Have you ever looked at something and wish you had the ability to change it? I bet there are many issues affecting angling, be it predation, pollution etc that we wish we could change, and have come up with completely fool proof ingenious ideas in our heads which we know will benefit angling forever.

So, what is your "scrap the closed season" ideas that will miraculously improve our sport?

I had a chance encounter at a mutual friend's party. He's a club secretary who controls a decent stretch of river near me. It is near totally neglected by members, and the books have been closed pre 2020 due to the "covid surge", with interest in waters which are a good 40mins away from their stretch of river. The vast majority are even in a different county.

This got me thinking, Clubs SHOULD have separate tickets for rivers, and charge a different fee due to the lack of 'on the bank' hours compared to those who sit on stillwaters behind three rods. River anglers are also tied to the rules mostly aimed at their stillwater brethren too, often those rules are completely daft and don't suit river fishing situations.

This then got the cogs turning even further. If I had it my own way, it wouldn't bother me in the slightest if the Environment Agency took control of the whole lot and decided that clubs can no longer run the angling on stretches of rivers across the land. Imagine the possibilities....
The permit money would contribute massively towards issues surrounding poaching, pollution and predation. It would pay towards stocking programs, and even go towards the employment of bailiffs and maintenance teams who would dedicate their time towards maintaining the often-neglected banks of "portfolio" waters of clubs. Clubs who focus most of their time towards the carp orientated waters that fill up waiting lists.

Would people actually be willing to pay another 100+ quid per annum on top of their usual "Syndi" fees? It may sound like a stretch to some.

However, what if that 100 quid gave you access to every coarse angling river system in the country?

Now it sounds worth it IMO.

I have a massive niggle with the lack of accessible fishing for youngsters, so to give them the whole country of coarse rivers for 25 quid a year will far far far increase their chances of sticking with the sport, especially if (for example) a lad from South London can rock up and fish the Dorset Stour alongside his Dad whilst on holiday. I do believe we will end up with an aging population dominating the banks if we don't do something to entice young people away from their Xboxes and into their tackle boxes.

Over to you chaps...

In reply to Post #1
Club I'm in has a separate rivers only ticket.
And a dad and lad can fish on the same ticket even in separate swims I think ( I would have to check the rules but Im Sure it's the case)

TBF the club is very very inclusive in that respect

In reply to Post #1
few years ago before covid I joined Notts Fed mainly to fish the River Trent Clifton Bridge
prior to joining I drove down for a days Reccy just before the end of the season

then on June 15 I was there plotted up in my swim
and behind me was a public cycle track and in the afternoon a lady dog walker said hello is it a competition going on ?
I explained it was the first time we are allowed to fish it for a few months and we are all waiting for midnight and June 16th to start
she said well dont know what your talking about ?
there are people fishing it all the time mainly in the evenings and early mornings ~I walk my dog here every day twice a day and see them just not this many and with tents

and THEN !!
at around 18.00 opposite me and at the time no one had fishing rights 2 polish men their wives and kids ( I dont speak polish but worked with polish people for 6 years ) and began fishing for preds saw them catch 2 pike and plastic bag them I of course shouted etc phoned up the authority's they said they didnt have anyone in the area I was there 4 nights they came every day
bloody close season on rivers is a joke

this is a Clifton bridge barbel peg 13 from back then I hope its still in there

In reply to Post #1
The permit money would contribute massively towards issues surrounding poaching, pollution and predation. It would pay towards stocking programs, and even go towards the employment of bailiffs

So what the rod license money already does. Just there would be more of it.

However you'd kill off loads of clubs throughout the country, meaning that the stillwaters probably would be lost to day tickets or syndicates. Plenty of clubs rely on river anglers for book sales. Heck some clubs only have rivers on their ticket. Local to me there's a river only club, £25 a year and you get around 15 miles of river to fish.
I think you're forgetting that the EA would have to lease all the fishing rights and access rights from landowners, or have to buy fishing rights back from clubs that own them outright. Where does that money come from??

In reply to Post #3
It happens all over, they have a scheme going where they buy a ticket, catch a few fish and phone another one who buys a kebab or pizza and brings it to the complex posing as the delivery driver, then the plastic bags containing the captured fish are taken off in the bogus delivery vehicle. they have even offered to buy fish that other legitimate anglers have caught, often becoming abusive and threatening when refused and told to clear off.
another incident in where two of them having been reprimanded by the bailiff about not returning fish, then decided they would rob him of the day ticket money, [I stood in for him for a day or two, it can be several hundred £££s]
long story short, they demanded the money, he placed the bag on the ground and said,, "come and get it" Well lets just say they bit off more than they could chew.
I myself have cut and destroyed long lines, and found hidden nets, police aren't really interested, neither is anyone else, [apart from fishery owners and anglers]
I could fill pages with the things they get up to around here, drugs, prostitution,diesel theft,gang rapes,protection rackets, even murderers on the run being picked up by Interpol in one case.
the amounts of litter and human excrement in neighbours drives and hedges is appalling.
bad people do bad things, whatever their nationality.

and to answer the op, "yes, I have wished I could change things" lets just leave it there.

I would love to go back in time, to when clubs had more waters, and there were less day ticket commercials.

My local club GAPS, has lost some of their best waters, and only have, I think 2 or 3 stillwater venues left on their books. For what it has and is, it is expensive.

I also think that the Angling Trust is not necessarily the correct organisation for all 'disciplines of fishing, and all should be under one banner. We are too 'piecemeal', sea fishing, match angling, carp fishing, specimen fishing etc.

In reply to Post #3
That's a cracking fish

I'm a fan of the close season. Gives the fish and the waters that valuable breathing space. Of course some people will ignore it and fish illegally but that shouldn't mean we lose it and EVERYONE is fishing all year through

My magic wand would maybe be around more access for those with mobility issues. But again... there's a cost implication

In reply to Post #1
Part of the problem with having a seperate lake and river memberships is the admin costs, and time.
Seperate tickets, for example requires more printing costs, which could be as much as doubled.
Also fewer volunteers are available to give the time to their clubs to assist with the extra work.

Sometimes I wish for the return of the old closed season, as during this period, after you've cleaned your kit at least three or four times, and then bought even more kit, us members could be found wandering the banks just to be at the waterside, and often volunteering in work parties whhich were good social events too.
Whether it'd be enough to reduce poaching or predation is anybody's guess. (poaching is highlighted during the close season on rivers, as if you see someone fishing, you know it's poaching)

My magic wand...
Go back to the traditional close season on ALL waters. (Still waters and Rivers) .
Nature needs to breathe.

In reply to Post #9
I agree with the break, I disagree with going back to the old close season. I think it needs to be a more mobile approach focusing on when the fish actually spawn rather than hoping for the best.

In reply to Post #1
Completely agree on separate tickets for rivers and lakes. Since Covid club memberships are full but sadly I see less anglers on the river banks as they are all on the lakes !. Some clubs used to offer winter tickets but they seem to have scrapped them

In reply to Post #10
That would be the sensible approach

It might have some bearing on how many are fishing lakes instead of rivers, the lakes that are fenced still have fish, the rivers have taken a massive hit from otters and cormorants not to mention eu poachers.
It doesn't show any signs of improving.

https://anglingtrust.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/The_AT_Cormorant_Impact_Report__Final_.pdf

https://anglingtrust.net/fma/otters/

In reply to Post #1
I just wish it was easier to find and join nice carp waters with nice members.

In reply to Post #14
I have got a water just like that,it's never busy but it's hard going