Today I received through the post……….

[TF_Swimfeeder]

Today I received through the post, an invitation to renew my Angling Trust membership, one full year has passed since the Trust was officially launched,and several newsletters have been released , the latest can be found on their website; http://www.anglingtrust.net these explain in detail the work the trust does on behalf of anglers and angling.

The question is, should I consider the work they have done in the first of their formative years to be worth another £20?

What are your views please?

[toto]

here we go again

[TF_Paddy]

Mine is an easy reply Bob – Yes i do think it worth while, and yes i will be sending 20 quid to join for the forth coming 12 months on an individual basis. With regard to our club – yes we will join as well for 2 reasons. Severn trent have a treatment plant right opposite our water and we are “inline” with the canal which is directly adjacent. Last years major pollution incident near Wolverhampton was a very, very close call for us, we would be crazy not to re-join, whilst also our insurance policy actually makes referance to seperate legal cover/body.

[TF_Paddy]

Toto, there is nothing wrong with the subject Bob has put up, but i fully sympathise with your initial reaction! It will get watched and if it goes down the same route as previous discussions with regards to personal attacks and name calling – it goes – simples!!

[TF_geepsterParticipant]

I think their communication direct to their members is going to have to improve….

[TF_Gary]

How did I know that this thread would be about the Angling Trust?! LOL

[TF_Paddy]

There only communication came late on in the year via the royal mail in the form of a couple of glossy brochure style things. I thought the content ok, but one was obviously printed prior to there internal changes, so certain info was out of date regarding who they were/are. When you sign up, they ask for your email addy – they should make alot better use of it imo.

[TF_Decaff]

Who entered their raffle ?

Win that & you comfotably get your £20 back.!!

[TF_stevieskin]

@Geepster (moderator) wrote:

I think their communication direct to their members is giong to have to improve….

However poor its communication is with members I am afraid its communication with non/potential members is much worse.

[TF_Fred Davis]

it’s nice to get a letter bob! obviously someone loves you, i,d say rejoin lol

after all someone needs to bail them out ;~)

[TF_MarkT]

@stevieskin wrote:

However poor its communication is with members I am afraid its communication with non/potential members is much worse.[/quote]

Thats it, if they sort that out then i think they will increase there membership.

[TF_dingdong]

Bob sure it wasn’t a belated Christmas card lol
~think ~think ~think ~think ~think
HAPPY NEW YEAR BOB

[TF_wightangler]

having just renewed i would say £20 is worthit for the idea and that the AT actually exists and needs to.
In terms of vfm both fish legal and the ADB have achieved admirble professional results and with that in mind club membership surely is a must.
However, it is rather sad that mainly non-angling individuals and bodies withingovt. and aqencies andprofessional organs. have heard of the AT and respect this as a body -dareisaymore than a lot of anglers.
A regards press and publicity the AT needs to do far more and takeanctive interest in angling press and forums, tackle co’s etc. on a regular not merely occasional or newsworthy basis or relying on a few supporters within the media, press and individual anglers.
There needs to be a considered systematic campaign that like angling is socialy inclusive than narrow apparent correspondence to
a few of socially exclusive or limited cliques- bit like the general media as far as ‘discussion’ goes.
At the same time, t’m sure that you will see a lot more visible presence in 2010
as many of the actual professionals,staff and supporters are far-sighted,progressive and professional in their vision and capabillities, as well as some initiatives taking time to prepare and bring to public fruition and examination.

[TF_herbie]

i dont want them wasting money sending me worthless letters. i want it spent on looking after my interests and also the hangers on,s interests. if you dont want to spent £20 with the a/t then donate it to the A.C.A. via the angling trust. a cheque to geeps and im sure he will hand it over with the money we raise at the glebe.

[TF_Swimfeeder]

@herbie wrote:

i dont want them wasting money sending me worthless letters. i want it spent on looking after my interests and also the hangers on,s interests. if you dont want to spent £20 with the a/t then donate it to the A.C.A. via the angling trust. a cheque to geeps and im sure he will hand it over with the money we raise at the glebe.

That’s a valid and fair point herbie, the letter also had a form for me to return to them with my renewed membership……BUT……. they urge me to sign a direct debit order to save on their limited resources in the future, so to be fair, the fault lies firmly at my feet.

I will be renewing, I do agree the issue of bad communication is also a valid one, I know this is being worked on, it is the classic chicken and egg scenario, more funds = better service, but for a better service they need more funds!!!

I do not envy them their job……honestly!

[Kagger]

Qoute from the Angling Trusts website, re otters.

“On rivers, potential solutions are more complex. Fencing is not an option. Calling for a cull of otters would be political suicide …”

Political suicide? Possibly.

The reason why i’ll not join? Definately.

The wensum, and a lot of fisheries in the wensum valley have been decimated. Barbel, chub, carp all of proper specimen proportions have gone.

If the Angling trust wont/can’t put up a reasoned argument for control of Otters, I won’t join them.

The fact of the matter is that I won’t have very much reason to go fishing at all locally in the very near future if nothing is done.

[tweet]

Kagger that is disgraceful mate so much for the voice of angling .

[TF_Swimfeeder]

@Kagger wrote:

Qoute from the Angling Trusts website, re otters.

“On rivers, potential solutions are more complex. Fencing is not an option. Calling for a cull of otters would be political suicide …”

Political suicide? Possibly.

The reason why i’ll not join? Definately.

The wensum, and a lot of fisheries in the wensum valley have been decimated. Barbel, chub, carp all of proper specimen proportions have gone.

If the Angling trust wont/can’t put up a reasoned argument for control of Otters, I won’t join them.

The fact of the matter is that I won’t have very much reason to go fishing at all locally in the very near future if nothing is done.

Hi Karl (Kagger), you cannot be too perplexed about the situation then mate, you figure doing absolutely nothing about it, is the very best way of dealing with the problem then? is that how you deal with every other problem in your life?

The Angling Trust need numbers to apply heavy pressure on the government regarding this, and many other issues that directly affect angling, at present the Trust is a lightweight organisation, with very little clout, and a modest membership base, it is not ,and never will be, all things, to all men, angling is far too diverse and anglers even more so.

The bottom line is, if the Trust had a large membership of say ,two million anglers, they would have the clout to stand up to anyone, including a few dangerous do-gooders releasing Otters into the wild, right now, the Trust has to watch it’s “Ps” and “Qs”.

So ,as has always been the case, the fault lies squarely at the feet of anglers with the same mind set you hold…….do nothing, get nothing, that is a fact of life mate!

By the way, happy new year to you and your loved ones,

Regards Bob.

[TF_Money4nothing]

@Paddy wrote:

Mine is an easy reply Bob – Yes i do think it worth while, and yes i will be sending 20 quid to join for the forth coming 12 months on an individual basis. With regard to our club – yes we will join as well for 2 reasons. Severn trent have a treatment plant right opposite our water and we are “inline” with the canal which is directly adjacent. Last years major pollution incident near Wolverhampton was a very, very close call for us, we would be crazy not to re-join, whilst also our insurance policy actually makes referance to seperate legal cover/body.

As you say Paddy, an easy reply for you as you have a water you consider yours & at risk.
Would you be as quick to join though if you had no local or club water ? I don’t, I rotate between several waters that I travel to & if one of them has an issue that makes it unfishable I would just use one of the others, as has been the case recently due to the ice. Some of the business owners have invested in aerators & some haven’t… in summer some stretches of rivers have speedboat clubs & some don’t… I choose to pay to fish where the owner makes it angler friendly. And I assume fishery owners take out some sort of insurance to protect their livelihood against loss of business ? it’s their choice anyway. At the end of the day no one is offering me free fishing at their venue so if I’m paying I’ll choose.
Do I want then contribute £20 again to help protect some private club water ? No I don’t, & no I don’t wish them any pollution incidents either.
Do I want to be one of the minority that pays so that angling is protected for the masses that don’t want to pay (don’t even know about the AT in most cases) – No I don’t.
It’s a dirty word but make it ‘compulsory’ & I’ll pay, I’ll have no choice, but while there is a choice & 99% (or whatever) of anglers are choosing not to contribute then I think I’ll keep my £20 this year.

[tweet]

From what I have seen on the Angling Trust Forum it seems a lot of members are very disillusioned with the AT as well,there doesn’t seem to be a lot happening for the ordinary angler and most members views are not being taken on board or take an age to get an answer from the people at the top . There are lots of excuses about being very busy and having no staff but I think that that just makes them look worse as they are now supposed to be a proffessional organisation and Anglings governing body but they rely on part time staff & volunteers and handouts from RSPCB & WWF , so how can we expect them to be independant and sympathetic to peoples views on otters and cormorants. It is a disgrace .

If you want to see the real voices of angling look at what amushroom has achieved on his tidal thames thread , they are the kind of people that will bring members flocking to the ATs door , people with passion and determination .

[TF_Fordy]

For those Angling Trust sceptics…..

Have a think about why otters were re-introduced to the countryside.

Where do you think the idea came from to bring them back? Who decided what numbers would be right?

What opposition was there to the numbers proposed? Because from what I’ve heard, the main cause of the difficulties fisheries are facing is that there are far too many otters now – therefore not enough food to go around. Whoever was involved in the re-introduction maybe got their numbers slightly wrong.

If we as anglers all backed the Angling Trust, then we’d have a voice which could oppose initiatives like this in a constructive way (i.e, not advocating the slaughter of the otters that have been re-introduced, which maybe the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard).

Or is it better to ram your head up your own *rse, cite the loss of democracy and keep your £20 to buy shotgun shells to shoot the otters with?

[tweet]

Fordy they are your respected views quite clear and concise , what are the AT views ? ,does anybody know? or are thier views slightly watered down because of funding they receive and if anglers supported them more could they take a more radical approach , that really is the questions for the cynics and fencesitters I think

[TF_caster robParticipant]

Having to touch-type this as I can’t see the keyboard while my head is up my *rse, so apologies in advance for typo’s, grammatical errors etc.

If there are too many otters about, and I don’t know which authority dtermines this, I’m fairly confident that the otter population will regulate itself, given time.

It’s only humans and commercial fishery inhabitants that seem happy to sustain overcrowding so I don’t think it will be too much of a probelm.

[TF_sumo]

We should introduce some panthers into the wild that will sort the little beggers out.

[TF_Fordy]

The point is it’s now too late to sort the otter problem simply.

Had the AT been around and functioning 5 years ago, maybe the right questions would have been asked. We as anglers
had little or no voice then.

[TF_wayne2009]

i think its a joke you need to be a member of the angling trust now to apply for fish o mania tickets its just another money making scheme as ticket prices also go up every year

[Kagger]

@Swimfeeder wrote:

@Kagger wrote:

Qoute from the Angling Trusts website, re otters.

“On rivers, potential solutions are more complex. Fencing is not an option. Calling for a cull of otters would be political suicide …”

Political suicide? Possibly.

The reason why i’ll not join? Definately.

The wensum, and a lot of fisheries in the wensum valley have been decimated. Barbel, chub, carp all of proper specimen proportions have gone.

If the Angling trust wont/can’t put up a reasoned argument for control of Otters, I won’t join them.

The fact of the matter is that I won’t have very much reason to go fishing at all locally in the very near future if nothing is done.

Hi Karl (Kagger), you cannot be too perplexed about the situation then mate, you figure doing absolutely nothing about it, is the very best way of dealing with the problem then? is that how you deal with every other problem in your life?

The Angling Trust need numbers to apply heavy pressure on the government regarding this, and many other issues that directly affect angling, at present the Trust is a lightweight organisation, with very little clout, and a modest membership base, it is not ,and never will be, all things, to all men, angling is far too diverse and anglers even more so.

The bottom line is, if the Trust had a large membership of say ,two million anglers, they would have the clout to stand up to anyone, including a few dangerous do-gooders releasing Otters into the wild, right now, the Trust has to watch it’s “Ps” and “Qs”.

So ,as has always been the case, the fault lies squarely at the feet of anglers with the same mind set you hold…….do nothing, get nothing, that is a fact of life mate!

By the way, happy new year to you and your loved ones,

Regards Bob.

Hi Bob.

Happy New Year to you and yours mate.

Anyway, about “doing nothing”. I can do nothing about the problem all by myself without paying anyone £20 to do nothing on my behalf.

Some other points on the thread….

“Where do you think the idea came from to bring them back? Who decided what numbers would be right?”

I guess there was a program of re-introduction at one time. That went out of the window in east anglia when the guy that ran the otter trust at earsham decided to shut up shop and let all his otters go in one fell swoop.

“The point is it’s now too late to sort the otter problem simply.”

Yup.

Anyone for a round of golf?

[TF_D.W.]

More chance of me having darker skin and talking in a foreign language, after the way the “Angling Trust” have screwed over big style the club I am a committee member of……

They have cost the club nearly 7 years of court action through a case that EVERY barrister that has seen it has said is cast iron (the NFA took it on originally & the club was winning on every aspect of it), yet as soon as the “angling trust” take over the NFA, they completely drop the case at the last stage and have now cost the club a significant amount of money & lost the club over £30,000 in fish (this was the cost of the fish 10 years ago, so what are they worth now?)…… The club is not going to renew it’s membership and there is no chance that I will EVER recommend people join them (not even if the specimen groups do join up now), as I have seen first hand what a complete f### up the organisation is.

People can argue until they are blue in the face about why people should join them, but they are only interested in THEMSELVES from my personal experience and don’t give two flying f###’s about their members or member clubs.

If anyone in standing from the “angling trust” wants to see what I am on about, all they need to do is contact me and I will give them all the details they require to see what sort of a mess they have made from a clear-cut legal case.

I will spend my £20 on 100 cigarettes, as they will be of use much longer than the “at”……

[tweet]

DW Think you need to give a bit more detail mate as the main reason people cite for joining is that the AT will represent its members and in your case it appears not to be the case.Think a lot of people would like to know a little bit more.

[TF_stevieskin]

Have the AT given you a reason why they dropped the case so late in the proceedings Darren?

[Author]

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