Here we go!

William Pastuszka · Apr 21, 2011

Law breakers are wrong over their illegal river match says Keith Arthur | Coarse Fishing News | Angling Times | Gofishing UK

So there is going to be an out of season match on the river Severn, things like this are what it's going to take to prove the reason why we don't need the annual coarse fishing three months closure, but it'll take more than a single match to gather the research information, however I feel the angling club in question is going about it the wrong way, if we're to get the closure abolished, things need to be done in the more appropriate manners, not by the way this is being sought by force majure on the authorities, because after all it'll only cause all sorts of implications.

gremlin · Apr 21, 2011

lets just revert back to the old close season,,,,,,,,for everywhere, there was always something for the genuine angler to do anyway.

mickhayes · Apr 21, 2011

or do away with it altogether, im a genuine angler and i'd like to go fishing.

quickcedo · Apr 21, 2011

I've been a genuine angler for 43 years. i pay for a years rod licence so i'd like to be able to fish where I want for the year. the close season is an outdated joke.

Ray Daywalker Clarke · Apr 21, 2011

MarkTodd said:
I've been a genuine angler for 43 years. i pay for a years rod licence so i'd like to be able to fish where I want for the year. the close season is an outdated joke.

Well said Sir agree 100%

Peter Jacobs · Apr 22, 2011

As a personal point of view, I hope they all get arrested, and the organisers charged with conspiracy.

The law is the law whether or not you might agree with it.

Lord Paul of Sheffield · Apr 22, 2011

They just need to learn a few words of some eastern European language and they'll get off with a warning

jack sprat · Apr 22, 2011

Deliberate law breaking like this can be counter productive. With events like this the EA can, if they wish, not just prosecute but also apply for license bans for the participants on top of fines and confiscation of gear.

richiekelly · Apr 22, 2011

in the article Mr Arthur says clubs are giving waters up on canals because nobody wants to fish them,couldnt be anything to do with BW increasing prices then or people fishing commercials that are open all year even when fish spawn,most of them overstocked holes in the ground,he says that rivers are the same,i dissagree rivers have declined as far as angling goes and it cant be down to anglers fishing during spawning because that doesnt happen because of the close seasondoes it?there are a miriad of reasons as to why rivers have declined, none are to do with having or not having a close season.

he mentions how fishing in other countries with no close season has declined and blames match fishing,he doesnt mention any other reasons for the decline and shows no proof that it is having no close season that has caused the decline but says these are facts, rather pompus.

he also says that it is only Severn anglers that want the close season abolished,that is absolutley wrong,i havent fished the Severn for years but would still like to see the close season abolished.

everone has a right to their views on this subject but when an angler who is well known puts his opinion forward as fact it is wrong,it is only his opinion NOT fact as he has no proof,perhaps he wrote it inbetween fishing places with no close season,total hypocrisy there is no difference between river and stillwater fish other than the environment that they live in, its time that this stupid and outdated situation was resolved, fish dont know its the close season and time to spawn, its only the fish that decide that wether its close season or not.

stu_the_blank · Apr 22, 2011

Keith's article mentions research carried out by the NRA before the changes to the close season were made. I'm sure that it must still be available in this age of the information highway. Anybody know how to access it?

As I've repeatedly said in other threads, I'd like to see some objective evidence (preferably science based) about whether there should be a close season and if so why and when. Frankly, if you are pro close season, this is the only way to defend it in the long run.

As for 'the law is the law', I suspect these people are hoping for a reaction, they are pulling the Tigers tail. They are trying to control the agenda. In some ways the EA will be in a very difficult position.

There are plenty of laws in this absurdly over regulated land that are regularly ignored and not enforced. Could the Close Season become another one?

Would it not be better to allow those who own the fishing rights to impose their own conditions on use? After all, if the value of your asset relied on the quality of the fishing, you'd have a huge incentive to make sure that it's well being was protected and even improved.

richiekelly · Apr 22, 2011

Peter Jacobs said:
As a personal point of view, I hope they all get arrested, and the organisers charged with conspiracy.

The law is the law whether or not you might agree with it.

always drive within the speed limits then,never gone over?

Peter Jacobs · Apr 22, 2011

the blanker said:
always drive within the speed limits then,never gone over?

That is not the point, and you know it.

To deliberately set out to flaunt the law, and for what purpose?

If it were up to me I'd like to see the old Close Season reinstated on all waters, as it was only greed that saw it abolished on stillwaters and some canals in the first place.

I fished a few times in Denmark (when I lived there, i.e. not on holiday) and rivers like the Guden were not a patch on their earlier days.

I'll happily go along with a slight change in dates for the Close Season if it can be proved it is in the overall interests of the fish in some rivers.

Until then, I think the Close Season on rivers says a lot about us as anglers and conservationalists.

Long may it continue.

richiekelly · Apr 22, 2011

Peter Jacobs said:
That is not the point, and you know it.

To deliberately set out to flaunt the law, and for what purpose?

If it were up to me I'd like to see the old Close Season reinstated on all waters, as it was only greed that saw it abolished on stillwaters and some canals in the first place.

I fished a few times in Denmark (when I lived there, i.e. not on holiday) and rivers like the Guden were not a patch on their earlier days.

I'll happily go along with a slight change in dates for the Close Season if it can be proved it is in the overall interests of the fish in some rivers.

Until then, I think the Close Season on rivers says a lot about us as anglers and conservationalists.

Long may it continue.

yes i did know peter but we cant choose which laws we wil break and which we wont, the point is that there is no proof either way on the close season and i would agree entirely about having the old close season on all waters if it could be shown which was best for the fish having /not having a close season but there is no proof either way.

Peter Jacobs · Apr 22, 2011

the blanker said:
yes i did know peter but we cant choose which laws we wil break and which we wont, the point is that there is no proof either way on the close season and i would agree entirely about having the old close season on all waters if it could be shown which was best for the fish having /not having a close season but there is no proof either way.

You are right, there is no real proof either way, so my point is why should we risk it by experimenting with nature now on our rivers.

Once lost would take eons to replace a riverine envoironment, so lets not now experiment with something so important.

Stillwaters are, essentially, managed these days so no comparable evidence is available from them, and to infer otherwise is really to employ a strawman argument. The river and a stillwater are definitely two distinct and different environments.

That we maintain a Close Season on our rviers shows that we anglers care for our quarry and our sport, lets not give the anti-brigade even more evidience either - to so do would be the epitomy of shooting ourselves in the foot!

stu_the_blank · Apr 22, 2011

Peter

A few gentle observations.

If the speed that you drive isn’t deliberate, have you thought of getting the bus, in the interests of the welfare of rest of us?

Denmark, this gets brought up regularly. I seem to remember that the Danes sold 100.000+ roach to the river board for stocking in the Thames in the 70’s and also used roach and bream by the ton to turn into fertilizer. A general attitude of exploitation of an undervalued and unwanted asset (I don’t think that the Danes coarse fished much at the time) probably had more to do with the demise of the fishing than any lack of a close season. Perhaps, if the value as a fishery had been greater, with more interest shown, it wouldn’t have happened.

My slight change to the close season would be Mid April to September. It’s my own self imposed coarse close season on rivers (obviously with the imposed extension from 15th March) and I can easily make a case for it on fish welfare grounds, particularly on smaller rivers. I accept that ‘my’ close season would wipe out the value of most river fisheries and, unlike you judging by your post, I certainly wouldn’t want to impose my personal view on this on anybody else.

Fish welfare is a tricky subject as the ‘enemy’ would no doubt argue, using pretty much the same arguments, that a 12 month close season would be in the interests of fish welfare.

The close season says a lot to who? Virtually every non angler I know doesn’t know that there is one.

As I said in my earlier post, does anybody know how to access the NRA research? A few facts wouldn’t go amiss.

Ray Daywalker Clarke · Apr 22, 2011

Most people break the law knowing they are doing so, it doesnt matter if it is speeding, drugs, fraud or fishing.

The close season law is a total ASS, so get rid of it once and for all. If it's down to greed as some say, then blame the fluff chuckers for it, it was them around here that bought out any method trout fishing on the still waters for extra income.

Peter Jacobs · Apr 22, 2011

Ray Daywalker Clarke said:
If it's down to greed as some say, then blame the fluff chuckers for it, it was them around here that bought out any method trout fishing on the still waters for extra income.

No Ray, that is totally incorrect.

The majority of the 'any method trout fishing' was brought about by unscrupulous fishery owners who managed to lengthen their 'open season' for carp fishing by stocking a few trout in their venues.

I remember it very well and arguing with 'trout anglers' in their bivvies with triple rods, rod pod and boilies . . . . .. not exaclty the traditional trout approach.

dezza · Apr 22, 2011

Although I'm not against the closed season, I do think the dates should be changed.

To flaunt the close season is downright law breaking.

quickcedo · Apr 22, 2011

Didn't I read somewhere on FM that the EA were powerless to convict this year due to a mess up with the law. I thought it was Fred who posted it (maybe wrong on that bit). If that is the case this match will have no one prosecuted.

jack sprat · Apr 22, 2011

MarkTodd said:
Didn't I read somewhere on FM that the EA were powerless to convict this year due to a mess up with the law. I thought it was Fred who posted it (maybe wrong on that bit). If that is the case this match will have no one prosecuted.

That was last year. I understand they 'fixed' the law last September.

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