The Towpath Angler

Our monthly look at the angling scene

I COMMENTED earlier in lockdown that I would never have thought how much I miss going out to meetings.

For me it does not matter how useful the various social media platforms may be – there is absolutely nothing to equal a face-to-face, round-the-table session. I guess I must have participated in around 20 virtual meetings now and while there have been some good outcomes on occasions rarely have I left such a meeting feeling that doing it for real would not have seen a much better result.

I have also chaired a few of these sessions and saw early on that you need to set down fairly strict operating guidelines and probably be quite ruthless in using these to manage the meetings. Strangely a key problem I have noticed which, I suspect, might never see a resolution, is that the participants are almost certainly all using different computer equipment.

A very obvious problem here is that some can see perhaps 40 other participants whereas others only four. This makes managing business quite difficult. Still for the foreseeable future this will be the way. Indeed, as I said last month, looking to the future many organisations will see the merits of not having to ask participants to travel.

Busy towpaths

I have had a number of conversations with anglers and non-anglers, all of whom have said how much busier our towpaths have become as more people are getting out more often. This was probably exacerbated as recently as last weekend which saw the opening of pubs and restaurants, many of which are along our waterways.

As we all know, social distancing on most towpaths is difficult at best and this is clearly deterring some people from going there. On my local canal there are few sections where the towpath affords two metres and this, I know, having spoken to bailiffs, has seriously reduced the number of anglers.

It is also particularly difficult for clubs to safely run matches because, no matter what Covid precautions they put in place, other towpath users are not always so considerate and sensible. Sadly this, on occasions, has led to an unwanted confrontational situation. As far as I am aware none of these went too far but nonetheless we can all do without them in these especially stressful times.

Canal carp

With regard to people fishing, bailiffs have reported seeing more targeting carp in the canals. We all know that these ‘wild’ fish can grow to a sometimes unbelievable size. While this is not the traditional canal fishing that many of us were weaned on, it is a growth area to which tackle manufacturers and retailers will testify.

So long as these anglers respect the towpath space when they set up their equipment, then fine. Unfortunately one or two tend to ignore the commonsense rules and often make it very difficult for other towpath users to get by. Sadly bailiffs often have to keep a close eye on these anglers to try and ensure that all carp caught are returned to the canal from which they came.

Matches off

Earlier I mentioned matches and it is because of the particular difficulties in ensuring safe social distancing that both Angling Trust’s divisional National Championships have been cancelled and rescheduled for 2021. This decision was, of course, not taken lightly but it was the correct decision.

That said, the smaller Canal & River Trust/Angling Trust Canal Pairs event will go ahead. It was thought that the qualifiers can be placed more easily on canal sections where towpaths give better safeguards etc. As always these events present a golden opportunity for club anglers to sit alongside some of the household names and, who knows, possibly beat them.

The prize pot is, as you would expect, determined by the level of entry but will, no doubt, be well worth collecting at the final. These qualifiers are due to start very soon now.

Busy days

I have been busier than ever throughout lockdown, albeit sat at my desk most of the time, so have not been able to fish that often. I generally only do matches otherwise I would probably not go at all and this means that I am usually there as the organiser. Without doubt the special measures necessary to make matches as safe as possible have added greatly to the organisers’ already busy day.

These include precautions for handling any monies, carrying out the draw and weighing in where special frames have had to be constructed to ensure that proper distancing is maintained throughout the process.

Never mind – if it prevents future problems and allows us to continue fishing then it is all worthwhile. Stay safe everyone.