Barrie Rickards? Angling ? Illness and Recovery

And I too agree with Barrie regarding commercial waters, the overstocking of which has gone too far and it's time we had some enforcable rules on fishery creation and stocking.

I'm all for the creation of angling waters but for goodness sake lets have themmade and landscapedproperly and stocked with real fish!

Even though it will be possible to go there and blank occasionally!

Ron, much as I agree with most of your sentiments regarding commercial fisheries, It seems that you're overlooking the most obvious criteria for the existance of these fisheries.That is if my feedback is any yardstick, they offer near certainty of catching, and to many that is the only consideration.

May I also say that same mind set is also to be heard on certain trout waters,''yes I've got my limit'' so I've had my money's worth.

Yes the "quick return for the money" concept. This idea reminds me of the world's oldest profession!

I made the mistake of going with my camera to take a few pictures of my local club's match on their "Carp Puddle".

I won't be going again! All the bickering was enough to see me off but the weights were all over 100lbs and in only 3 hours?? Now in thiis hot weather the lake is short of oxygen and full of gasping fish.

They have a perfectly good river to fish but you have to walk to the pegs, on the lake you can park behind your peg.

As for Barrie throwing me in, he couldn't knock the skin off a rice pudding at the moment/forum/smilies/big_smile_smiley.gif. Also by the time I take him out he will have forgotten I told anyone about his 70th/forum/smilies/wink_smiley.gif birthday!

Colin

As regards Falkus, I have read a couple of his books and admit he knew a great deal about sea trout fishing, yet according to a friend of mine, he was probably one of the rudest men who was ever born. Worse even than Basil Fawlty!

This particular friend, who was working for SAB Miller the SA based brewing giant at the time was having a day on the Eden some years ago.

Apparently Falkus appeared on the opposite bank and demanded that my friend move as he was fishing in one of Falkus's best pools. My friend had paid for his ticket and had every right to be there, yet Falkus exploded into a tirade of bad language that would have raised the hackles of a barrack square RSM!

I agree with Barrie and Ron. If there is one part of 'angling' that can be used against us it has to be the creation of these vastly overstocked commercial and similar waters.

My clubtried to go down the 'commercial' route and has ended up with literally a muddy puddle with hardly any fish in it, and a big hole in its finances. We created a 'canal' type water, let it fill and then stocked 10's of 1000's of those horrible little carp. Cormorants moved in, more fish stocked and cormorants came back. Only now are anti cormorant measuresbeing taken. We do have a licence to shoot but that is like trying to move the Sahara desert with a tea spoon. Fortunately the farmer doing the shooting has only two fingers to count on./forum/smilies/wink_smiley.gif

As for stocking densities, I believe the EA does have some kind of 'loose' policy but no ones seems to bother enforcing it. I know that the IFM has issued guidelines. Likewise with barbel going into these muddy puddles. According to the area EA they normally will not give permission but the fish are turning up in almost every little area of stillwater, just a shame the EA are not so 'blind' when it comes to the areas rivers.

As for your friend fishing the Falkus pool Ron, Mr Falkus should have known the pool fishing etiquette; in that an angler fishing a pool is expected to take one step downstream with each cast, only if no other angler is waiting to fish can the pool then be re fished from the top again. Having shared a river with game anglers for almost 40 years I can say without any doubt that game anglers are some of the most badly mannered I have ever come across.

A few years ago there was a guy with a very similar name to H F featured on local TV news who had a car boot full of illegally caught salmon/sea troutwhenstopped by police.

Another excellent article by Barrie Rickards, it's good to hear he's recovered.

He's right about commercial fisheries. Some of them are so overstocked that fish have no option but to take anglers' baits, as there's no natural food left.

Mr rickards.....i don`t know if you read any of the postings on this site??? but i just wanted to put this post up concearning a delivery you had at home the other day via TNT. The driver enquired if you were "the" Mr Barrie Rickards,the famous fishing chappie (i don`t know if you recall???). He said he was asking on behalf of thebloke back at his depot who loads his truck every night....that bloke is me and when i found out that it was indeed yourself,it made a loading bay operative very happy /forum/smilies/smile_smiley.gif.

May i wish you a speedy and full recovery and many thanks for your intresting and thought provoking articles on fishing magic.

Nick.