Price hikes…

Okay, so the Environment Agency say they need more money to do what they do and continue to provide a service (which many feel is inadequate). A lot of anglers feel the increase in the price of a rod licence is unfair – especially for a lot disabled anglers, who, for the most part, can’t fish rivers as the access to most swims causes them problems… so why put the concesionary rate up? There’ll be no benefit for the less mobile or the 50,000 disabled, will there? If it’s for the good of all and all-round improvements, then get your agents to look into making some proper accessible pegs on rivers.

I’d be more than interested to hear about any new swims that are accessible if anyone knows of any on the Avon, Severn, etc. as Nick and I would love a spot of barbel fishing…

And have you noticed that the petition, signed by 3000+ anglers up in arms about the Eastern Europeans taking fish from Commercial Fisheries for food has been removed from the Home Office website? Supposedly we’re being ‘racist’. Well WTF are we supposed to call them? This is ridiculous – at present, unless your fishery holds ‘game fish’, these thieves are not breaking the law if they remove fish from your lakes – oh no, the only law they’re breaking is Trespass! The fact that they use illegal methods to catch the carp, for example (long-lining), doesn’t seem to matter.

In Wales, the problem and the ill-feeling it has generated among anglers who regularly come across this theft and abuse, is escalating to the point where things are going to come to a head very soon. There will be blood shed on the banks somewhere in the near future if the government don’t respond to the call for a change in the Law.

That will then give the Police a chance to support anglers and the Environment Agency might start responding to calls about thefts taking place – when they’re asked to.

Get off your high horse…

I get so annoyed by the petty digs from people who attack Reels on Wheels… these are so obviously related to Baldymort’s organisation and the sniping comes from P (for professor) Snipe. I’m referring to this comment left on the “Dilham Fishery” post which was written by Karen – one of the Team’s volunteers.

Although Karen isn’t a wheelchair user, or even disabled, she has fished with Nick – who is a wheelchair user – and other disabled anglers. She has a high level of awareness and has learnt about the practical needs of a less able/mobile angler. So, although not an “expert”, she is able to draw on her own experiences and offer advice. She was prompted to check out this new venue to see if Nick would be able to include it on his next venture into East Anglia.

The specs that she passed onto the owners were to help them with the measurements for a disabled toilet which they were in the process of building. I found them on the Oxford University’s website – that seems more than adequate to me… after all, I wouldn’t dream of questioning such a prestigious body’s ability to install disabled-friendly toilet facilities, as per the regs from the County’s assessor.

So, here’s the comment that ticked me off:

Hi All

You talk about what needs to be done to make a fishery more accessible for wheelchair users so what qualifies you to do this, there are regulations etc you need to no about, have you been on an access audit course and the information you are giving to this fishing complies with DDA (Disability Discrimination Act 1995). You cannot just give out what you think is best, You say “talked about what else could be done to make it more “wheelchair-friendly and kicker boards at the front of the platforms around 4”-6” high were suggested and they were more than happy to do this” are you correct with the measurements, what materials are you using etc.

The BDAA are the best people to discus all things to do with making fisheries accessible as they have a guide to making a fishery “Wheelchair Friendly” that complies with DDA rules etc.

Cheers

Pete

Thanks Pete!! I refer to my previous post about 100 degrees of disability – why are you so hung up on wheelchairs?? Are you in a chair yourself? I think most wheelchair-anglers would be the best judges of a fishery’s suitability for them, not some “walker” or AB do-gooder/jobsworth. It’s a sad fact that the majority of those employed as “experts” on disability regs are seldom disabled, let alone wheelchair users.

Also, we always mention the BDAA to any fishery we visit interested in Access issues – do you? Maybe you could be doing more to promote them? We link to them as an organisation on Nick’s blog and the Reels on Wheels website, both of which get good traffic and the vast majority of comments are positive or constructive… hint, hint.

So, stop having digs at ROW – which is for ALL anglers – and collect the toys you threw out of your pram as you leave my blog.

It’s all going on…

Well, there’s not much mojo here at the moment – apparently it’s very hot in Wales at Peterstone and the Team haven’t had a bite yet, so… that’s a bit depressing – though when I spoke to Nick he did say only 4 fish had been caught in 24 hours.

Had a call from Claire this morning to say she’d got her copy of the Angler’s Mail through and there was a whole half-page devoted to Nick and Reels on Wheels! Yay!! She took a great photo of it and I managed to read the entire article – fab! Thanks to Ben Weir for his ongoing support – apparently they’ve been getting feedback on the articles they write about us, so they’re making it ongoing – brilliant!

Had a call from Karen about a newish fishery she visited a while ago. She was invited over to take a look and judge its accessibility for Reels on Wheels and she’s going to write a complete review and email it to me later for the DA blog. (Complete with pics!) I’m looking forward to that, as it’s always good to feature relatively unknown places and give them a boost, especially if they care enough to try and provide as much access as possible for the less mobile among us.

We had a great result on the Buddy front this week too – thanks to Darren putting his name and phone number on the RoW poster he’d put up at Bradshaw fisheries in Lancashire… A senior citizen called Sid rang me to ask if he could join us, but he’s not online, so I mentioned Darren to him and he’d got his number written down… so to cut a long story short, they’ve arranged for Darren to ring Sid and let him know when he’s going fishing and Sid can go with him if and when he wants – which will save him a massive £40+ in taxi fares.

This Buddy System rocks, doesn’t it?

100 Degrees of Disability

There are so many disablities which are invisible to the naked eye, aren’t there? We often refer to these people who suffer not-so-obvious disability as “The Walking Wounded”. You probably know at least one of them… people with heart problems, head injuries, bowel or stomach issues, depression… the list goes on.

So, just because they don’t use a wheelchair or sticks, or crutches, it doesn’t mean they are less disabled than Nick or other wheelie anglers.

You’re probably thinking, why is she banging on about this particular subject, when her own husband is a wheelchair user? Well, because you have to appreciate that access is a minefield… Now Nick is able to transfer (from his chair) and roll about on his butt and uses his knees, if he needs to. I know there are people who can’t… and there are people who, as I said before, don’t even “look” as if there’s anything wrong with them, who struggle with tackle, swims, walking – sometimes just getting out of bed.

So, let’s not expect every fishery or venue to be able to cater for every disabled person in the world shall we? It’s like the 100 degrees of disability – some places will be easier to adapt, some places will be impossible – then there’ll be the help and support of the people who work at the fisheries which more than makes up for the imperfection of “access”.

Let’s not forget – this is all about the shared passion for angling – not the DDA, the political correctness or empire-building.

PS – Sometimes I get a bit pissed off with certain parties… (can you guess who they are?) so it’s good to vent on my blog.

Wow! My DD fishes too!

OMG – strike me down with a feather… DD’s caught the bug too! We were at El Dorado again on Wednesday of this week and DD decided that she’d like to try fishing with a 4m whip. We thought it’d be easier for her not to have to cast on rod and line, get tangled, etc. etc. She took to it like the proverbial duck to water and caught 39 small orfe, rudd, roach during the couple of hours she fished… I think it was all about quantity that day!!

Having said that, she sat between us and I had a really good day, too. Some lovely carp and plenty of rod-bending action! They were slightly bigger and less frequent, but DD wanted to touch all those she saw us land and have her pic taken with them! My best was this 6lber…. and the following pics are of her!!

That’s a pretty common, innit? DD with a baby rudd…

And DD holding one of my carp!

Worth weighting for!

Excuse the pun, but I caught over 100lbs of fish today and does my right arm know it or what?! I really worked the feeder (didn’t try the method after all, stuck with a small cage) and I have to thank Des Taylor’s superb lobworm mix as it really brought them into my swim. It really didn’t matter where I cast – near, middle or off the point – I had a bite a chuck!

We returned to El Dorado (which I secretly dream of buying!!!), at first light and set up. It was a bit of a struggle getting the fully-loaded barrow through the boggy bits to the swim, but the conditions were pretty near perfect. It was dull, overcast and quite warm, with some annoying drizzle for about an hour. I used my trusty Shakespeare feeder (all-purpose, really) rod with a small cage feeder, which I set up wrong to start with… well, it’s been yonks since I feeder-fished! I attached a small cage and some maggots and practised casting.

I was under instructions to try and hit the same spot every time, so I tried really hard to. All was well – I was casting fine. My first take was on a worm while I waited for Nick to make up the groundbait – nothing spectacular, just a small carp. Then from about 7am till 8.30am, I was getting a bite a chuck on the maggots. Happy as Larry, too, I was, ‘cos hubby wasn’t getting as many bites as me on the black meat!!

It just continued like that all morning and I was starving – had to take my rod out of the water to grab a sandwich and even then, I was still landing fish! They averaged 2 – 3lb and I had several bigger, my best being a lovely 6lb common. Nick had the most beautiful orfe – 4lbs 14oz – just shy of the 5lb mark and a gorgeous orange colour (see photo on his blog!)

Claire, Julz and Michael (Reels on Wheels buddies) arrived at about 8.30am to fish with us before they could check into their accommodation at Angler’s Paradise where they’re staying for a week’s hols and we had a good ole gossip and a cuppa together as they set up. Claire was over the moon with a new Personal Best carp – 11.5lbs. However, it did snap the top section of her carp rod… Julz and Michael were happily catching too and I think they’ll have a super time at AP.

I owe a huge thanks to my mate Jo from Ebid, as she nominated Reels on Wheels as the chosen charity for this month’s YDC charity auctions. I sold 6 or 7 items and there were quite a few ebidders showing their support too. Cheers, everyone and thank you so much.

What a morning…

Good heavens, what a morning we had! Not good, either. We set the alarms for 4.45am and I got straight out of bed, went into the bathroom only to hear the rain beating down on the skylight… that was the harbinger of doom – should’ve stayed in bed!

We got dressed anyway and had a cuppa. Nick even switched the computers on so he could check the latest weather forecast. No mention of rain, so we decided to go anyway. We got to Bude as it stopped raining, got all the tackle from the Bus to the swim – about 20 feet away – and set up. I waited patiently in the chilly wind till he’d put out a carp road, for him to let me have one of the pole rigs.

I’ve got a straightforward, cheapo 8m pole, which is uncomplicated and has caught me fish – I judge all my tackle by those standards – if it works, I favour it. Same with rigs and floats – if I like the look of them and they catch me fish – great. I don’t like plain floats and self-cockers that sink as soon as you add the required shot… what’s the point? I tend to think that the manufacturers are having a laugh at my expense, so I’ve started ignoring what they say and put what I want on the line, one piece at a time, till it sits right for me.

Anyway, rant over! I set up, depthed my swim and popped the pole out. It was miserable, more like October than August. I tried soft pellet on the hook, corn, nothing. Then I tried changing my depth (we both did), nada, niente, zilch! As soon as Stuart’s opened, Nick got into his wheelchair and dived in there. He came back with (another) pole roller – he’d left his in the garage at home! – and some maggots. Cast out with maggot on and surprise, surprise – bumped a skimmer, caught a couple and that was it. Despite all our best efforts and feeding regularly, it was not to be.

I decided that I’d do the post before I got even grumpier – and the walk would warm me up – so off I went. I ended up walking right round town to get a pasty for our breakfast, but it was worth it! When I got back, we had some tea, a chat with a couple of anglers we’ve met (Englishoak and his wife) and by 12.30pm, I’d had enough and I packed down. I’ve never done that before, but I was seriously fed up!!

Nick packed up a bit later and we popped into Morrison’s for some essentials on the way home. (Doughnuts, milk, beans, you know, essentials!)

We discussed the day and have decided to go elsewhere early on Saturday and see what happens. I’ve decided to feeder fish and want to try the method feeder, as it’s something I’ve never used before. We’ll see what happens!

Next week is going to be busy – Claire and Julz are coming to Angler’s Paradise on their hols so we’re meeting up with them at Zyg’s BBQ on Sunday and having a days’ fishing together at least one day next week. I’ve invited them over for dinner too – brave, aren’t they? LOL!

Birthdays in the garden!

How lovely to be able to sit outside in your own back garden and enjoy the sunshine – at last. We had a lovely couple over for his birthday lunch today. They’re great fun and really good company – plus Stewart always mows my lawn when he comes over – he’s couldn’t sit still all day, ’tis not in the boy’s makeup!

We gave him silly pressies and I’d made him a farmyard card – he loves the outdoors and helps out at a farm where they live. The sad thing is, he has no sense of taste or smell – something has to taste really strong, sharp or sweet for him to get any taste at all, poor lad. So the SpagBol went straight down, despite the addition of garlic, but he enjoyed the lemon drizzle birthday cake!

I enjoyed watching him sweat while he strimmed away and then mowed. I think he earnt every strand of spaghetti and slice of cake! The conversation turned to fishing and they’d both love to go… We’re going to take them to Bideford Angling Club’s water – as they’re both disabled and there are toilets there too. Plus, of course, the water’s young and there aren’t any monsters lurking in there (yet!). It’ll be a lot of fun and might encourage them to take up the sport – here’s hoping.

We’d have gone next week, but she has to go into hospital and stay for a week while they run a lot of tests to monitor her seizures. Then she’s also found lumps under her arm which have to be investigated. As they’re on the nerves, she’s in a great deal of pain and has lost some of the sensation in her fingers. I feel so sorry for her and it hurts my soul that 2 such nutty, fun-loving people should have such severe health-issues.

Sometimes life just sucks and no matter how c**p I’m feeling, I just remember how lucky I really am…