detached

jasonbean1 · Sep 3, 2012

i dont have the pleasure of posting on bfw anymore but i can look in on there site.

Otter lover gets her views across - Barbel Fishing World Forums

now this really piises me off, these sort of threads give the view that the only way barbel will survive is to have no otters..they(well most on the site) would cull them if they could.

now single species angling takes alot of knocks...rightly so i reckon when it lead to such insular, non rational and definetly not informed opinions such as these.

the article in the express was a full page...

Otterly besotted | Express Yourself | Express.co.uk - Home of the Daily and Sunday Express

now anyone with half a brain would realise there is no point what so ever bleating on...the women even tells anglers what they need to be doing.

whens the penny going to drop?

cheers
Jason

sam vimes · Sep 3, 2012

I can view it and can comment should I choose to. However, it's really not worth the bother. Anglers that go on and on about otters, with a kill all attitude, are just as biased as the otter huggers that they moan about.
Reality is somewhere between the two extremes. I can well understand why anglers on waters badly affected by predation will be less than happy. However, if they paused to think for a moment, they may well realise that a predation free environment is hardly a natural one. One of the biggest problems is that, for many, they've got used to fisheries without any hint of otter predation.

cg74 · Sep 3, 2012

jasonbean1 said:
whens the penny going to drop?

Cheers
jason

It's dropped:

KILL THEM!!

Windy · Sep 3, 2012

sam vimes said:
Anglers that go on and on about otters, with a kill all attitude, are just as biased as the otter huggers that they moan about.[snip]
One of the biggest problems is that, for many, they've got used to fisheries without any hint of otter predation.

Y'know I have rarely read such a balanced, accurate and opinion forming observation.

I couldn't agree more. Obvious once you point it out.

It takes great and clear intelligence to point out the obvious with such straightforward simplicity.

itsfishingnotcatching · Sep 4, 2012

sam vimes said:
I can view it and can comment should I choose to. However, it's really not worth the bother. Anglers that go on and on about otters, with a kill all attitude, are just as biased as the otter huggers that they moan about.
Reality is somewhere between the two extremes. I can well understand why anglers on waters badly affected by predation will be less than happy. However, if they paused to think for a moment, they may well realise that a predation free environment is hardly a natural one. One of the biggest problems is that, for many, they've got used to fisheries without any hint of otter predation.

Absolutely agree Sam

cg74 said:
It's dropped:

KILL THEM!!

Stop prevaricating Colin.

Seriously though, that type of response is the one most likely to damage the angler's cause, especially on an open segment of the forum.

Ian

Windy · Sep 4, 2012

sam vimes said:
they've got used to fisheries without any hint of otter predation.

Mind you, having mused further, although this is a perfectly valid, accurate and I think genuinely important point to make we should also bear in mind that Natural levels of Otter predation - which, IMHO, we haven't got a leg to stand on to argue with - are /were based on their principal diet of eels.

The drastic and almost complete (95% I've read ?) collapse in the numbers of eels in British waters means that they are forced to predate more on fish generally, so there is increased predation pressure over the natural.

Hmmmm. Musing yet further.

steph mckenzie · Sep 4, 2012

Oh Joy, another Otter Thread ..... things must be quiet.

guest61 · Sep 4, 2012

Windy said:
The drastic and almost complete (95% I've read ?) collapse in the numbers of eels in British waters

That's interesting, where did you read this? I've caught more eels on rivers and canals than I'd bargained for over the past few seasons - to the point of fishing with bread and seeds just to avoid them.

cg74 · Sep 4, 2012

itsfishingnotcatching said:
Stop prevaricating Colin.

Seriously though, that type of response is the one most likely to damage the angler's cause, especially on an open segment of the forum.

Ian

Ian, as you noticed, I never stated who or what should be killed. So if someone else sees it (incorrectly) as meaning kill the otters; then bigger fool them.

Windy · Sep 4, 2012

bottle rocket said:
That's interesting, where did you read this?

One of many sources from five minutes googling, only 5% of numbers returning from the sea + 80% decline in adult numbers in the rivers.

Natural England - European eel

This is getting more than a wee bit serious. Only Eels aren't as nice and furry and fluffy with big nice wet black eyes like Otters, so no line of do gooders queuing up to save the eel.... go figure.

Mr Cholmondeley-Corker (PaSC) · Sep 4, 2012

Well if you meant broccoli then that's out of order too....

Poshpaul (Angling Trust and PaSC) · Sep 4, 2012

careful gents....appreciate the irony...but casual guests may not

itsfishingnotcatching · Sep 4, 2012

cg74 said:
Ian, as you noticed, I never stated who or what should be killed. So if someone else sees it (incorrectly) as meaning kill the otters; then bigger fool them.

Sorry for misinterpreting your words Colin.

In relation to the article, which I'm sure you read word for word, was it writers, former school teachers, the "humans who have caused the most damage to fish populations through pollution and over-fishing", or those who voted otters, "Britain’s favourite mammal" who should be killed.

Or perhaps the bigger fools for whom the penny never drops.

Ian

jasonbean1 · Sep 4, 2012

this is not just another otter thread.

it's about the inability of anglers to understand the political world that angling as to live in, be it abstraction, predation or pollution.....the chap who started the thread on bfw is local to my river and still thinks the barbel have gone because of otters.

spouts his usual **** without having a clue of the reality of the situation.

why does the river lea have so many young barbel in certain sections, any watch keith spear and keith arthur on tight lines the other night?

cheers
jason

bennygesserit · Sep 4, 2012

is there anything in an otter thread that hasn't been said before ? let me see if I can do them all in one post , ten points to gryffindor if I miss one

1. Lotka–Volterra equation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2. it damages angling - they are fluffy

3. fish are the equal of otters

4. some **** about apex predator

5. they are naturalised GB predators that have been here for thousands of years ( go team GB )

6. they eat mink or at least bully them

7. barbel don't belong in that river

8. evocative pictures of half eaten carp

9. anyone who loves otters is a soppy cow

10. apex predator introduction

11. otters ate my babysitter

12. jeez even I am bored now

cg74 · Sep 4, 2012

jasonbean1 said:
it's about the inability of anglers to understand the political world that angling as to live in, be it abstraction, predation or pollution.....the chap who started the thread on bfw is local to my river and still thinks the barbel have gone because of otters.

spouts his usual **** without having a clue of the reality of the situation.

Well after hearing a Cherwell barbel angler talking about the otters a couple of weeks ago, you'd think there were hundreds of them and they only predated on barbel.

Every recent session he'd seen barbel in his swim and everytime good ol' Tarka would then appear in the swim.....
I'm not calling him a liar but I am left wondering why I've seen them so infrequently - Maybe they only hang out in the 'known' barbel swims?

Jason, the thing is when everyone tells you that your local river is the healthiest it's been within living memory and use an otter as proof of that.
It inevitably leads to anger when you know the opposite is the truth; it's actually in decline. Where better to vent that anger/annoyance than a forum?

What harm is it doing because at the end of the day anglers are seen as cruel, murdering, sadists - look at the recent cormorant thread if you want proof.

detached

jasonbean1

Well-known member

sam vimes

Well-known member

cg74

Well-known member

Windy

Well-known member

itsfishingnotcatching

Well-known member

Windy

Well-known member

steph mckenzie

Well-known member

guest61

Well-known member

cg74

Well-known member

Windy

Well-known member

Mr Cholmondeley-Corker (PaSC)

Senior Member

Poshpaul (Angling Trust and PaSC)

Moderator

itsfishingnotcatching

Well-known member

jasonbean1

Well-known member

bennygesserit

Well-known member

cg74

Well-known member