Come on, we've all done it, fished where you're not supposed to. Remember as a kid, quietly creeping past a house to get to a lake hidden to all but the well informed? Age and maturity has probably taught me to respect people's property, but when it comes to forgotten streams and rivers around the Kent & Sussex borders, that's another matter!
In all fairness. in four years of "minding" the upper Medway, where I act as a bailiff, to keep people like me away from illegally fishing the club waters, I've only had a handful of incidents. Usually they offer the same excuses I used, such as "I thought this was a free stretch" or "I've just joined the club, but haven't got my card yet" or the most common one, "I never saw a sign saying it was private" Some clubs, including mine, are guilty of not placing adequate signage in prominent positions. I've tried to remedy this, and thankfully, those signs are still in place.
The word "poaching" literally means,-
"To illegally hunt or catch (game or fish) on land that is not one's own, or incontravention of official protection"
As very few anglers fish for the pot nowadays, we can assume that any person caught "poaching" are simply there to flout the laws of the land to get some free fishing. Of course, with the influx of immigrants from Poland and the former Soviet countries means that more education is required to protect our valuable stock when club members are not around.
It's now getting towards the end of May 2014 and I've been out spotting fish on my local river. Aside from sporting my best Polaroid's, noting the changes the winter floods have made, is as important as spending time wetting a line. The bonus of seeing Barbel spawning, or a rogue Carp cruising upstream is worth it's weight in gold. Adding into the equation the song birds at their most majestic best, I could be forgiven into thinking that in heaven, it is always this time of year.
The excitement of June 16th is far too precious to devalue by casting a line during the three months closed season when fishing on rivers is prohibited, and I'm very proud to have never been tempted. Since the enforced lay-off was abolished on still waters in the early 1990's, I've been visiting Ireland to get my "River Fix" The downside of my spring pilgrimage, is the apparent lack of species such as Chub, Barbel, Grayling and Dace, so on my return, I eagerly await the glorious 16th!
So what is the purpose of this blog page? As you can see in the heading, "confessions of a naughty angler" I'm not always a good boy. I still like to fish where I'm not allowed. I draw the line to waters where clubs have taken time to place signs, or on private land where the owner has "No Fishing" on a gate, but if a stretch of water doesn't, then I'm very likely to have secretly parked the van a good distance away and enjoyed the thrill of being that same young lad in the first paragraph.!
The excitement of June 16th is far too precious to devalue by casting a line during the three months closed season when fishing on rivers is prohibited, and I'm very proud to have never been tempted. Since the enforced lay-off was abolished on still waters in the early 1990's, I've been visiting Ireland to get my "River Fix" The downside of my spring pilgrimage, is the apparent lack of species such as Chub, Barbel, Grayling and Dace, so on my return, I eagerly await the glorious 16th!So what is the purpose of this blog page? As you can see in the heading, "confessions of a naughty angler" I'm not always a good boy. I still like to fish where I'm not allowed. I draw the line to waters where clubs have taken time to place signs, or on private land where the owner has "No Fishing" on a gate, but if a stretch of water doesn't, then I'm very likely to have secretly parked the van a good distance away and enjoyed the thrill of being that same young lad in the first paragraph.!
My favourite method is the stick float on a short 10' rod, carrying only essential items such as landing net, scales, weigh sling and everything else tucked away in my multi-pocketed waistcoat. Bait would usually be Red Maggots or sweetcorn with pinkees offered as loose feed and possibly a wee bit of brown crumb laced with hemp and molasses I've certainly no time for Sensas or Van den Eynde at £4 per bag!
In the coming months, I'll be visiting some of those forgotten streams in search of wild fish. If I do happen to get caught where I shouldn't be, then that's my fault for being there! A good friend once advised me to "never con a conman" so I may use my favourite line "you may own the land, but God owns the fish" That one really confused the owner of Horsebridge Mill near Hailsham on the Cuckmere a few years back and he didn't want to have a run in with a religious nutter. I still go there several times a year!
If anyone can remember fishing at the Lake in Reynolds Lane near Tunbridge Wells during the mid-seventies, I'll share with you a small confession. A young girl (probably the farmers daughter) used to come around looking for the 10p day ticket money. Her name was Denise, but we christened her disease because of her not too pleasant body odour. I managed to go a whole summer of free fishing as she never had change for a five pound note. Little did she know I didn't have the note anyway, but she was so thick and never asked to see it!
It was great being 14!
Check out www.lanesboroughangling.ie
Verry nice story!
ReplyDelete