SEA ANGLER’S VOICE HEARD LOUD AND CLEAR
So, the government has heeded commonsense and scrapped the  sea angling license for England!

I was really concerned about the effects this would have on  our sport and the lack of understanding behind the proposal. You only need to  look at the debacle that Portugal  has endured since their introduction of a sea angling license back in January  of 2007 with anglers quitting the sport en masse and the tackle trade suffering  massive financial losses.

What does amaze me though, is that some of the  “organisations” and “groups” here in the UK that have been involved in the  discussions with the government over sea angling license are now trying to make  political gain of their own and attempting to take credit for the collapse of  the proposal. Whilst their contribution to the outcome has been very important,  make no mistake, it’s not the numerous representative organisations that have  been solely responsible for this outcome. The government factor such “group”  responses in to the equation and they carry only limited weight.

What the government, any government looks for, is the number  and type of responses it receives from Joe Public with honest voting power, and  in this case the anglers have been very vociferous at every opportunity, backed  up by good publicity from the likes of Total Sea Fishing magazine and Boat Fishing Monthly magazine.

The real credit then goes to you anglers out there that have  taken time out to speak up and voice your concerns or written a response,  through the appropriate channels, and in enough numbers to stop this little  thought out proposal dead in its tracks. Well done!

COLD SNAP
The cold snap that’s forecast for the Easter weekend  couldn’t have come at a worse time. Just as things were looking like they were  moving in to spring, it gets bitterly cold again. A week of cold weather this  time of year will retard the spring by a full two weeks. What’s also holding  things up is the incessant winds that never seem to blow warm, even from the southwest,  plus we seem to have had little prolonged sunshine for months now to put a  little heat back in to the sea. Sea temps look to be a touch colder at the  moment than they have been over the past 4 years at the equivalent time, which  will also hold the inward migration of the spring species back a while.

NO GO SHOW
Mike and I didn’t bother with the NEC Go Fishing show this  year. In fact we haven’t been for three or four years now due to a steady  decline in sea angling representation there.

It seems many of you have followed suit and not gone this  year either, with eye witness reports suggesting attendance looked to be well down  and with very few big name angling companies supporting the show, plus many  anglers quite rightly cannot warrant the parking and entrance fees charged. It  a shame though, that a once good national show has been left to decline.  Rumours abound though that a new angling show initiative could be about to be  born elsewhere, and if true, will seek to have much greater representation of  the big companies. Without doubt the sport and the trade needs a well run  national angling show. When we hear more, you’ll be the first to know!

OUT AND ABOUT
Fishing wise, to be honest, I haven’t done much due to the  weather being blooming awful most of the time and the weed is still washing  ashore on our local beaches by the ton. It was touch and go in the storms  whether the house stayed in one piece too. The storm surge we witnessed on the  10th March was incredible. Stood on the sea wall watching the  biggest growler I’d ever seen and weighing up the height of the wave and the  height of the house with only the sea wall to stop it made me feel very  vulnerable.

Mike Jr and I had a few days in Ireland fishing off Kilmore Quay a  few weeks back. The weather wasn’t the best, and the fishing was hard, but I  did bag a near Irish specimen cuckoo wrasse and we both got our species list  for 2008 up and running.

I’m writing this after a few hours’ trout fishing. There was  ice on the lake the day before I fished, but I was chuffed to net a lively 1½lb  rainbow trout on a self tied white Goldhead fly, but missed two more good pulls  as I found myself a tad on the rusty side after what seems like a long winter. It  was good to get out though!

With Easter upon us its time I put some hours back in on the  beach and the rocks. I can’t remember fishing so little as I’ve done this past  winter. Whatever the weather does, I’ve already set my species targets for this  year and I’m looking forward to the summer even more than usual.