and the dissolved oxygen levels in the water drop,pike go into a sort of hibernation,not feeding until the autumn when temps drop and o2 levels rise.therefore,the problems of exhausted fish don`t arise.whilst pike are not active enough, once the water gets really warm, to chase lures,they will sometimes pick up a dead bait.this is when the trouble starts,it`s usually inexperienced fair weather anglers with inadequate tackle that fish for pike in the summer months around here,hence,any pike unfortunate enough to get caught is usually out of the water,flapping around on rock hard banks,with said muppet trying to get a gag into its mouth to try and find the hooks,which are usually out of sight in its gut.the result?at least, a badly injured pike, at most, a dead one.
i am talking about how i find it in the south west of the country,where it is generally warmer,i can fully appreciate that up north,where the air and water temps are lower and many waters are frozen in the winter,the bait fishing\lure fishing can be best at different times of the year than it is around here.

i'll stick to piking from september to march thankyou.

I'm not sure how the general public view shooting, but I've been pleasantly surprised by the lack of anti-angling sentiment I've encountered. I do a lot of shore fishing for mullet, and as this is on public foreshores I encounter numerous dog-walkers, couples, families etc. strolling along the beach. Many stop for a chat - interested to know what I'm fishing for, can they be eaten(!) etc. Perhaps I've been lucky, but no one thus far has had anything negative to say about angling. So, if my experience is anything to go by, PETA et al have a long way to go if their intention is to turn public opinion against us.