on the radio today

on the local bbc station today there was a young lady from one of the anti lobby
they were discussing hunting with dogs and the dj threw the question at her
"when you've finished with hunting with dogs are you then going after fishing"
reply

NO
why
"hunting with dogs is different to angling as it is setting one animal on to another"
angling is different as it is the nature of man to hunt
the arguments that she put made me smile
what a fantastic anti she was
she also slammed PETA as to fanatical
the radio station in question BBC 3counties

roll on tommorow

There are some sensible people in the anti-blood sports movement. The popular misconception, that of them all being tree hugging cranks, is very wide of the mark. We should be trying to create links with the more reasonable ones - some are quite influential. Of course, we'll have to do a bit of putting our house in order (litter, etc.) first, but it could ultimately be to our benefit. This will be especially true if hunting is banned completely - the crankier anti's will be looking for new targets.

I was on the League Against Cruel Sports web site the other day. They are pro angling. But do say that they are concerned about discarded tackle. I stated this on the Hunting with Dogs thread, but it was overlooked. Probably because the debate is a little heated. The point is we can point to our work with Kids through the local angling clubs, and the proffesional coaching organisations. Also that we work with the EA to benifit the environment, both nationally and locally. Also that when lead was proven harmful we acted, without being forced. If we can now educate the minority who leave litter and tackle we will be squeaky clean, and may find ourselves with more allies than we realise.

Some time ago as I was packing up from a succesful session on the Trent, a dog walker stopped to watch me as I collected a whole pile of rubbish from the vicinity of my swim. It wasn't my rubbish of course.

She came over and chatted about my fishing, how she thought it was boring, but also how she had never seen anyone like myself clearing up rubbish. I spoke to her in my very best accentless English and pointed out that it was such a pity that many anglers do leave large quantities of rubbish and that it is so easy to pick it up and put it into a supermarket bag to take home.

We struck on a cord, we spoke about conservation, pollution and how we must look after the environment, She left me her phone number and invited me to go fishing at any time I wanted down her husbands private stretch of the Upper Witham.

I've lost her blasted phone number of course, but perhaps next summer we may meet again.

I can't help but wonder, if, in 30 years time say angling is banned - I'll probably end up in prison if it is because I shall fish until I die. What would the anti's target then? Tiddleywinks?

Kevan

People who eat meat. The first step with meat eaters is to have all meat injected by law with a substance that will make it taste horrible. They wouldn't want the eating of meat to be enjoyable, just as they don't want the catching of fish to be enjoyable.

Mind you, there are some carp anglers who already use substances to make meat taste horrible.

It's called Vindaloo Curry ;o)

I suppose we could now extend this "to how do we get angling in order"
on the rubbish front I usually take my two girls and the wife around the local day ticket fisheries and the amount of litter that gets thrown is disgusting
ok some of it is not down to anglers but the majority of it is groundbait bags tend to give it away.
how can we get round this?

could the bailiffs on these waters take the rod licence of the anglers to jot down names and addresses of anglers when they go and collect money?
any rubbish found in the swim at the end of the day can then be attributed to that angler and then be prosecuted for littering the fine might make people think then.

by the way I do pick the litter up and put it in the bins that are around the lake.


how about naming and shaming the waters affected by litter as the anglers mail did last year.
Yes I know we are tackling a never ending problem but if we can all do our bit then maybe just maybe my gt gt grandchildren can also persue this wonderful pasttime

Going back to the lady on the radio it's good to hear that not all "anti's" are anti fishing. It's also good to hear they recognize there is a need in humans to hunt.

The extreamists say hunting has no place in a modern civilised society. However that society has only been in existance for a couple of hundred years, while the human species goes back millions. I would say that angling being a way to exercise the hunting urge without killing or harming the hunted, and also benifit the environment is exactly what should happen in a modern civilised society.

On the down side litter is a big problem, for example there's a weir pool on the river Leven near me which was run as a day ticket venue by the pub on the river bank. Back in the November before last it was fooled out and has never re-openned. This means people fish the water for free. I took a walk along there in the summer and it looked like a council tip. Meat tins, corn tins, beer cans in abundance, carrier bags, and there had been fires all over. I know I usually take away rubbish left by others but in this case I would need a lorry!

The worst thing is, if I was a non angler and saw this, I'd want fishing banned tomorrow.

One point about litter bins. If I ran a fishery I wouldn't have them. There are the problems with emptying and getting rid of the refuse for a start. Have you seen what happens on some venues. The bins get so stuffed with litter that the lid comes off. then people just leave litter next to the bin. Then the wind blows with the inevitable result.

Its easy to take your litter home. For long sessions I take a bin liner. For short sessions, a plastic bag.