Seems fairly harmless compared to shooting cats!

They obviously have never heard of Tom Lehrer - 'you gotta have a licence.

Doesn't seem too bad compared to the spate of shed robberies round my way and the cat shooting across the town.

i reckon we should let them off to be honest.

Now this is ridiculous,please can someone expain the justification of wasting court time with such matters.Who receives the £15 victim surcharge????

Oh my cod, what a grouper idiots, they were in the wrong plaice at the wrong time, they've haddock now the flounders. Shouldn't have told em your name pike

Victim Surcharge!!?
I am sure that the fish will benefit from the councelling that they need to overcome the post traumatic stress of innocently swimming by and spotting a nice juicy worm only to find that they have swallowed a hook and have been plucked out of the water.

toshhorn wrote:
Now this is ridiculous,please can someone expain the justification of wasting court time with such matters.Who receives the £15 victim surcharge????

If you refused to pay your TV licence year on year and nothing was done about it(no prosecution)everyone would refuse to pay it.Thats why we prosecute people who feel they are different to everyone else and above the law.There is not a fisherman in the land who does not know you need a LICENCE to fish,just as you need one to drive.Do you feel the same about non licenced drivers?You see it would be anarchy if we let people self regulate as.

I suspect I am in the majority.This is outdated nonsense wasting valuable court time which would be better spent dealing with the violence on our streets.Who gets the victim surcharge? Have the perpetrators of these heinous crimes been made to purchase a licence?We (the tax payer) must be employing people to drive round catching these people.It's a joke, what does the licence pay for?Decent folk enjoying a peaceful pastime should be left alone!!!

toshhorn wrote:
I suspect I am in the majority.This is outdated nonsense wasting valuable court time which would be better spent dealing with the violence on our streets.Who gets the victim surcharge? Have the perpetrators of these heinous crimes been made to purchase a licence?We (the tax payer) must be employing people to drive round catching these people.It's a joke, what does the licence pay for?Decent folk enjoying a peaceful pastime should be left alone!!!

What do you think pays for the upkeep of the waters that are fished?Fresh air...As for you suspecting you are in the majority.....maybe not,i believe most people are law abiding as long as there is someone to make sure we do things within the law(the police).As you might have gathered,violent crime is against the law of the land,therefore it cannot be licenced.Whereas fishing falls within the law(as long as you have a licence).Yes people have to be employed,to collect the revenue but then thats the same in everything where cash is involved(your bank has to hire people to recieve your loan & mortgage repayments but you dont hear me moaning).You call them "decent folk" well knowingly breaking the law in my book does not qualify as decent.How about if the same people,instead of wanting to go fishing decicded to stay at home and smoke cannabis,would that be "decent folk enjoying a peaceful pastime"?Also why were these "decent Folk" not out working,i wish i could go down the canal when i wanted,to go fishing when i should be at work....There are millions of fishing licences issued every year,which in turn pays for the upkeep of the water(pays for bailiffs)explain why i should have a licence and ihave to pay,where these chumps do not.I gather your not a fishermanas a fisherman would understand the need and necessity for licencing.....

It's actually a lovely day to go fishing today as it happens.

Any takers?

Totally OTT. Gaywoods is a private fishery so a licence is not required. If the owners of Gaywoods want to act like eco heroes why did they not ask to see the licences before selling them day tickets ? Totally agree with toshhorn. How much did this farce cost the tax payer ?

Next time, why not get a dinghy and trawl the canal with a large net.

That would get around this "rod and line" nonsense surely?

Gary H wrote:
Totally OTT. Gaywoods is a private fishery so a licence is not required. If the owners of Gaywoods want to act like eco heroes why did they not ask to see the licences before selling them day tickets ? Totally agree with toshhorn. How much did this farce cost the tax payer ?

How on earth is Gaywoods Private when it s open to the public?The reason they dont ask for licences before you fish are the same reasons YOU dont try putting parking tickets on illegally parked cars....because there are people whos job it is to do that.Im not a Gaywoods fan myself(too many snags)but the bottom line is you need a licence to fish with rod and line and everyone knows this so i think its totally neccessary to prosecute.Like i say should we scrap all licences and let everybody do as they please,that would cost the taxpayer very dear in the long run.Sometimes you have to spend a pound to save a penny.

I think you will find that Gaywood`s is a privately owned fishery. Just because they let the public use it does not make it public property. You do not need a sledge hammer to crack a nut.

Gary H wrote:
I think you will find that Gaywood`s is a privately owned fishery. Just because they let the public use it does not make it public property. You do not need a sledge hammer to crack a nut.

I know gaywoods is privately owned,like all fisheries but it is open to any member of the public who pays his dues.If it was a private fishery,it would be open to members only,which it is not.You say you dont need a sledghammer to crack a nut but if you just let people get away with it they would just keep doing it.If your a driver,how do you feel knowing half the cars on the road are unlicenced,untaxed,i
nsured if its anything like me im up the wall about it.Now imagine if someone started saying,oh let em off,they do no harm.Im a fishing licence holder and have been for 30 years even though now i go less and less(twice last year) but i pay for mine.Why should anyone think they are above the licence fee,bet you dont feel the same about tv licence fee dodgers.

I think i'll do it, then I can have my name in the paper.....
Bit outta order, lets start naming and shaming the proper criminals!!