Louts on Rivers

Please read story and then comment. Let them know that realanglers care.

i live in grimsby and i have seen them and reported it to the ea hotline but nobody ever comes to do anything about it.

Snatching is not a word I am familiar with, we used to call it foul hooking and used to do it through ignorance as kids on the local cut for pike.? The practice of foul hooking though is prevelent throughout Europe, the Spanish use this method for mullet, fishing crust on a treble as soon as the fish gets close the strike.? Its very sad this practice is still taking place in the UK

Just posted a comment.

It's time the E.A sorted it's act out and started doing the job they are paid to do.

"We don't have the resources" is cr*p!

Graham, your comment about the closed season is one of my worries too and it is the only reason I would ever agree to abolish it.

The EA have their budget set by D.E.F.R.A. and over the past few years their budget has been cut (in efective terms) year on year.

So, the real blame belongs with D.E.F.R.A., and successive governments for not funding the EA properly.

As to these 'louts' being sufficient reason for the lifting of the closed season I fail to see the logic.

Far rather to have a properly funded EA, with sufficient resources to catch and prosecute these thieves.

Peter, it stinks!

What is the point in paying the E.A for our licence if they aren't doing their job?

And even if we were on the bank all year round Graham and rang the E.A hotline no one would respond, so then what?

Steve,

I totally agree, but what can the EA do if they are continually under funded?

In the interim though I do think that clubs and syndicates could do a lot more regarding the bailiffing of their rivers during the closed season.

My syndicate have a bailiff on the venue every day of the year thanks to a great secretary, but more clubs should also be looking into protecting their venues themselves.

More bailiff and more EA people on bank is what's needed

As a club bailiff i totaly agree , we visit our club waters on a dayly basis rivers and lakes. ok we cant be there all the time but we have a rotor that lets us be on the waters as much as poss and at different times of the day all the dodgy boys have now got used to it and we rarely get bothered by unwanted's . On the subject of the ea I last year spoke to 3 ea so called officials and they had not a clue as to what to say to me, seems that whenever you talk to one of them , they answer sorry mate not my dept. But when i get back i'll see if i can talk to someone, but no one ever doe's. What realy gets up my nose is the fact that we have a section of river that is overgrown with weed and obstructions in a very bad state indeed a great pity as is it a lovely stretch, they wont come and clear it or dredge it they say because they have no funds. So we as a club offered to do it ourselves OH GOD NO you cant do that , the river is our responsability. god you cant ruddy win can you.

but what about sections of river with no controlling club?

Responded and I'm quite pleased with my little rant, even if I do say so myself.

Like the Freshney...

I've looked at this river dozens of times when I've been working out that way and never yet seen anyone fishing it in the conventional manner.

Odd nice carp mind, where it goes under the railway line, but I can think of fewer places in this country I rather not fish compared with this one.

And while I'm on, will someone tell me what's the point of employing hundreds of folk at the Environment Agency to spend 40 hours a week driving round in circles at God knows what expense just checking licenses? Is that a productive use of our license fees?

How does that fit in with their mandate to 'adopt, maintain, improve'?

The Agency does a fantastic job considering the red tape and budgetary restrictions it is bound by. Bankside bobbies, except on properly planned blitzes is a complete waste of money and a huge risk to the personnel involved.

After all, they're not exactly out looking for murderers and bank robbers, are they? How many of those they catch without licenses actually pay the fines? Wonder what the stats are on the criminal's profiles. Very few bank managers and financiers, I guess. More likely to be your dole scroungers, educationally challengedand migrants.

And because they nab a few happless souls, does this mean license sales see a dramatic upturn? Of course not.

How many thousands of miles of river, stream, brook, canal, reservoir, pond, lake and gravel pit bank is there to patrol, and then add the thousands of commercial waters. And how often should they visit each? Do the math. It simply boils down to a question of honour. Are you law abiding or a criminal? Simple as that.

If we want to get really serious, make it a law that you have to show a license to buy tackle, bait or fishing permits. Problem solved. And don't give me that old chestnut thatit's not the responsibility of the fisheryor tackle shop owner. Try buying bullets or a handgun and see how far you get.

If you want to make money out of angling and anglers, be prepared to do your duty. And don't say it's an infringement of your rights or an inconvenience. I show my bank card each time I go to Tesco's and it's no hardship at all.

Of course, the EA could get really smart and issue a license in the form of a credit card accepted by all major retailers and fisheries.

JOB SORTED!

'If we want to get really serious, make it a law that you have to show a license to buy tackle, bait or fishing permits. Problem solved. And don't give me that old chestnut thatit's not the responsibility of the fisheryor tackle shop owner. Try buying bullets or a handgun and see how far you get.'

I agree entirely, any club permit should require the production of a rod licence first, if the EA happen to patrol a water where an angler has a club ticket but no rod licence then the permit retailer should also be fined.

While I sympathise totally with both Bob and Paul's views, in the main very little is actually enforcable.

How about the grandparents going into the tackle shop to buy 'little Jonny' a surprise birthday present?

To fine a controlling club if a member has no license is rather like saying that you can fine the AA or RAC if a 'member' gets caught speeding or driving over the legal limit.

The truth is that you cannot 'grandfather' a law of the land. Plain and simple.

It is though one of the main areas that I want to see how the proposed Unified Angling body will approach the government w.r.t. the EA's annual funding from D.E.F.R.A.

Finally, if a cuplrit decides not to pay the fine then it becomes a simple matter of contempt of Court eventually, so it is out of the EA's hands.

Its not just the morons that do this out of season that want their hands chopping off,it`s the morons that fish illegaly,steal,poach,call it what you will that do this during the season proper that need sorting as well!!!

I'm not sure how the mail order business would fair if you needed to produce a licence to make a purchase?

On the bait front, what if you only use meat, corn, bread, worm, prawns, trout pellet, nuts, hemp, steak, cheese..............etc??

there is no way real anglers would behave in this manner,i know we all agree on that , the editor should be asked to print an open letter of our condemnation of such vile practices and our wish to be totaly dissassociated with it.

I realy dont think this is down to fishermen , i think its down to our society , peoples attitudes and such. Until this country brings back some law and order and the respect that people had for eachother and the belongings of others , then we might get somewhere.

If anyone went down to the Milburngate riverside on the Wear right now(11-30pm) there will be half a dozen all 'fishing' the same method. Double handed salmon rods with big treble hooks weighted with several SSG. The EA say they can't do anything unless they are caught with a fish.

Usually snatching sea trout but big coarse fish are also damaged/killed this way. I would lock them up for much longer than 3 months. Very occasionally these people are caught on the CCTV camera's and prosecuted, but mostly only get a slapped wrist and they're back again. Even banning them from holding a licence doesn't help

The local council brought in a bye law banning fishing on the roadside but that is as much use as a chocolate fireguard. The only thing that happened was the notice boards were ripped awayfrom the railings.

"If we want to get really serious, make it a law that you have to show a license to buy tackle, bait or fishing permits. Problem solved. And don't give me that old chestnut thatit's not the responsibility of the fisheryor tackle shop owner. Try buying bullets or a handgun and see how far you get." (Bob Roberts)

You're spot on there Bob, but we have a two tier system in place in this country where some anglers are allowed to fish unlicensed.

I really can't see why sea anglers don't have to have a license. I've followed the arguments in the press (none of which have changed my opinion) and think it is time for all anglers to have to buy a license.

Once they (sea anglers) start contributing, perhaps issues of water quality, fish stocking density etc will begin to be resolved?

As soon as every angler has to carry a license, then we can put pressure on retailers andfishery owners to insist on production before a sale.