Fishing resumes
Our monthly look at the angling scene
THE Angling Trust warmly welcomed the announcement that recreational fishing was among the outdoor sports allowed to resume in England on May 13. This was provided they are carried out alone or with members of the same household and that social distancing rules are followed at all times. This followed weeks of intense advocacy and lobbying by the Angling Trust which unified the angling community and saw 8000 individual emails sent to MPs and dozens of articles in the press in support of a safe return for angling,
SO WE are now more than six weeks into lockdown. Thankfully it is just beginning to appear that it has all been worthwhile. The experts are already claiming that we probably hit the peak a week or so ago but equally need to be mindful that a second wave could, very easily, emerge.
While I am not in a position to contest their view I am not absolutely convinced we have reached the peak yet. Indeed for that reason I would, generally, support a further, perhaps shorter, extension should it be imposed.
How life has changed though. I never thought just how much I would miss going out to meetings. Of course, like so many people, I have had to learn how to use various new media platforms and so far have participated in five meetings. They did require careful managing by the chair but on the whole they seemed to work pretty well.
Indeed I can see, as has been suggested by others, that this may be the way things go in the future. At the very least it could encourage many organisations to look hard at the way they operate. I am sure there will be cost savings in addition to the obvious reduction of their respective carbon footprints.
Being at home so much has meant that jobs have never been so up to date although I am still waiting for our local DIY store to open as I need to buy a few odds and ends to finish a job in the back garden. Like so many people I have been busy painting fences, redecorating rooms, hanging new curtains and many other things. Doing all of this has, I think, earned me quite a lot of brownie points which I have ‘banked’ for when I can go fishing again.
Like pretty much everything fishing has been a no-no these past weeks and this has caused various problems, particularly with fishery management. Clearly there is no issue on rivers yet because the closed season is in place until mid-June. Angling was prohibited on our canals apparently so as not to jeopardise social distancing. However to almost every angler’s surprise all other towpath activities were allowed to continue.
My wife and I have only walked our local towpath four times since March 23. It goes without saying that we expected the towpath to be busier than normal but have decided not to use it again due specifically to the sheer number of cyclists and in many cases their sheer ignorance of others. Neither walk was an enjoyable experience.
Managing the angling lockdown on stillwaters, especially club-controlled waters, has been difficult. Inevitably there have been incidents where anglers have tried to fish despite the rules but the biggest issue seems to be where non-anglers have decided to descend on to a fishery either to walk dogs or hold a barbecue and, in some cases, have broken through gates or fences to do so. Of course fisheries and angling clubs are also suffering the economic impacts of the lockdown and sadly, like some businesses, may not survive.
Strong case
As I said last time, when actually on the bank fishing, an angler is usually a minimum of 12m from the next angler and so, very likely, as safe there as he or she could be anywhere. Focusing on this, Angling Trust has submitted an excellent paper to Government making a very strong case to allow recreational angling to resume as part of the first round of relaxations of the lockdown restrictions.
This development would generate a massive lift in morale and general wellbeing for a lot of people which, as things stand, most would grab with both hands. Needless to say most of the rules such as social distancing and non-essential travel especially for all but shortish journeys would stay in place. It seems similar cases are being made for other sports such as golf.
However, because the ban on large gatherings is likely to remain in place for some months to come, competitions – especially the big national events where up to 600 may be on site – will almost certainly not happen this year.
I am not hopeful that next month I will be talking much about actual fishing or catches but I do think we will be much closer. Now that I am unusually up to date with jobs around the house I plan to switch my attention to my fishing tackle for a few days. I know there is loads to do. It can be quite therapeutic. A bit like angling itself really. Stay safe one and all.