What about my hat Barry?

Seriously there is very little I have ever disagreed with in Barrie Rickards writings. He always has the finger on the pulse.

And I hate rats too.

And I can't inderstand why people hate snakes, they eat rats!

And I can't even figure out just why people would ever want to import Oz carp to England. By crikey isn't there enough of the damn things here already?

I would rather see decent roach waters being created. And rudd waters too.

Has a carp & pike angler i would have to agree with you Ron ,to many carp in most waters and the pike are in decline .
Lets go back 30 odd years when we had mixed fisheries where you would see the tench and bream angler ,the roach angler and the carp angler all on the lakes at the same time .
A lot of big pike around then ,not so now .

Personaly i do not think that because an eel has never been found as a road kill it proves beyond doubt they never at any stage in their lives have the capability to leave the water and migrate short distances.

For one thing eels could probably get run over and still make it to die elsewhere!.......not that i think they use roads, just that i think the "proof" is flawed.

Secondly, i have over the years witnessed elvers actually moving out of water!....still very close to the river i admit, but then so was i and i never went looking further away for a needle in a haystack.

No, i definatly cannot agree with the "proof" Barrie submits!

It sounds as if we are all talking about something different!.....we are just commenting on Barries various thoughts in his though provoking article if anyone is looking in!

What about my hat Barry? - Or Des Taylors?



What about Barrie's hat Ron --it's a baseball cap --and we ALL know how much you hate them ..

As far as the EELS crossing water meadows I've seen them. As a lad I lived below Gloucester at a place called Minsterworth, and spent my misspent youth fishing and chasing the local talent on the banks of the Severn. With all the scrumpy I drank I'm surprised that I survived, once the local fuzz copped me riding my bike on the center line over Gloucester cross singing heart break hotel at 4 in the morning, I was 14 at the time, they poured me and the bike into a cop car and took me home, I was pissed as a rat on homemade wine. Near us was a couple of low lying water meadows that where wet most of the time and it was quite easy to find bootlaces and sometimes bigger ones crossing the meadow. I think as well how do you explane eals being present in land locked lakes, in Co Down most of the lakes are like that 'cause they are drumlin formed.