Birmingham Anglers Association

Viewing 1 to 20 (50 Total) illegal Fishing
Haddon Total Posts: 53 Joined: July 27, 2020	Re: illegal Fishing Let me first state that the BAA has a big place in my heart. Born in Birmingham my Father took me fishing as a kid. He was a member for many years as was I in the late sixties and through the seventies. Half of the population of Birmingham fished and small clubs were prevalent with match fishing a weekly event. Last year I started fishing again after forty years and the first thing I did this year was to take a BAA membership and revisit the fantastic venues on the Severn and Avon I used to love going to all those years ago. I’m not trying to make any criticism of this wonderful organisation. I understand that illegal fishing and individuals deciding they will not bother to pay for a membership but still use the facilities the honest members pay for the privilege of fishing. My observations since going to places like Blackstone ( three times and each time being asked to show my membership card) Grimley, Hallow, and on the Avon Barton, Fladbury, Cropthorne (where I have yet to see a bailiff in any of those) is how quite these places are and the average age of the guys fishing. At 65 myself I could not believe the membership fee of £30 for an OAP as I now am. If the BAA can support an ongoing business plan at these prices then fair enough. The website is brilliant and the interaction between anglers is great to have. I have had to learn how to fish again and the rivers seem to be dominated by Barbel which I have never caught. I love the fact that you can still talk to members on the bank, get Knowledge and make friends with strangers through the brilliant sport we all love. I have seen first-hand the evidence of illegals who seem to think they can do what they want and without fear of being challenged. As in my earlier post re Cropthorne. On doing a “reckie” to, (in all honestly) see how easy the pegs are, having had a hip replacement and also a knackered knee it’s surprised me that the basics of signs and directions ON THE VENUE in a few places is invisible. I purchased the BAA guide booklet which I take everywhere BUT it doesn’t give the detail that simple signs will when your trying to negotiate a rough track in a car. Regarding the tree blocking the track. When we called the BAA EMERGENCY number, I did expect it to be what it insinuated, an emergency number. And believe me being trapped on a track in my mind was pretty much an emergency. What I don’t understand is what does an emergency number constitute if it’s not to try and help someone in our situation? The fantastic help from Frank Bagley of Girling AC was what we needed, local information to guide us out via another route to the main road. The Girling pegs are a few hundred yards from the BAA pegs who use the same track. They knew how to “rescue” us from being stranded. And re the comment we should have phoned the Fire service - yes that would have been the last resort. And that leads me into my point in writing this. How hard would it be to sit down and try to set up a working party to gather information and local knowledge re the land, routes and contacts in emergencies that would benefit members. It could turn out to be hard work OR it could provide a helpful network to be of great benefit to people who get stuck for any reason. Local knowledge which I would imagine most of the landowners could provide could be held in a database only accessible to certain people via an emergency or helpline. Cropthorne is a perfect example of this. I have no doubt the farmer doesn’t want cars driving all over his track but in our situation, it was a godsend. The other irony to this in hindsight was that we waved a van down that was heading towards the river and coming down the track we were going to make our escape on could have been an illegal come for a free evenings fishing. I hope and trust that the BAA continues for another 100 years, and as an association I really believe it’s up to this generation to do what we can to make it as good as we can. I certainly haven’t got the energy or knees to go out clearing banks and I take my hat off to all those who give their time to venture out in all weathers and cover an enormous amount of riverside so we can turn up and drown some maggots on a hot summers day. I am however more than prepared to give one day a week to help in anyway i can to set up and look at ways to make the association more proactive. But I would like to hear comments from anyone who thinks that there is any mileage in looking at ways to create a network as I have discussed to help each other and deal (as realistically as possible) with the scum that plague our rivers. Posted on August 24, 2020 at 9:22 AM
BarbelGod Total Posts: 67 Joined: December 6, 2016	Re: illegal Fishing Stew, Neil....am yow two gonna fight and get it over with or what??? Oiled up in loin cloths is the general consensus!!! Posted on August 24, 2020 at 10:16 AM
RiverNovice Total Posts: 373 Joined: August 21, 2018	Re: illegal Fishing Haddon you could try emailing the BAA office and ask for a face to face meeting and explain your reasons for wanting such a meeting and see what sort of response you get . Assuming you get the go ahead for such a meeting and they agree to some of your ideas . The next problem I think you will have is finding people to volunteer ? Maybe the BAA could offer free membership for the following season that attends one or two work party's With the amount of waters the BAA control and the large areas that covers would it not make sense to break it down in to smaller regions . One idea would be to have a regional organiser for each region ? Such ideas may work on paper ? The first problem being would the BAA agree to any ideas put forward to them to help improve the situation we all find our selves in . Second problem would you get the volunteers ? Posted on August 24, 2020 at 10:21 AM
OneMoreCast Total Posts: 49 Joined: June 15, 2015	Re: illegal Fishing Would the AA / Rac attend a member stuck in a field / on a track ? Probably already thought of, but I honestly don't know. Mark V Posted on August 24, 2020 at 1:02 PM
stew83mul Total Posts: 663 Joined: May 30, 2015	Re: illegal Fishing Rivernovice.......we already have our bailiffs in regional teams headed by a senior area bailiff for each one.I usually do a bit of bank clearing,putting signs up etc as do others on my area.With regards to putting all these ideas forward,that is what the executive committee is for yet year after year pleas for new members to join are ignored.Again the AGM is a perfect opportunity to share ideas and ask questions yet the turn out is embarrassing.A lot of people have some great ideas on forums and Facebook but when it comes to the crunch of actually doing it then I’m afraid it never happens. Posted on August 24, 2020 at 1:24 PM
FrankBagley Total Posts: 43 Joined: January 21, 2016	Re: illegal Fishing A bit of encouragement for the River fishing Clubs. We (GirlingAS) have had 12 new members fishing the river matches this season. This is a complete turn around to the last two decades where we saw the move to commercial fisheries. We believe the reason is our the 3 year effort to update the 35 pegs to have robust steps and platforms in every peg. Anglers don't want to walk a mile to unsafe pegs and catch a few bits when you can park behind your peg and catch a big bag of Carp. I guess the point here is producing excellent safe pegs on river venues will work and there are many anglers out there who havn't totally given up on natural venues. Frank Bagley Posted on August 25, 2020 at 8:30 PM
stew83mul Total Posts: 663 Joined: May 30, 2015	Re: illegal Fishing I agree Frank and where we own the land and are able to provide behind peg parking with steps and platforms we do,look at Blackstone,Ladyham,Pershore,Fladbury,Ripple/Birds Meadow,Wasperton to name a few.I’m afraid if we don’t own the land we are limited to what work can be done. Posted on August 25, 2020 at 11:23 PM
john_williams Total Posts: 183 Joined: February 13, 2015	Re: illegal Fishing If the BAA only had 35 pegs to look after, I guess they too would be "Rolls Royce" pegs. Bit different with over 250 miles of fishing on 11 different rivers, 150 miles of fishing on 5 canals and 15 lake & pools to control. Try doing that with just a handful of volunteers. Posted on August 27, 2020 at 11:59 AM
Terry49 Total Posts: 37 Joined: June 21, 2019	Re: illegal Fishing With all these constant floods each year i guess any platforms would have to be bomb proof to withstand the forces at work and the cost of maintaining them would be huge for the BAA with all its water. Rivers are wild places and not commercial ponds so i don't expect luxury here, and wouldn't want it, swims are quite accessible though yes some are a little dicey when wet but thats when common sense prevails, Its the wildness that attracts for me. I'm more concerned about predation and environmental issues than comfort, but i believe the small band of BAA Volunteers do very well indeed. Posted on August 27, 2020 at 3:49 PM
stew83mul Total Posts: 663 Joined: May 30, 2015	Re: illegal Fishing Finally a few realistic comments that speak a lot of sense! Posted on August 27, 2020 at 6:11 PM