pike on nudd

whilst many anglers campaign for a ban on the removal of coarse fish. Mr. Nudd who is widely,and desrvedly respected for his matchfishing achievements writes this crap in a colummn he is paid for. He is regarded as an 'icon' by many and is paid to write or put his opinions over to sell copy because of his 'status'. The effect of this is staggering in it's rammifications with regard to fish-theft, e.european 'appetites',attacks on anglers by PETA,etc. and the overwhelming disregard for fish welfare by the EA and also further gives ammunition to the perception of angling by the BBC at a time when angling must come together to address thes threats. His comments make us all seem hypocritical re-fish welfare. his @iconic@ status does not render him @immune@ to criticisms< indeed< rememering the actions of a certain mrpeter collins < and his actions and the disgraceful leinancy of the EA< members of the same @club@ perhaps?!

I've stolen this from another site (Anglersnet), it's by Leon Roskilly.

As I know Leon quite well, I've taken the liberty of reprinting it here
Hope you have no objections Leon, as I think puts it in the best way possible.

They never seem to understand that a mature pike population is as good as it gets.

10% pike to total fish biomass is what nature intends, and by God she'll fight to maintain that whatever man does.

Start 'thinning' them and nature hits back by going into pike expansion overdrive, producing plenty of hungry jacks so that some of them will grow to replace the 'lost' pike.

Pike are one of our oldest fish species, and over the millions of years of evolution of survival strategy, the pike have evolved to live in a particular balance with it's food availability in often enclosed waters where, if pike get it wrong, they will make themselves extinct.

And it's not just limiting pike numbers by self-predation to attain Maximum Sustainable Yield of pike, but by keeping predation at a constant rate, pike also maintain Maximum Sustainable Yield of the prey, taking out weak and sick fish, balancing the numbers of insectivorous fish with insect impacts on weed growth etc, and generally keeping both the water and the fish it contains in a healthy state.

Then along comes someone like Bob Nudd!!

I really don?t think Bob Nudd?s got it at all yet!

Adrian,
I dont believe for one minute that Bob Nudd's so called fishing section sells any newspapers. Just put his articles into perspective, he has maybe a dozen lines on a narrow column, which is a minute contribution to the newspapers contents.
I am sure that anyone wishing to read something about fishing on a sunday morning would choose to pick up one of the angling specific magazines / papers, not the News Of The World. Considering his standing within fishing its almost an insult to him to limit him to a few lines mainly commenting about the best river, lake and sea location each week.

he is not an idiot and the reporter he was talking to was Stan Piecha, because of his standing he is no doubt aware that his columns are widely read-his standing does not make him 'immune' from crititism, frankly i find his lack of awareness insulting, let alone to the pike which as far as i am a aware has no means of reply certainly in print.